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I left a lively catfish in a big livewell overnight. Temp mid 50's.I'm pretty new to catfish fishing. I thought they were so tough it would make it through the night. This morning I went down and it was upside down and dead. The color had drained out of it's skin and it was stiff. I put it on ice. I wish I'd done that before but didn't have the ice then. Has it gone bad? Thanks
If his gills aren’t red anymore, I would give him to the buzzards.
From the earth, back to the earth..........
They are a tough fish, but with long hours in the same water it doesn't take long for the ammonia levels to build up. Plus, if it was in the postspawn stage they tend to be in a delicate state then....that goes for about any fish in the postspawn stage.
If the gills are faded out, I would clean it and give it to someone I didn't like.
I looked at the gills and they were pink.
Red OK, pink prolly not. If you’re questioning it now.....you’ll be hesitant when you get ready to eat it. I wouldn’t.
Clean it, if has no smell it should be OK to eat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugh Farbetween
Just throw it away and go catch another one
I looked at the gills and they were pink. I put it back in the lake. I'll let the creatures there decide if they're up for it. I imagine there will be some takers.
It took me hours to catch that one! Actually I was fishing for Crappie (without luck this day) and caught it on a little jig.
I already put it away. I hadn't seen this post until now. Actually it smelled OK. A little fishy but not like decaying. It was really stiff when I saw it this morning. I know a lot of people put them on ice first. I haven't done that so maybe they're always stiff after they've been dead for awhile? I always clean them after I take them out of the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by Techno2000
If it won't kill the buzzards it won't kill you. (famous last words)
"gene"
I’ve never been so sick as I was years ago after cleaning a bunch of crappie that had been on ice a couple of days. A couple had light colored gills and felt mushy. I cleaned them anyway and was soon hoping to die while I hugged the commode, puking my guts out.
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There's plenty of fish in the sea, lake, river, pond, etc. Why take a chance? Toss it/bury it.
As was said, it doesn’t seem like it would be worth the risk.
50 degrees , fillet it ,if you are really hungry and it had pink gills , heck as tough as they are, even dead it probably still had blood flow ….:Rofl