Best care for good tasting fish

I was an offshore charter captain for many years and have been taking care of the fish that we catch. If you want the best tasting fish here is what the pros do: first make a brine slush with ice, water, and salt (like you do for ice cream ) then add your fish alive as you catch them. the ice and water will be around 32deg. What happens is the Fish will go into hypothermia, causing the blood to go to the organs and out of the meat. They will taste MUCH better and will be easier to clean. Best to clean them soon after you get in. This works on any fish fresh or saltwater . Give it a try and pass this tip on. No need to bleed fish ever again. Good fishing!

pat

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Originally Posted by Pgwilliamson

I was an offshore charter captain for many years and have been taking care of the fish that we catch. If you want the best tasting fish here is what the pros do: first make a brine slush with ice, water, and salt (like you do for ice cream ) then add your fish alive as you catch them. the ice and water will be around 32deg. What happens is the Fish will go into hypothermia, causing the blood to go to the organs and out of the meat. They will taste MUCH better and will be easier to clean. Best to clean them soon after you get in. This works on any fish fresh or saltwater . Give it a try and pass this tip on. No need to bleed fish ever again. Good fishing!

pat

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That is a good idea but I do the same with an added step.
I put my fish in a live well during the day of the catch so I can cull them later.
When I get home I put ice in a chest first on the bottom then the fish I'm keeping then another layer of ice. I leave them over night, clean them the next day.
Much easier to clean and no blood at all.

The best thing about making a salty slush is that you get an even cooling esp. If you have large fish or a lot of them... Eliminates hot spots on delicate species.


Pat

I perfer cleaning fresh fish my self , Crappie can become mushy in ice or ice water if left too long. I only put fish on ice when it gets too hot to keep them alive.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

I perfer cleaning fresh fish my self , Crappie can become mushy in ice or ice water if left too long. I only put fish on ice when it gets too hot to keep them alive.

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I found that keeping the water off them is the trick. So I prop my cooler up in a way that it is always drained.

The icy salty slush chills so fast that it actually firms up fish so you can clean em quick

pat

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pgwilliamson

I was an offshore charter captain for many years and have been taking care of the fish that we catch. If you want the best tasting fish here is what the pros do: first make a brine slush with ice, water, and salt (like you do for ice cream ) then add your fish alive as you catch them. the ice and water will be around 32deg. What happens is the Fish will go into hypothermia, causing the blood to go to the organs and out of the meat. They will taste MUCH better and will be easier to clean. Best to clean them soon after you get in. This works on any fish fresh or saltwater . Give it a try and pass this tip on. No need to bleed fish ever again. Good fishing!

pat

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How much salt do you use?

Interesting read.

The way you're handling your fish makes them taste a lot worse than they should | NOLA.com

Ricky

depends how big your ice chest is but taste it is the best way... Needs to be plumb salty tasting and will really be cold... Like when you make ice cream . If you are in saltwater just add seawater .