I clean mine within 48 hours. I've never like to go any longer. Something interesting is that I know guys that ice fish and they will catch fish and throw them on the ice and the fish freeze. They put them in a bucket and add water so the fish won't dry out. Once they get enough fish to fool with at the end of the week they thaw the fish and clean em. My point being, you might could freeze the fish solid and them thaw them out. Could be the fish get mushy.