Cleaning fish that have frozen

[giddyup99]

I took a few sunfish home to clean a couple weeks ago and they had frozen while out out on the ice. I thawed them out when I got home and cleaned them up and noticed that they all were darker colored fillets than I am used to and had a pronounced centerline of the fillet. In other words they were not the clean white fillets I am used to in the summer.

Is this blood that gets frozen in the fillets? Can I do anything to help this?

These are the first "winter" fish I have caught/cleaned. Just curious if this is a winter phenomenon.

[L_Cappo]

its better off to have the fish freeze instead of being in a hot fish house all day.i find the same thing in my walleyes also.to me its no biggie they will taste the same.

[mike morris]

Usually the blood will settle into the fillets more after they sit for a while. If you let them sit in a salt-water brine for a day or two, it should take most of that blood away.

[tisosy11]

Make sure to change the salt water brine when it becomes discolored.

[Sandmannd]

I do the salt water brine, but I also ad a couple of splashes of milk to it. Never had a problem, some pretty tastey fish. Even if I clean fresh I do the same thing over night enless I eat them right away.

[tisosy11]

Yeah...on the rare occasion i keep/clean a fish...the saltwater brine is always utilized...

[kwiggy]

Saltwater brine? I never knew! Cool

[dkhntr]

I do good just over night in cold water, never had a prob with blood in fillets

[eurolarva]

Same here with just the water no salt. Amazing the difference the fish takes on after soaking for a few hours in just water.

[anyfishwilldo]

I only use the saltwater brine if the fillets seem overly slimy. The s/w seems to get rid of that. Also, I wipe the fish in newspaper to remove the excess slime before filleting. Personally, I prefer the fish to be frozen, that way after a hard day of fishing I can wait untill the next day or so to clean them.

[frogtosser]

I do the saltwater too, and its nice to be able to leave fish for the next day if you get home late and dont want to clean them when they are frozen.

[GoFish4]

I also have used the S/W brine. It cleans the blood out and fish is fresh for the next day. If you do have your fish freeze while on the ice, let them slowly thaw, don't run hot water on them as it will "mush" the filet.

[tisosy11]

and make er slimy...

[Bob/Mn]

How much salt to water to make the brine.??

[harvey lee]

My Grandmother would freeze them whole and clean them when they thawed. Seemed to taste fine to me.

[mike morris]

 Originally Posted By: Bob/Mn

How much salt to water to make the brine.??

Not really an exact ammount. Probably around a full tablespoon overall. I normally just grab the shaker and start pourin'.

[eyewarrior]

Next time you want to keep some fish. Cut their throats as soon as you catch them. Put in a pail of ice water. When you get home to clean them there will be no bloody mess and the fillets will be as nice as if you soaked. I've been doing this for years both summer & winter and it works great.

eyewarrior

[rangerforme]

My father-in-law will put them in a garbage bag and throw them in the refigerator over night, they are just right for filleting and taste and look fine the next morning.

[Shack]

First off, I catch and release 99.9% of my fish, because I figure it does help. Plus when I get home from fishing, I want to unload and go inside.

But, when I do keep fish (ones that die and I can not get back down the hole) I try to keep them from freezing, because that means the next day clean for most. Funny, because right after I clean them, they go right into a dish/bowl of ice/water, with some salt. I cook them the next day.

Now, this past weekend I had a privilege of watching a bunch of (cat) fish flayers at work. Fresh or frozen, they got the job done. I would say the frozen approach would be better for cats, because of the amount of blood involved, but that was just an observation.

This is my 2 cents on this subject.

Good luck..

[Sandmannd]

Another option is to use the Ice Well. I've put fish in that and pulled it out of the hole when I left. Most fish were still alive and kicking when I got home and none were frozen.

[tisosy11]

I've heard good and bad things about the ice well. Depending on temperature of course it can freeze to the side of the hole.