keeping fish

[all thumbs]

I was wondering how some of you keep your fish after catching? I just put mine in the livewell and drive home{short drive} then clean them. A friend at work believes in putting them on ice right away. Could there be any advantage to that? I'am catch and release on all game fish except some walleyes, most fish I take home are crappies and gills.

All made it home alive.

 

[skeeterboy]

Re: keeping fish

Uh yea ice preserves the fish and a livewell if its warm water will make the fish nasty. That pic just looks sick haha! If they are in livewell atleast keep them alive till you leave or clean them there at the lake on the water. Ice is the way to go just put it in the livewell and plug it up then you have a cooler.

 

[AzMeadMan]

Re: keeping fish

I have a relatively small livewell. Only 1/2 the size of yours. I keep my catch in a fish basket in the lake while fishing and put it in the livewell only while motoring to a new location. Works well for me. Except for the time I didn't catch the small hole in the basket. Saw the 2nd fish dart out the hole just seconds after putting it in there. Always clean the fish at the lake and put them on ice. It is illegal to transport live fish from the lakes in Az.

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: keeping fish

I catch and release, i keep nothing

 

[jtexas]

Re: keeping fish

We love to eat fish, I'll usually keep a limit if there's room in the freezer. I've never had much of a problem with livewell mortality, unless I'm catching deep fish & the surface temp is too much higher in which case I try to remember to add ice to the livewell.<br /><br />I put mine on ice for the drive home. Makes 'em easier to deal with if they're still alive, and keeps 'em fresh in case they wouldn't survive the ride home. Not sure how long it takes a fish to "go bad" but I always try to avoid having dead fish not iced. Also, I think chilled fish seem less messy while filleting, not as much blood.<br /><br />Plus which, I've heard that freezing to death isn't a bad way to go....

 

[koolerb]

Re: keeping fish

Keep the fish alive as long as possible. Get them on ice ASAP if they don't make it back to the dock. If the livewell works for the ride home, perfect. If I'm planning on brining home dinner I'll bring a cooler with ice just to be on the safe side. But I'll keep them in the live well as long as I can.

 

[Pony]

Re: keeping fish

Before we go on a fishing trip (usually gills or crappies) and we are going to keep some, we usually make some ice blocks ahead of time. We take gallon milk jugs, clean them out and fill them with water and freeze them. We use 2 or 3 and then add some water when we get to the lake......the fish stay so cold that its a pain to put your hand in there to get the fish while cleaning. No problems yet, and we have a little over an hours drive home usually

 

[TwoWatt]

Re: keeping fish

Since I don't have a livewell, when I keep panfish (rarely) I use one of those basket type keepers that hang in the water. This will keep them alive while on the water....<br />I take along a small wastebasket (it's actually a nice metal one like you see in offices). As soon as I can I stop & get a bag of ice & put it & the fish in the basket. This will keep them plenty cold for the trip home. Also it's nice because they are plenty dead before I go & start filleting them.<br /><br />Speaking of. I'm out of fish. I better go fishing again before the lake freezes <br /><br />Now I think about it, I think I'll take a shopping bag or something to stretch over the top of the basket. May keep the cold in a bit longer.

 

[Ron G]

Re: keeping fish

I usually on keep fish in the early winter or spring in the water is still cold,i throw 2 frozen 20oz coke bottles in the livewell and im good to go.

 

[bowman316]

Re: keeping fish

can you eat a dead fish, If it has only been dead for about 30 minutes to an hour?
Do they start to go bad like a dead crab, I know you are not supposed to eat a dead crab. But i think dead fish are of if they are cold. anyone know?

 

[JB]

Re: keeping fish

They are surre to be dead when fileted.

I have eaten fish that were dead for up to a few hours before being cleaned. I usually kept them cold, but when I was a kid and had a few miles to ride my bike home my fish were dead long before I got there.

I do think that fish killed and cleaned, then into the pan within a few minutes taste better but that could be because those fish are being eaten outdoors, like in a shore lunch. I do think shore lunch walleye taste better than filets removed from the freezer or even the fridge.

 

[rndn]

Re: keeping fish

Get them on ice the sooner the better. I even keep frozen bottles to put in the livewell to keep it cooler.

 

[mthieme]

Re: keeping fish

Ice definitely.
As a kid, I'd keep them on a stringer until I got to the pier where they were cleaned.

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: keeping fish

Not sure how long it takes a fish to "go bad" but I always try to avoid having dead fish not iced.

I usaully don't mess with a fish if the eyes are glazed over with white, and seems like there is a discolor to the scales and gills.

I personally haven't had any problem with bringing the bass home in the livewell. Last 2 times we went fishing in my uncle's boat which doesn't have a livewell plug and drains out as soon as the boat is pulled out of the water. We live about 30 minutes from the river (depending on traffic and which way we decide to go). The bass that came out my uncle's livewell were still alive. We keep bass, crappie, and catfish.

Somebody tried to give me a 33 pound catfish to cut up and eat, the fish was dead for a good while. I passed up that deal and we took the dead catfish out to the main channel and let it go.

I'm not dead yet. We had a fish fry the other day that turned out wonderful, best I've had in a while.

 

[eurolarva]

Re: keeping fish

With the spread of exotic type diseases more and more DNRs are requiring all live wells be drained and bait left at the lakes in which you fished. Here in Minnesota there is a major concern about the spread of VHS. I Bring a cooler and keep a five gallon pail in my truck. After fishing the fish and the cooler ice go into the pail. Fish are usually alive when I get home.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: keeping fish

as long as the gills are still red/pink, they are fine, when they turn white, time for carb bait. also fresh fish does not smell real fishy.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: keeping fish

I remember our days of using stringers and just leaving them danglin alongside the boat...that was untill a hungry barracuda decided to have a little sushi, at the expense of our mangrove snappers! Nowadays it's the fish box with either frozen jugs of water or enough ice that the heat won't melt it all.

 

[Starcraftguy1]

Re: keeping fish

I did an experiment on this.We went to the lake and caught a bunch of crappies on Saturday,kept them in the livewell.Then Sunday morning filleted them all.Then Sunday night I caught them and filleted them and put them into a bag on ice.I had them all marked as to what day they were caught.The ones on ice were much better tasting.I eat a lot of crappies,Mostly crappie patties with onions and eggs in the food processer.I love them.

 

[idrownworms]

Re: keeping fish

Depending on which lake I go I have a long drive to get home, almost 15 minutes
I use a Coleman cooler with one of those bilge pump aerators I run it about 1 minute every 15 minutes.
and the fish have a very high survival rate. The fish aren't to happy when it's their turn on the fillet table, I've tried to explain it's just part of the food chain but they don't listen

jamie

 

[Shizzy]

Re: keeping fish

I Bring a cooler and keep a five gallon pail in my truck. After fishing the fish and the cooler ice go into the pail. Fish are usually alive when I get home.

thats just how I do it. Im only 5 minutes from home so it doesnt take much ice.