I hadn't thought of leaving the skin on. I might have to try that one time. I usually lay them on a cookie sheet and leave them in the fridge for a couple hours to cool before I debone them. They get a little "stiff" (for lack of a better word) and it makes it easier to cut out the y bones.
I learned a way to do perch a couple years ago from my grandfather that works slick too. Cut off the dorsal fins and make sure the skin is cut along the back from head to tail. Cut down behind the head, just through the spine. Peel the skin off with your thumbnail from by this cut on the back. Hook your thumb in the gut cavity, grab the head with the other hand and pull them apart. You end up with a skinned and gutted perch. The tail and caudal fins are still attached (you can cut them off if you want) and you have all the meat on the fish still on the bone. You cook them up and then seperate the meat from the bones by running your knife on either side of the spine and lift it out by the tail. You have a perfect skeleton and no bones left in all the meat from the fish. I used to try and fillet them and it was tedious to say the least...
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