Crappie on ice

I see a lot of pics of people on the water with crappie on ice rather than in a live well. What are the benefits of putting them on ice rather than in a live well (assuming it keeps them alive)?

Easier to clean when you get home. No flopping around. :)

Don't know about yours but in this heat with a bunch of Crappie in my livewell , they die and spoil rather quickly.

I put them on ice simply due to the fact I have no livewell.

My live well is my dry storage compartment. I think fish on ice keep longer. Most of the time it is the next day before I get to clean fish. Cold fish are easy to clean. I keep them in ice with the plug pulled to drain.

there is not many livewell that well keep many crappie a live in this heat . they will ruin real fast as hot is it has been!!! if you are going to fish in this heat thats the last thing you want is your catch to ruin!!!!!!!

It keeps them from spoiling, it makes the meat more firm and they are easier to clean. it keeps your livewell from stinking in this heat.

X 2 ! ! ! Ice is the rule in this heat. We even take two ice chests with one slap full of ice so that we can place ice on the crappie as soon as we form a single layer of fish in the other ice chest. A few years ago we let 60 crappie spoil because all the ice was in the bottom of the ice chest and the upper fish were insulated from the ice and got too hot! Sometimes I even put clean water in the ice chest before starting so that the fish are going into ice water as soon as they are caught! For tourney fishing in this heat where the fish have to stay alive there are techniques to keep a few fish alive in the live well until weigh-in but it just isn't practical otherwise when you are keeping a lot of fish in hot weather.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

Don't know about yours but in this heat with a bunch of Crappie in my livewell , they die and spoil rather quickly.

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Originally Posted by luvpt

X 2 ! ! ! Ice is the rule in this heat. We even take two ice chests with one slap full of ice so that we can place ice on the crappie as soon as we form a single layer of fish in the other ice chest. A few years ago we let 60 crappie spoil because all the ice was in the bottom of the ice chest and the upper fish were insulated from the ice and got too hot! Sometimes I even put clean water in the ice chest before starting so that the fish are going into ice water as soon as they are caught! For tourney fishing in this heat where the fish have to stay alive there are techniques to keep a few fish alive in the live well until weigh-in but it just isn't practical otherwise when you are keeping a lot of fish in hot weather.

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+1

ICE in a cooler for fun fishing... If im in a tourney I keep frozen water bottels and throw one or two in every 3-4 hours to cool off the water and keep the fish healthy. Works Great and I feel like they are more frisky than when I caught em when I pull them out.