Corpusfishing.com

[Gotta Catchem All]

Question for you guys..

When keeping a fish, what happens to the meat and taste if it's not put in a ice chest for a while? Is there a time limit you go by? I see people at the jetties and in kayaks keeping fish without using a stringer or an ice chest.

[loco4fishn]

Stringer then Gut and gill right away. Meat is white when it comes time to fillet.

[CROAKERSOAKER]

I see people run the stringer through the gills which kills trout pretty quick. If possible be careful handeling the fish and get it on stringer quickly and with a sharp point to poke through soft skin near the lip. Keeping them alive until putting them in cooler is best thing you can do. I even take time to cool down the hot cleaning table on hot days of summer, the black table can be extremely hot. When fillets are cut I like putting them either in a baggy with ice and water or have a bucket with ice water that cooks them down quickly. May be a little overkill but I like my fresh fish to be fresh fish. Lol
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Take a kid fishing, best investment for them and our future of fishing.

[ironmanstan]

Once the gills go from the deep red color to a lighter color the fish is kaput . Lesson from experienced commercial fishermen. If the eyes are sunk in no good. If you push on the fish flesh with your finger and it leaves an indentation as in soft and mushy ....bleh! Other than that hug your dog and give it an extra treat.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[awesum]

Well, I started fishing the Laguna Madre waaaay back in the fifties about 2 decades before anyone thought about throwing them in a cooler full of ice. We always kept our fish on a stringer dangling over the side of the boat. Most of the time many of the fish were still kicking when we headed in. But back then it didn't take all day to catch a bunch of fish either.

We also kept our Kings in a garbage can with their tails sticking up.

I'm still alive.

[BayFly]

[Oil Field Trash II]

I thought kingfish were spoiled before you pulled them out of the water?

[TroutSupport]

Depends on the time of year as well. If you're fishing in december they'd probably last all day as long as they were not in the sun. Different story for July. In the spring like we are now, it could go either way. Best way is to spring for the ice and not worry about it. It's the lowest cost in the equation now days.

[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

[Tyler]

LOL! I sure remember those kings tails sticking out of the top of a garbage can. I think I remember the limit used to be some outrageous number like 15 or more.
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[maxthelab]

During the Depression, my Granddad caught and sold fish in East Texas (carp, gar, catfish, etc.) he said he would lay down a layer of wet moss, then fish, and then more wet moss, and take it to town to sell. One lady paid for her fish with a 1865 (I think) Silver Dollar. My Uncle still has it (the lucky sonofagun)! That dollar was old back then, so you know she was way down on her luck and doing what she had to do to provide for her family.

[Quad]

I try to keep them alive on a stringer for as long as possible, then on ice after more than an hour or two depending on the temperature.

[HardScience]

We keep gallon water jugs frozen in the freezer so we stock our coolers for muli-day trips. The ice take much longer to melt and the fish don't slosh around in melt water. I know that Dolphin Docks in Port Aransas will freeze and store fish for tourists.

[ST1300]

[FoldCatOne]

Why wouldn't anyone kill, bleed, and ice their fish as soon as possible?? I tend to defer to my "Japanese side" (I am Norweigian/Polish) when it comes to handling fish.
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Gary J
NA3VY
Ham Radio and Fishing - Is There Anything Else??
I'm Ultra-Conservative - Rush is a Liberal