Keeping Fish

[buzbunni]

Being new to the hard water, I was wondering:What is the best method for keeping the dinner catch before you go home? I've heard it's not a good thing to let the fish freeze. If the temp is moderate obviously you can just put them on the ice, can't you?. Panfish in a insulated bucket? Any options for livewells or stringers under the ice? I've also heard that piling snow on them will keep them from freezing. I don't have a house yet; so most of this will occur in the elements. What about when it's really cold. I don't keep much, but I've gotta bring home some grub to the family one of these nights.

Thanks

Merry Christmas: Happy Holidays.

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SERIOUSLY! It was THIS big!

[rod bender]

Put some water in a 5 gal bucket and use it as a live well. Then the fish arrive alive, or close to it, when you get home. Letting the fish freeze, thaw, cleaned, froze, thaw, cooked and eaten takes a lot of the good taste out of the fish.

[Matt Johnson]

I'll just throw the fish in a 5 gallon bucket that I set behind me in the sled of my trap. That way they don't freeze and they are not hard as rock when I go home to clean them I've also thrown them on the ice before and had them freeze and then went home and thawed them out before cleaning, I haven't tasted a big difference between the two. Either way, the fish tastes great!

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[This message has been edited by Matt Johnson (edited 12-25-2003).]

[korn_fish]

I'm like matt, I have a bucket that I throw them in . It usaully doesnt have water in it either. Sometimes I will throw them on the ice, or better yet, I will sometimes drill a hole part way down, just enough to get a little bit of water in the hole and use that as a live well.

[RogersResort]

Put a little snow in the bottom of your bucket, and then toss in the fish. When you are done fishing pack more snow on top, when you are ready to clean the fish they will be just as lively as when you covered them up. It is really tuff cleaning a frozen fish.

[muskybuck]

I put a little ice or snow in the bottom of the pail and throw the fish in there. If I get a layer of fish in there I will cover them with snow or ice and keep going that way. They will keep a long time covered that way with snow or ice and not freeze up. Also you don't have fish laying on the ice attracting a crowd. I had a friend give me some crappies that had stayed ofver night that way one time and there was nothing wrong with them.

[Minnetonka]

I started using the snow in a bucket trick a few years ago. It works great. The fish a cold but not frozen.