NO one denies that the rapacious, powerful bluefish is fun to catch, but there is sharp disagreement over its merit on the dining table.

Many people who eat saltwater fish with regularity favor white-fleshed species such as the flatfishes or cod. The blue, they say, is simply too fishy. A bluefish (even one consumed minutes after capture) does have a more assertive flavor than, for example, a summer flounder, but a strong fishy taste means that the fish has begun to deteriorate, and bluefish do not keep as well as many other species.

A. J. McClane was thinking of this when he wrote in his ''Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery'' (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), that when dining out, he would ''never order bluefish except at seaside restaurants where freshness is guaranteed, assuming the proprietor is credible.''


Many who have been put off by the flavor of a poorly cared-for blue would find the species to their liking if certain precautions were observed between the catch and the feast. The current cycle of bluefish abundance makes such postcatch care, if one fishes for food as well as pleasure, of particular relevance.

Bluefish eaten within two or three hours of capture are usually first-rate, although if they were caught at noon on a searing day and exposed to the sun for 45 minutes, they would be in sorry shape. At the very least, whether in a boat or on the beach, one should contrive to keep fish protected from the sun. This might involve nothing more than placing them in the shade under one's vehicle or placing a wet burlap bag over them.

The suggestions that follow for the treatment of bluefish after capture represent an ideal, but between the ideal and the reality lies the shadow of circumstance. If you reach a certain spot at the end of a tide and are almost certain that the blues will stop hitting as soon as the water becomes slack, the limited time you have (unless you are extraordinarily disciplined) will be devoted to catching fish. You should realize, however, that the process of spoilage cannot be reversed.

Bluefish should be placed on ice immediately. Ice chips or flakes or a mixture of ice and water will remove body heat from fish more rapidly than a block of ice, or ice frozen in a container, but I tend to use the last-named approach because it is easier. At the end of a day's trip, all you have to do is place the water-filled containers back in your home freezer.

The shelf life of a bluefish can be extended by bleeding it immediately after capture, either by cutting off its tail or by severing its gills. Stun the fish beforehand (you usually have to do that anyway to remove the lure safely from its sharp-toothed mouth) and its heart will pump out much of its blood.

Richard Lord of the Fulton Fish Market, a student of fish and fish quality, favors gill-cutting because it is easier to accomplish, less messy and results in more complete bleeding. Lift up the gill plate and cut, from front to rear, the gills in half with the point of a knife, then repeat this on the other side of the fish's head. Among other things, bleeding allows the fish to cool more rapidly and makes its flesh less dark.

When surf fishing, I nearly always gut, or fillet and skin, blues on the beach, using a length of plywood on the tailgate of my vehicle as a cleaning table. This early separation of the edible flesh from powerful digestive juices retards spoilage. The carcasses and innards are returned to the ocean, where they will be quickly consumed by a variety of creatures. Better there than in a town or city dump.

A bluefish in rigor mortis is eminently fresh, of course, but Lord recently pointed out to me that one should not fillet a fish in that state if one has to force it into a flat position, a maneuver that tears the musculature and creates a ragged-looking fillet that tends to fall apart. If the fish has gone into rigor without a curve, go ahead and fillet; if not, wait until rigor leaves.

The dark strips of meat that one finds under the skin down the sides of a bluefish may have too strong a flavor for some palates. Those strips are easily removed after the fillet is skinned. Without slicing through to the opposite side, make a wide, shallow V cut on either side of the dark meat and lift it out. Filleting and skinning a blue and removing the dark meat is a good procedure for another reason. At certain times of year in certain regions, large bluefish have high levels of PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls), which tend to concentrate just under the skin and in the dark meat. Dangerous PCB levels have not, to my knowledge, been found in blues of four pounds or less.

Bluefish that have received the best of care retain their quality for two or three weeks in a home freezer. Unfrozen in the average refrigerator, three days is the limit. Some fish markets have a sideline in wrapping and flash-freezing fillets at temperatures far below zero for anglers who then put them in their home freezing units. This extends the shelf life of the frozen fish dramatically.

Bluefish recipes abound, but those that call for poaching or a chowder should be avoided. When so treated, the blue's flesh has the texture of straw. Broiling is the best way to cook bluefish fillets. Sprinkle the inside of the fillet with lemon or lime juice half an hour before cooking, and rub cooking oil on the other side before putting it in the pan to prevent sticking. Salt and pepper the side that will be facing the flame or heating element, and dot with butter. The fillet should not be turned. If it becomes brown before the flesh flakes readily under gentle pressure from a fork, turn the oven off. The remaining heat will finish the job in a few minutes. Serve with wedges of lemon and chopped parsley.