Flesh quality

After slitting the gills and/or tail is bonking advisable?  Seems that simply bleeding out would yield a more peaceful death, and we are attempting to avoid stress to the fish.

I've always been under the impression that bonking was done to stop the fish from struggling and thereby keeping lactic acid build up to a minimum.

also an act of mercy....altho, if the fish is still alive when you shove the wire down the spinal column, probably not too merciful....when I had a hernia repair, I had a spinal, and the doc had a terrible time getting the needle into the spinal cord just right, it was agonizing. Sorta like sliding down the bannister and having it turn into a razor blade...

After slitting the gills and/or tail is bonking advisable?  Seems that simply bleeding out would yield a more peaceful death, and we are attempting to avoid stress to the fish.

Lee, I like what you're thinking.  I figure if I'm gonna kill a fish, it deserves to be treated as well as possible.  Bonking it may not seem to be treating a fish well, but I mean in the kitchen dept. of treating it well.  Reap what you sow.  My theoretical list looks something like this in my head:
1)Shampoo
1a)Measure and Photo for AOTY
2)Shears to the spine at gill plate and at base of tail, or maybe just cut at base to allow more blood loss.
3)Nervous System Noodle
4)Rinse
5)Repeat
That's if the water is 50 or colder.  It'll be interesting to try it out.  I like what I've read and heard about filleting before or after rigor, and avoiding water with your filets.  I've heard that before and have been doing it with great results.

Damn you really do like to take care of your fish properly if you're providing them with a shampoo, trim and rinse.  How much for highlights?  ;-)

Sometimes (ok most times) a lot of these things will be too time consuming or cumbersome to achieve, so what are the most important steps to do?

Right now I:

1.  Immediatly slit the gills, put it on a game clip, and let it bleed
2.  about a minute later, I give it the plastic shampoo treatment or some stainless steel labotomy
3.  leave it in the water if it's 50 degrees or cooler water temp, or throw it in my katchkooler with some ice

I'm thinking about adding a spinal cut between 1 and 2.

Yup.  Bleed, bonk, and chill is a good start.  I'd still put it in a katchkooler with ice even if the water was 50.  You'll still notice a difference in the meat.

The rest is part of cleaning and prepping.  Most of it doesn't take much extra effort, just more of the discipline of doing it.

-Allen