Since i'm gonna have to use my tahoe to crappie fish from and since it has no livewell,will my fish keep okay if i just put them on ice in the cooler or would it be better to keep them alive then just ice before heading home?
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Since i'm gonna have to use my tahoe to crappie fish from and since it has no livewell,will my fish keep okay if i just put them on ice in the cooler or would it be better to keep them alive then just ice before heading home?
Put em on ice, they will be fine.
Ice is the best never ever used a live well
Cooler on ice is fine. Make sure you drain the water and keep them on ice only. The water logs them down and their eyes will turn hazy. They stay fresh on ice alone.
I actually wish my boat had no livewells. I am looking at turning at least one into a cooler.
I've devised a rack that holds the ice and fish a few inches off the bottom of my cooler. It keeps them out of the slimy water. Works great! I kill and bleed the fish when I catch them.
I use a bigger Tupperware (cake pan size) and toss them in there then in the cooler of ice. Tupperware keeps them out of the water. If its just a short couple hours out after work during "key time" I'll just basket them off the side of the boat then in a pail when I'm done, 5 min ride home and fillet.
When I'm keeping fish (usually I do CPR) it's just a cooler full of ice. If I'm out on the lake all day I drain the water out of the cooler a few times so they're not sitting in the slimy water.
thanks for all the replies,i used the ice cooler method and it has worked great,i have acquired a 800 nitro now with double
livewells,so i will be trying it out now and ice them after fishing,if we can even catch any now.
There is a great thread in the "cooking" section from an old offshore fisherman that talks about keeping your catch fresh.
It is the best article I have read in quite awhile as it explains exactly what he did and why he did it. The interesting thing to me was the fact that he didn't need to bleed the fish.
Take a look at it and you might have a different take on storing/keeping your catch fresh. It opened my eyes and I ran big boats on lake michigan for years.
I only use ice! It keeps the meat firm :)
Especially in the summer and/or when you catch a bunch, they'll start to die and the meat goes downhill quickly. Packing them in and on ice is the best. I've seen many dead crappie with cloudy eyes that died and sat in a livewell all day that I wouldn't eat... Meat rots in 80 degree weather... Same thing for dove hunters that don't put their kills on ice then wonder why they taste bad..
Try ice chest with a couple of frozen gallon water jugs and add water until 4 or 5 inches deep in ice chest. As the crappie body gets cold Hypothermia sets in and blood will be drawn out of meat to internal organs. Less blood in meat when fileting and fish are still cold.
Do you remember anything more about the thread that might make it easier to find?Quote:
Originally Posted by wicklundrh
That's the method I prefere. Not near as much slime to deal with, seems they cool a little slower so blood is drawn out better and clean a whole lot easier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herewego
Firebug go down in this post to team M&M
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/cooki...fish-goes-bad/
Found it. Thanks, cray.Quote:
Originally Posted by cray