How do you keep your fish while in a sleeper?

[Kylersk]

I thought I may have asked this once before, but cannot find it.. So, I'll ask again.

What's the best way to keep your fish (walleyes) when you are out on a 3 day fishing trip?

I've been putting them in a cooler with snow on top of them. Not sure if that's ideal or not. Also, should I gut them first? I havnt been. Today, I had to clean em up and they were all froze. (left the cooler in the back of my truck last night).

[Hardwaterjigin]

Unless it s a trophy that you're gonna keep I would at the end of the day (or before they freeze)fillet them out for transport and let 'em freeze. Throw the entrails into a bag and pack it out with you. May as well do the deed little by little. Also, this would make a shore lunch pretty quick.

[eyebjim]

I usually fill a bucket half full of water and put the fish in then top it off with snow and add snow as needed to keep snow on the top of the water. I keep the bucket inside the house. They will usually live for about 3 or 4 days like this if you keep just enough snow on top of the water to keep it good and cold but not so much that they start to freeze. I am not sure if this is the bests way but it works for me and you don't have to deal with frozen fish. Just domp most water before leaving the lake and add enough snow to insulate on the way home.

[Kylersk]

Eyebjim, that's what I did last year but a buddy didnt want to do it on an earlier trip bacause they got 'slimy'. So, this trip I just put them in snow. I think I'll go back to your method.

Another question, lets say they die and freeze, how long are they good before you decide not to eat them?

[eyebjim]

I usually don't wait to long after they die to clean em but if they are on snow I have kept them for 3 days after they kicked and had no problem. This was on snow/water so they weren't frozen but about as cold as they can get before freezing. They do get slimy if you let them die or freeze. If it is frozen I think you can go quite a bit longer before cleaning. I like them to be live or at least still barely gilling when cleaning to keep the slime down. If I am not too far from the lake (30 minutes or so) they will still be gilling in the snow/slush when I get home. You can't leave the bucket full of water on the way home as that would constitute transporting live fish. As long as there is not enough water/slush to sustain them your OK. I do the same thing in summer only pour a bag of ice on them for the way home instead of snow and again little or no water.

[backlash 1]

If you have an extra hole in your house not being used, put your fish in an ice well. Be carefull not to let it freeze in. For the trip home we just put fish in bucket, fill with snow and keep inside truck. Even after a 4 hour drive the fish are flopping on the kitchen counter.

[Kylersk]

Can you legally fillet a fish for transportation in your fish house? I thought all fish, except those that are to be consumed had to be left intact? Adobe is not working properly on this computer for me to look at the MN DNR regs...

[Hardwaterjigin]

Yeah, I just checked the DNR HSOforum and it said that on a lake w/ size restrictions the fish must be intact. Guess I should have checked this before putting in my 2 cents worth.

[Farley]

I use a bucket to clean out my holes after they are drilled, then I just leave the bottom 1/4 of the bucket full of ice, maybee add a little more water and the fish go in there.

[Pikeslayer]

I pack them in layers of snow with no water,I also change the snow every day so they are not in any melted snow(water)then I keep them in the coldest part of my house so they dont freeze!They will keep for 4 or 5 days.

[CrappieAttitude]

 Originally Posted By: backlash 1

If you have an extra hole in your house not being used, put your fish in an ice well.

I second the Ice Well. Very cool addition to your ice fishing arsenal. In a sleeper you shouldn't have any problems with it freezing. The only downer is it takes away one of your "fishable" holes. It does work very well though.

CA

[eyebjim]

what is an ice well?

[CrappieAttitude]

It is basically a live well that you put down the hole. The one I own is for an 8 inch hole and it is made of similar material to the leech tamer bags you use in your live well in the summer. A tough plastic mesh that is virtually indestructable. I believe it is 36 inches long and has a velcro "latch" on the top. Open the latch to put the fish in and seal the velcro and you are good to go. It floats by the stryofoam stitched into the top. I have used it as a "basket" in the summer as well as ice fishing.

I ordered it directly from todays tackle. Bruce had it to me really quick.

CA

[eyebjim]

Thanks. I'll have to get one for next year. Is the foam the only thing in contact with the water so there is no problem if the hole freezes or do you have make sure the hole does not freeze.

[CrappieAttitude]

If It is really cold out and I am not getting new fish to add to it, I like to go over to it quite regularly to avoid freeze in. Basically all you need to do is lift it up and put it back in. It will however (if it is really cold outside) stiffen up quite a bit if you leave it out of the hole for a while. It would be quite a mess to try and get one out that had completely frozen in.

I try to keep it in a hole until I am ready to leave. Then when done fishing, I transfer the fish to my bucket.

CA

[CraigM]

I had two of them freeze to the sides of the hole in my sleeper that I keep @ 70 deg. Granted, it was some very cold weather and I did lift them out every once in a while to prevent this, but you have to sleep sometime. Had to destroy them to get them out. They sure were handy till this happened though.

[cold one sd]

 Originally Posted By: Hardwaterjigin

Yeah, I just checked the DNR HSOforum and it said that on a lake w/ size restrictions the fish must be intact. Guess I should have checked this before putting in my 2 cents worth.

Same in SD. We are allowed to gut and gill them though.