How To Keep Fish To Eat

[Fuese54]

What do you do after catching a fish to take it home and clean/eat it? Also how do you "bleed" a fish and does it make it taste better?

[zachb34]

I don't keep bass but for species I do keep I just throw them on ice and clean them at home.

[tomustang]

For the amount of time you have to put in, you're better off buying grocery store fish

[Fuese54]

From the moment you catch them, what steps do you take to get the fish home to clean and eat?

[kcdinkerz]

Just make sure to put them on ice, or keep alive on a stringer/livewell until your ready to fillet or clean them. Don't want your catch to spoil before you get home

[kcdinkerz]

Why would he be better off buying fish from the store?

[kcdinkerz]

What do you do after catching a fish to take it home and clean/eat it? Also how do you "bleed" a fish and does it make it taste better?

To bleed a fish you cut the tail off and hang it to bleed while it's alive. I'd much rather give them a quick knock on the head, and soak the fillets in salt water later.

[scaleface]

I often have bass on a stringer when fishing from a john boat. They can be on there for hours and are in good shape when I'm done fishing even in the summer. The constant water flowing through  the gills keep them oxygenated.  I fillet them at the lake , throw the fillets in an empty  ice bag and cooler , then rinse and put in the fridge too eat the next day . I love those slot limits .

 

[Lund Explorer]

What do you do after catching a fish to take it home and clean/eat it? Also how do you "bleed" a fish and does it make it taste better?

 

Almost all of the fish I catch that are going to end up on the dinner table are put into a cooler with ice water.  Putting them in a livewell or stringer is fine so long as they stay alive, but if any die before you leave, those fish are being stored at whatever the water's temperature happens to be.  In the summer, that might not be that good.  Another benefit to icing your fish is that most species are easier to fillet when they are somewhat stiff.

 

The only fish that I normally bleed out are large trout and salmon species.  The easiest way I've found to do this is to cut between the lower gill plates.  Note - make sure that this cut doesn't alter the fish's length if that is an issue where you're fishing.

 

In answer to your other post, I fillet all of the fish I plan to eat.  Other than bluegills or yellow perch, the others are also skinned unless the rules require that a patch of skin is left intact to determine species (Think Ontario).  When the skin stays on, I remove the scales first and then fillet.  Everything else is filleted and then I remove the skin.

[the reel ess]

I don't "bleed" them. I just try to either keep them alive or on ice until I get home. Stringer, livewell or cooler. You can leave them overnight on ice if it's too late. Then I fillet them and they go into a freezer bag and in the fridge. If, after a day I haven't used them, they go into the freezer.

 

My friend soaks them in a little brine overnight. But that's all I do.

[wytstang]

Why would he be better off buying fish from the store?

Some folks at uber sensitive about eating bass others feels buying your meal makes more sense. But nothing and I mean nothing compares to fresh food, ever. Caught and eaten with in hours taste amazing vs. frozen then defrosted and then eaten food. 

[the reel ess]

For the amount of time you have to put in, you're better off buying grocery store fish

Get an electric knife and get some practice with it. It'll go fast.

[RAMBLER]

If you make a fishing trip to Florida, don't put your fish on a stringer.  That's a buffet for the local alligator.  Depending on how strong your stringer is, that can be quite a problem.  And, yes, I see it often enough for it to be mentioned.  

[J Francho]

Up here, if you cut their tail off, you'll have trouble with the DEC. Altering the length is not kosher. If you want to bleed them, you sever the artery behind the gill plate. Look up gilling trout or salmon. Otherwise, and ice chest works fine. So does letting them go.

[NoLuck]

make sure you keep them alive, hit them on the head then gut them then fillet.

[WIGuide]

It's easiest to keep them alive in the livewell. That's now against the law here so you are supposed to put them on ice.

[RoLo]

For the amount of time you have to put in, you're better off buying grocery store fish

 

Fresh-caught fish is the real deal, and well worth a few minutes of filleting time.

 

In order to inflate profit margins, a high percentage of store-bought fish is farmed-raised.

Many studies have found that farmed fish generally contain significantly less omega 3s

and have a higher inflammatory value. These bad boys are linked to diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Roger

[Bob C]

I keep them happy in the live well and fillet them when I get home. Some go in the fryer and the ones that don't go in vacuum bag. Surprising how fresh the taste even months later. Any other way of freezing that I've tried had poor results.

[tomustang]

Fresh-caught fish is the real deal, and well worth a few minutes of filleting time.

 

In order to inflate profit margins, a high percentage of store-bought fish is farmed-raised.

Many studies have found that farmed fish generally contain significantly less omega 3s

and have a higher inflammatory value. These bad boys are linked to diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Roger

Filleting is quick, finding the fish is what takes time.

I don't like dog food grade fed farm fish, that includes stocked trout. Wild fish could be even worse, look at the susky, pretty much bags of mercury swimming around with cancer sores on them.

[RoLo]

Filleting is quick, finding the fish is what takes time.

I don't like dog food grade fed farm fish, that includes stocked trout. Wild fish could be even worse, look at the susky, pretty much bags of mercury swimming around with cancer sores on them.

 

If that were true, then store-bought fish that is not farm-raised, would be the same bags of mercury with cancer sores.

 

Roger

[Neil McCauley]

I don't keep LM/SM bass, not in about 15 years anyway. Not sure why, I think I just value them more in the lake than on my plate.

 

I do keep pumpkinseed and rockbass which are absolutely teeming on my lake. I store them with a 15' length of #18 bankline as a stringer. http://oi58.tinypic.com/rbxldx.jpgCut a small slit in the bottom jaw, thread fish on the line, tie knot around the jaw and let them just hang out under the boat.

 

My rule of thumb is don't keep anything that you can't catch 10+ of in an hour. First off you might not catch enough to feed everyone, and second it probably means their population #s aren't very strong.

 

Did someone say grocery store fish?

[tomustang]

Could be. It all depends on the waters from which their plucked from.

[the reel ess]

I don't keep LM/SM bass, not in about 15 years anyway. Not sure why, I think I just value them more in the lake than on my plate.

 

I do keep pumpkinseed and rockbass which are absolutely teeming on my lake. I store them with a 15' length of #18 bankline as a stringer. http://oi58.tinypic.com/rbxldx.jpgCut a small slit in the bottom jaw, thread fish on the line, tie knot around the jaw and let them just hang out under the boat.

 

My rule of thumb is don't keep anything that you can't catch 10+ of in an hour. First off you might not catch enough to feed everyone, and second it probably means their population #s aren't very strong.

 

Did someone say grocery store fish?

So you keep 9 fish on a stringer and if you don't catch the 10th you throw them all back? 

[Lunker Addict]

I normally do not like to keep fish unless I have to. When I do have to I clean them immediately and put them on ice and fillet them once I get home.

[Neil McCauley]

So you keep 9 fish on a stringer and if you don't catch the 10th you throw them all back? 

No, not really what I meant. I don't think I've ever kept 10 fish. Just 5 is fine for myself and wife. I don't start keeping them unless I'm already catching them at a good rate... a couple within a few mins for example. Don't need to actually get 10 in an hour.