Cleaning and Keeping Your Catch!

I would think that it's kind of a "no-brainer" this time of year with heat and all that you need to really watch how you keep and clean your catch. However just as recently as a week ago I seen fish being kept in a tub with out any water or ice; just pitching them in to take home for cleaning. I myself do not have a live well and use an ice chest for my catch but I always throw in a couple bags of ice first and cover them with ice when heading home. I see many like to clean there catch at the lake, which is probably the best idea but many times for me it's already dark so cleaning at the house is easier plus the tomatoes really like the scraps.

ice in livewwell

I perfer keeping in airated livewell till it gets too hot then ice chest full of ice for me . Clean most at public fish cleaning station and back on ice . But give away lots of limits before filleting if possiable . When garden not planted I do carry in lots of scraps for the mater patch .

I use my livewell ... generally half full of water ... and add a 1gal plastic jug of ice

I will also take along a cooler, left in the truck, where when I'm finished fishing for the day the fish are placed for transport back home ... in those instances where I cannot clean them at the lake. The 1gal jug of ice is also placed in the cooler, if it still has > 1/3 the ice left ... and if not, a bag of ice would be purchased and placed in the cooler (if the trip home would take more than 1hr).

This is done for several reasons :

so as not to have a slimy livewell to clean
so as not to have slime water drained out onto the parking lot at my residence
the cooler/jug are easier to clean (inside my residence)
to insure that my catch doesn't spoil during transport

Ice
Ice
Ice
While filet ice
Ice
Ice

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Have a live well.Keep in livewell while fishing .Put on ice while transporting to lake house or Home before cleaning.A lot of lake's have length limit's.Do not like cleaning them on the lake are boat ramp's.some have cleaning station's for cleaning.

My boat doesn't have a live well. The fish go right into a cooler of ice for me. I like to fillet them at a fish cleaning station at the lake where possible. I like to rinse the fillets and put them in gallon zipper bags then back into the ice for the ride home. When I get home the fillets get dried and vacuum sealed for the freezer.

I have a live well but I do not use it in summer. If I am keeping fish they go straight on ice. TN does not have very many cleaning stations on our lakes...hardly any really. Cleaning ones catch at the lake in TN can get you a ticket....depending on the situation....where at and so forth....not saying one will get a ticket but it is a rule never the less. Here is the exact wording "It is unlawful to possess while afield any fishwhich has been altered to the extent thatits species or total body length cannot bedetermined".


Regards

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Originally Posted by Machine

Ice
Ice
Ice
While filet ice
Ice
Ice

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That's my method, once they're in the box they're on ice until they hit the freezer back home.

If it's in the 90's and above like it's been the last few weeks, they'll go straight into the color full of ice. At the end of the day I will rearrange the ice to put plenty on top of the fish for the ride to the house. I haven't had the best survival rate when the water and air temps are so high. When fishing tourneys in the heat, we put frozen liter bottles of water into the live wells to bring down the water temps and add a Power Bubbles stone to increase aeration.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Machine

Ice
Ice
Ice
While filet ice
Ice
Ice

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This

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Originally Posted by RiverSlabber

That's my method, once they're in the box they're on ice until they hit the freezer back home.

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I even do this in spring

If I'm beat I leave them on ice till next day then filet them

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Machine

If I'm beat I leave them on ice till next day then filet them

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I have done this as well, leav'em overnight on ice but sometime I get a little skittish of doing that. I've seen pics of the fish market where there bringing in the catch and keeping on ice till they auction 'em off.

I have put fish in the frig overnight for cleaning the next day. I've been told if the gills are a nice red color they are still good. Never had a problem doing that.

I clean fish the next day and don't give it a second thought. In my opinion, the key is ICE. My summer fish go from hook to ice and stay there. I have ice in my cleaning bowl while filleting the rest of the catch. They never ever come out of ice except when literally on my fillet board under the knife, then back to ice. The ice water is so cold in my cooler that I almost have to wear gloves to get those jokers out. LOL