Storing your catch

[jigginjoe]

After cleaning your catch I would like to know some of the best ways to store your fish without getting freezer burn or ruining your catch. I'm sure thier is alot of ways just curious

[fishinlocal]

Eat them!

If you want to save them, the food saver works perfectly. If no money for that, buy some good saran wrap, wrap them as tightly as you can and then wrap a layer of freezer paper around them. This should prevent freezer burn for quite a while.

[Jim Almquist]

You can do it the old fashion way that my parents used and that is to rinse out a 1/2 gallon wax milk carton and put in fish and water and freeze. Works but takes up more space in the freezer. I try to eat all my fish fresh and if I can't I will use a foodsaver.

[huntnfish]

I recently got a foodsaver and that works great but before that I would put them in a freezer bag and fill the bag with water so that the filets are competely covered. I found a bag that fell behind some stuff that were over a year old. They were just as good as some of the fresher stuff that I had frozen.

[Pleasant]

I must agree with Eat Them... The way this Minnesota possession law is I seldom keep more then we can eat.

\Fish

are in an angler’s possession whether on hand, in cold storage, in

transport, or elsewhere.

Lynn J.

[jigginjoe]

Ok guess I should of said Eat them lol of cours ethats the 1st choice but sometimes like if night fishing I don't plan on eating them right away but want to keep them as fresh as possible thanks for the input so far.

[VMS]

Hi,

What we do is take heavy duty freezer bags, put in the fillets and fill with just enough water to get all the air away from the fillets. Then, close the bags with twist ties, squeezing out all the air (push some water out of the bag as you do it).

Works well

Steve

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Freezing the fillets in a bucket/bag of water is also what we have done and the fish keeps for several months no problem.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I myself would rather not freeze them.. probably havn't frozen a fish in a couple of years.. but A food saver is the say to go.. for sure.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Fish for dinner??? Heck ya!!!!

Freezer burn is caused by air. If you freeze fish, get rid of the air. A food saver works great for this. If you don't have a food saver you can add water to the freezer bag with your fish, and "burp" out the air.

[Farley]

Put fillets in a ziplock, put a little water in there, zip the top almost closed, squeeze the fillets till the water forces all the air out and close the rest of the way. Vacum sealed fillets without a foodsaver.

[NyQuiLlama]

Quote:

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Vacum sealed fillets without a foodsaver.

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Right, but they are covered with water and when you first freeze them and when you thaw them they will essentially be marinading for a while in fish-water. I wonder if that effects the taste/texture. It hasn't in my experience, but you'd think that it would. Where's Emeril?

[sjburnt]

.

[Bugman]

The water in a zip lock bag works great for me. Just lay the bag in the freezer flat and it makes them easy to store.

[Steve Foss]

Like most of the rest of these guys, we're Foodsaver folks. Use it for everything from fresh garden green beans to venison. Works great on fish. If you use it for fish, pat the fillets with paper towels to get excess water off them, which makes it easier to seal. Foodsavers are great not only because they remove the air, but because the bags are impermeable, or nearly so. Regular ziplock freezer bags eventually allow air through the plastic.

If no Foodsaver, best way we've found is with the ziplock freezer bags and water, like most everyone else. The way I always made sure no air was left was to put the fillets in, zip it half closed and put the open end under a running faucet. When it overflowed, I left the water running and zipped it closed the rest of the way, and that worked great.