Fish spoil

I think for the first time in my life, I had a small mess of fish go bad, before I could get them in the freezer. I hate to ever waste, but I seriously think they went bad.

Caught em saturday (it was pretty hot) at nimrod. Got him bout 2pm. Cleaned and, put em in sink with fresh cold water for couple hours. Then in fridge. But when I got to them in the sink. They stunk! Bad. Just like a sack of old fish guts. I am no beginner by any means. I've cleaned and lived off fish for over 30 years. Never had I smelled that out of fillets. Any thoughts or experiences?

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Yes it was hot Saturday. The water temp was probably in the mid to upper 80's. If you put your fish in a live well, chances are if any of them were gill hooked them they died pretty quickly. And in that water temp they spoiled just as quickly. Then all it takes is a couple of bad fillets mixed in with your good ones, even in the refrigerator and that bacteria will spread quickly. In this case, one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch, so to speak. That's why this time of year I hardly use my live well. The fish go straight to the ice chest. But even then one time 4 of us were catching crappie on Nimrod so fast and throwing them in the ice chest they stacked up so quickly that the top ones never touched the ice and never got cold. When we got home we had some spoiled fish. For that reason I now take my boat paddle and stir the fish down into the ice if we are really catching them. And because of that experience, now when I go to clean them I always look at the gills first. If they are crimson red, you're good to go. But if they aren't then I smell of them, the gills, if they smell spoiled, chances are you're too late. At least that's been my experience. Also, if you clean a spoiled fish but decide it's bad and throw it away, clean your blades and anything that touched it before cleaning any more fish. That bacteria will still spread and can ruin the rest.

Thanks. This was a first for me. Glad it was just a small patch. Even though I hate it either way. Definitely lesson learned.

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Back in the day when I used to bream fish during the hot summer months I had this happen once, once is all it took, Now, when the water temp reaches 70 degrees, all fish intended for the dinner table go directly on ice, easier to clean when dead and cold as ice. Not to mention no spoilage. Bream is the only fish I ever had that I lost to spoilage, But when you are catching them as fast as your bait sinks into the bed you dont really think about it til its to late.

If you use a ice chest in hot weather layer fish and ice . I use a livewell most of the year . Any dead fish go in the ice chest . Helps to use a bucket with ice and water to rinse fillets in to cool them down at cleaning station before bagging and putting in ice chest .:twocents

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

If you use a ice chest in hot weather layer fish and ice . I use a livewell most of the year . Any dead fish go in the ice chest . Helps to use a bucket with ice and water to rinse fillets in to cool them down at cleaning station before bagging and putting in ice chest .:twocents

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Thanks. I also use livewell and keep em running just like i would to keep bass alive in a tournament. Guess im gonna start bringing a small cooler. I was the red skeeters beside y'all with the young boy Saturday morning.

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My grandad used to throw any spoiled fish (and guts) into the garden dirt and then sprinkle with triple 19. He had some of the best maters!

That reminds me, I was a taxidermist for 16 years. I brought several huge stripers that I had skinned home and thought I would bury them in the garden to rot, critters dug it all up the first night and I had spoiled rotten fishing stinking up the whole place. I thought if a little fish was good for a garden, then a lot must really be good. Wrong!


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We bury thousands of lbs of fish and fish parts in my garden most years . If not Catfish and Crappie scraps then it is Buffalo , Drum and Carp from my nets each winter . I cover well and my garden inside a chain link fenced yard . Seldom have much trouble with being dug up .

I always put my fillets in ice water as I clean them.....winter or summer. Just a habit I guess