cleaning dead fish...

[CALVINIST]

Does anyone here clean their fish (for me, panfish) the next day after catching them? Sometimes I'll keep 'em in a bucket full of ice till the next day, then clean 'em. Doesn't seem to affect quality much at all. What do you think?

[BigWadeS]

I've done that and just made sure they were packed in/on ice and they were fine

[Stratosman]

Seems like to me anyway they get much more slimier though....?

[BigWadeS]

true, but I roll them in newspaper if that's the case and usually takes care of that

[Luck e 1]

I would just say that I wouldn't chance it. It would be a shame to keep a bunch of fish only to have them go bad on ya. I have never really waited, but that is because I usually want to eat em right away. WHo knows...you might be ok.

[eyepatrol]

I've done that a couple times a few years back when fishing with a buddy out of his permanent on Mille Lacs. We'd just throw the fish outside where they'd stay froze solid, when it was time to go home, we'd put them in a pale, take them home, thaw them out then clean them. Seemed to be just fine.

I've never let fish set for a day or two other than those couple of times. I always just clean them when I get home from a day of fishing out on the ice.

[Northlander]

As long as they are frozen then thawed your fine.

[Sandmannd]

Yep, when I get home late I through them in a zip lock and clean em the next day or two. In the summer I fish Friday nights and Sunday morning so if I'm keeping any I'll freeze em Friday and clean on Sunday. Usually too tired Friday night. Just freeze em and thaw them out and your fine. Actually if you clean em when they are little frozen yet it works well.

[kenlaker]

The rolling in newspaper idea is one I have to try. Even though I usually clean them the same night if on daytrips- they do slime up a bit if you pile (I hope for a pile anyway) them on the ice or even put them in a bucket outside your house. That seems to me to be the worst part of cleaning summer vs winter caught fish, the whole slime clean-up thing.

[wayne123]

I do it all the time. They go from the boat to the fridge at the cabin. I just put them in a garbage bag and then in the bottom of the fridge. I think they actually are easier to clean because the blood disappears. I do not like to put my fish on the ice and let them freeze. You no longer have fresh fish then.

[fishinrush]

I knew a guy who used to take the fish he caught and throw them right into the freezer. Then when he decided he needed a meal, he would thaw 'em out, fillet 'em and eat 'em. I never did have a fish meal at his place, but he seemed to like them. Maybe he didn't know any better.

[not_nuf_time]

I hate to sound like I pick up road kill, but last weekend up on Alexander I was fishing by a guy Sat eve. Sunday I went out to fish and saw he left about a four Lbs northern on the ice. It was getting a little frozen and didn't like the idea of some putz killing and wasting fish so I took it to the cabin cleaned it up and ate it Monday eve. Seemed good to me no trots or anything.

[Royal Dutchman]

Would much rather my fish were cold than hot. Freezing whole doesn't seem to have a terrible effect other than saugers do tend to soften a bit and hard frozen fish are a real pain. Packing fish in snow and storing in a cool place has worked best for us and a pair of medical inspection gloves makes handling cold fish much easier.

[jiggin_22]

Under most circumstances I'll clean my fish same day unless we're fishing out of our permanent house on Mille Lacs; in which we'll pack any fish caught in snow and clean them when we arrive home. At times this could be two days and does not seem to impact the flavor of the fish.

[The Grebe]

Calvinist....I'm a discriminating fish eater, no doubt, a Grebe would have it no other way. I often clean fish the day after I catch them, because I just don't care to clean live fish!

I put them in a huge bowl in the fridge, with a plate over the top....they are usually kaput by the next morning and I do em up. If a fish is already dead when I get em home, I will do em up right then and there.

If they have fooled me and I detect movement, I whack em in the gourd 5-6 times until the fins quiver and the when I'm done, I break the neck just to be sure.

Walleyes and sunnies die pretty quick, but crappies seem to be a little tougher and sometimes some will still be alive in the bowl the next morning. I only give them the one chance to expire and those that don't I help along.

I might add that one thing I just don't do is let them freeze, thaw them out to clean em and then refreeze them. To me they don't seem to taste as good and they are definately not as firm.

They stay in the fish house with me and they ride home in the truck, with some snow or ice around them. In the summer, in a cooler with ice.

[BigWadeS]

I think it works great, I enjoy fishing for Pike summer and just started winter fishing, and have done that in the summer and much easier to handle while cleaning, I know guys that run their fillet knife blade down the fish to get it off, but that dulls your knife too much when newspaper will do just fine, IMO

[schweady]

Years ago, shore fishing for some early ice-out crappies, I would make the mistake of riding out to the spot with a buddy who would want to stay out until we each had our 15, usually until 1 or 2 am. It was usually a school night, so rather than clean them when I got home, it somehow made more sense to get up earlier than usual and clean them the next morning. (Yeah, no difference in amount of sleep, but I would get somewhat less grief from my wife, and I seemed just slightly more refreshed while cleaning them in the morning...) I would keep them fresh while fishing in a 5-gallon pail of water. When I got home, I filled it with water, covered it and put it in the chest freezer. After the 4 hours or so, there would be a skim of ice to chip out, but still mostly liquid, and most of those guys were still swimming straight up, awaiting the slaughter. Not that much slime, either. Winter fishing, you could do the same, keeping them from freezing while catching and then leaving the pail full of water outside to partially freeze.

[Ebiz]

Sounds like a good idea - but, I believe they made it illegal this year to transport live fish once off the lake? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, its been known to happen once in a while

[Black_Bay]

It's been illegal to transport live fish in water for years.

BTW It's also illegal to stock fish without a permit.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I cant imagine an issue if they are packed in ice/snow. Fish markets have been doing it for years.

[schweady]

Quote:

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It's been illegal to transport live fish in water for years.

BTW It's also illegal to stock fish without a permit.

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Uh, yeah. We're talking 1978 here. And it's not like they were swimming around like in a live well on the way home, just wet enough to keep them cool and not stink up the wagon on the ride home. Fifteen 11-13" crappies can make a lot of slime in a 5-gallon pail.

Is the law against live transport in water to eliminate illegal stocking efforts or is it to guard against accidental milfoil distribution?

Freshest fish I've ever seen at the end of the day were the ones coming out of the livewell on a trip one summer to Lac Sul: Decide to keep one? Whack him on the head and watch him quiver on a bed of ice chips in the well.

[icegrogg]

I would put them in a cooler with snow(watch for the yellow stuf)and ice.When the bite would slow down,I will gut&gill them andthen rinse them off with lake water and put them back in the cooler.works great and keeps them fresh.

[MnIceman]

I like to get the fish as cold as possible right away. That gets the blood to go to the organs which would be normal for all living things . Wether they freeze or are just on ice they excrete more slime and I just deal with it. I'll try to rinse some of the slime off before I clean them . Then as I clean I put the meat into cold water with a little salt in it . I was taught that by old finlanders and was told that it would take the slime away from the meat . It works . I use about a teaspoon or so of salt to 3 quarts of water . Then after they've soaked a little bit I rinse the meat in a cold stream of water and package or cook. All my friends who have seen me do this over the years also use the salt .

[wplatehunter]

The only problem is that if you wait they do get slimier for sure, but the meat is still good.