Thread: How long before a ungutted fish goes bad?

I keep mine in a bucket of water in a designated fish refrigerator. The frig is a pretty good cooler. I figure if it freezes my beer, then it prob freezes the fishes butt too. Water bucket usually freezes over. I watch the gills. Chilled fish are easier to fillet and by far a lot less bloody mess. 2 days max. You can catch live fish with cloudy eyes, especially a previously caught fish.

THIS COMES FROM A PROFESSIONAL COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN IN LOUISIANA

He told me that fish can be kept for 2 days on ice legally, and 5 days with a brine mixture. This is the standard at which the health department says its safe to keep fish chilled before cleaning. Although laws vary depending on what type of fish your catching. On professional fishing vessels, they are out at sea sometimes days or a week at a time without stopping to clean fish.
Rule of thumb is that crushed ice actually keeps fish colder than cubed ice. If keeping fish longer than 24 hours, it is recommended to sprinkle the ice with lots of salt. The salt actually drops the temperature even more, as we all know from making home-made ice cream.
Also, its the bacteria that grow on the fish after it dies that can make you sick. The feces and undigested food in the body cavity begin to breakdown even though it is on ice. The ice itself just slows the process, and obviously the colder it is the slower the bacteria will grow.
A good way to tell if fish is spoiling is if the gills have lost their red color, then the fluids in the fish's body have begun to breakdown. When the gills turn mostly white or brownish yellow, it is not recommended to eat them at that point.

I like to fillet the fish I keep as soon as possible. I would never put them 'on ice' and fillet the next day. (live on the lake, so keep them in a live box)
Went out today, trolled for 'dinner' catching about 20 small white bass and keeping 3 that were a little over 12 inches. Put them in the live box, went and worked in the yard for a couple of hours, had lunch, then went down to the dock, filleted them, getting all of the red meat out and placed the fillets in salty ice water, which will firm them up, and into the fridge.
Was fishing on Lake Wabesa in Madison, Wisconsin, a few years ago and was talking at the campgrounds to this older couple. They had caught a big mess of crappie. The guy told me the way he kept his fish was to freeze them whole--about 5 in a bag. When they want to eat some fish, he takes a bag out of the freezer, cleans them , and fries them up! Now I do not think I could do that!

Originally Posted by Team M&M

THIS COMES FROM A PROFESSIONAL COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN IN LOUISIANA

He told me that fish can be kept for 2 days on ice legally, and 5 days with a brine mixture. This is the standard at which the health department says its safe to keep fish chilled before cleaning. Although laws vary depending on what type of fish your catching. On professional fishing vessels, they are out at sea sometimes days or a week at a time without stopping to clean fish.
Rule of thumb is that crushed ice actually keeps fish colder than cubed ice. If keeping fish longer than 24 hours, it is recommended to sprinkle the ice with lots of salt. The salt actually drops the temperature even more, as we all know from making home-made ice cream.
Also, its the bacteria that grow on the fish after it dies that can make you sick. The feces and undigested food in the body cavity begin to breakdown even though it is on ice. The ice itself just slows the process, and obviously the colder it is the slower the bacteria will grow.
A good way to tell if fish is spoiling is if the gills have lost their red color, then the fluids in the fish's body have begun to breakdown. When the gills turn mostly white or brownish yellow, it is not recommended to eat them at that point.

Sometimes when fishing a whole weekend I will put them in a big cooler covered with crushed ice and sprinkle some rock salt on top. They are nearly frozen and still very fresh when removed. By the time you get them out and get ready to filet they have warmed up just enough to make the meat easily to filet.

Just keep the water drained several times a day. I will prop my cooler up on it's side to make sure it drains completely.

You can also layer fish/ice etc for a multiday trip.

In the summer, in Texas we usually have to put them on ice instead of a live well, even a good one. I fish year around but try to fill the freezer during the winter. I believe the fish tend to be a little meatier as well.

Always funny to tell folks that "Yeah we caught around 30 to 40 keepers today", "Wow bet you had some fileting to do", "Naw we didn't keep any".

:D