Sick of my fish freezing so.....

[Far-I]

I thought i'd drill almost all the way through, then chisel out a small hole to let some water up, and use it as a kind of livewell. Sounds like a good thought to me now indoors, but wonder if it'd freeze up quick, or actually work.

Anyone else done this, or something similar? I'd use is primarily for gills and crappies, maybe a couple smaller stream trout.

[DTro]

or....you could get one of the Ice Wells from Todays Tackle. I hear they work really well.

[dspohn]

Do they sell those in stores or do you have to order them?

[zamboni]

Do they sell those in stores or do you have to order them?

I bought mine at Scheels

[Duffman]

I thought i'd drill almost all the way through, then chisel out a small hole to let some water up, and use it as a kind of livewell. Sounds like a good thought to me now indoors, but wonder if it'd freeze up quick, or actually work.

Anyone else done this, or something similar?

We've done it before, auger three holes next to each other, don't go all the way thru, clean up the edges with a spud bar, then scoop out as much ice as possible before you poke the little hole down to fresh water. It will freeze over, but the fish should get enough fresh water from below to keep from dying.

[Walter1]

I found if you let them freeze slightly they are much easer to filet and no meat is wasted. I dont see any reason to put so much effort into keeping alive.

[BartmanMN]

The Ice Well looks like a really nice product. Much easier to get your fish out with as well with the handles as opposed to fishing them out of cold water.

[waterwolff]

In Fisherman had that method in one of there books years ago.I put mine in a five gallon pail in the house.

Mike

[Scott K]

I just use a pail with the slush in it from my holes, it keeps them alive over night as well.

[epkirkman]

I drill six holes about half way down right next to each other, then I drill a hole one foot away from that. I use my spud bar to chisel out a couple of inches of ice. It is cheap and it keeps your fish alive all day.

[PiedmontAngler]

I have the ice well too and think it works great, plus you only have to drill one more hole. I usually drill it in the far front corner in my flip over.

Mine is 10" so it holds quite a few fish. I think they come in 8" and 10" for sure. Maybe smaller too?

[smeese]

I think the ice wells are a great idea, I am yet to pick one up. I think it is good to keep them alive otherwise all of the blood hardens and it is harder to get out of the filets.

[Kylersk]

I've got an ice well, I think I won it at a FM gathering.. I've yet to use it though. I tend to use the bucket method, fill it up with slush and water then add fish.

[Jim Almquist]

I like to use a old cooler and just put in some water and some snow. When you get them home they are ice cold but easy to fillet because they are not frozen.

[Ed Carlson]

or....you could get one of the Ice Wells from Todays Tackle. I hear they work really well.

They are available at most Gander stores. The large Lindy bait tamers work too for panfish and eat'r sized walleye and perch.

[tom fellegy]

how wet does your arm get when retrieving the fish from the hole?

are the fish hard to catch by hand in the hole?

sounds like a lot of work just to get your arm wet. water softner salt bags, keep them under my seat in the otter, no more frozen fish.

[Sandmannd]

Ice well is awesome, been using mine for a couple of years now. You can get them at Thorne Bros as well.

[navigator175]

The ice well works great.They come in 2 sizes 7" and 9".I ordered them from mnfishing.

[dspohn]

Yeah i stopped by Gander today and they didn't have any.

[mww24]

I just throw my fish in the sling under the seat of my fishtrap. They get cold but dont freeze. Or I use a bucket with snow. Easy and free. I personally do not like cleaning fish that have anything left in them, and definitaley don't like cleaning live and kickin ones.

[canadian_ice]

Another trick we use is to attach a good old fish chain/stringer to a piece of hockey stick and put your fish on the stringer and drop them down a hole. Fresh and lively fish all day. Just be sure to clear the hole once in a while if fishing is slow.

[jigginjim]

I put my fish outside to just keep them short of freezing. Then put them into a pail with snow. When filleting fish they are firm for lose of meat. If blood would be froze in the meat, I alway wash fillets before packaging or prep. for cooking.

[Fatboy216864]

I just tossed them in the tub for the fish trap, but now my garage smells like fish!!!! Oh well better to smell like fish, than to have no fish and smell good, right?

[jigging-matt]

I have always just used a bucket with slush and water and kept it in the house. Works great. Hate having frozen fish to clean.

[landscaper]

I have an "Ice Well" and it works great!! i use that and the bucket idea also