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Keeping fish in winter

Discussion in 'Fishing Tips, Tricks, and Hacks' started by Little Spoon, Jan 7, 2023.

  1. Little Spoon

    Little Spoon Well-Known Member

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    Anyone have tips and tricks for keeping fish in winter? they usually become a slimy frozen mess is there a way of stopping this or just name of the game with keeping fish in winter? I usually don't keep many fish at all but would be nice to have a few for the freezer and get more confident cleaning em..
     
    Little Spoon, Jan 7, 2023
    #1
  2. Thane

    Thane Well-Known Member

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    Rinse your fillets well in water for 30 min in the fridge. Dump that water and one more quick rinse. Bag your fillets in a heavy duty zip lock bag. Fill the bag with water to the top, squeeze out all the air and zip tight. Freeze the fish like this and your fish will taste like you caught it yesterday in three months. I know someone who used old 1 quart milk cartons and put the fish in them with water filled to the top then freeze.
     
    Thane, Jan 7, 2023
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  3. Jneuf

    Jneuf Well-Known Member

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    Bit of a pain in the ass, but slam ‘em right away. Few things shittier than trying to fillet a frozen fish…
     
    Jneuf, Jan 7, 2023
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  4. Thane

    Thane Well-Known Member

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    Oh I guess I misunderstood Spoons original question. If the problem is the slimy fish in the vehicle bring a Rubbermaid tub or garbage bag. I have one of those clam livewell bags and keep the fish live till I leave the ice so no frozen fish. Walleye will survive all day in the bag. https://www.cabelas.ca/product/80345/clam-outdoors-fish-well?productVariantId=236019&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=Google+Shopping+Free+Listings&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzeSdBhC4ARIsACj36uEQdJ6Jh7iPbM2qJKAL950lhiyjGtJopBl46o68WBlTv-1Ynm-XXHMaAp7ZEALw_wcB

    I've gotten in a habit of bleaching the bag to neutralize the fish stink as well as kill any organisms from the fish and water to prevent the spread of AIS.
     
    Thane, Jan 7, 2023
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  5. Gord

    Gord Well-Known Member

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    Well I’ll be, never seen that one before.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Gord, Jan 7, 2023
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  6. Thane

    Thane Well-Known Member

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    They work great Gord. Pretty tough bag too with a nice zipper along the side. You just need to drill an extra hole in the ice for the bag.
     
    Thane, Jan 7, 2023
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  7. Frank_NK28

    Frank_NK28 Well-Known Member

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    I kill them and filet them right away. I leave a piece of skin as per regs for id purposes. I put the filets in a bag in a bucket and the carcasses and skin in a separate garbage bag in the box of the truck and take it home to put in the garbage. Much less messy than cleaning them at home.
     
    Frank_NK28, Jan 7, 2023
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  8. Green

    Green Well-Known Member

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    Bleed em out and toss in corner of tent until ready to move. Milk crate and piece of wood and slab them into a ziplock before leaving.
    If your on a hardcore run in gun and it’s freezing you don’t really have a choice but to let them freeze
     
    Green, Jan 7, 2023
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  9. Frank_NK28

    Frank_NK28 Well-Known Member

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    Yes I always bleed them out first too.
     
    Frank_NK28, Jan 7, 2023
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  10. chrism

    chrism Well-Known Member

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    I kept mine inside to keep from freezing, and slabbed when time was right - it is way less work overall.
    Bring a knife that you know how to use, and you can do a fish in mere seconds.
    If you are able to heat water, so much the better.
     
    chrism, Jan 7, 2023
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  11. Patty

    Patty Well-Known Member

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    Catch fish, clean fish, leave stupid little tag of skin on, put in bag, take home, eat……. Repeat…

    slimes nasty just clean em as you catch ‘em, it’s not hard to fillet a walleye super fast and easy, piece of plywood on the tailgate and a sharpish knife and go….

    I don’t freeze fish for myself, it’s nasty once it’s frozen (I don’t care how you do it I’ll pick it out every single time)… but I do freeze fish for others, and Thanes method above works great to keep them from getting freezer burnt and developing a strong fishy taste…
     
    Patty, Jan 8, 2023
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  12. Little Spoon

    Little Spoon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the pointers. Gonna have to get better at cleaning fish and get used to cleaning them on the ice. Being someone who fishes outside for majority of the time I have a feeling they will still end up freezing.
     
    Little Spoon, Jan 11, 2023
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  13. Patty

    Patty Well-Known Member

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    Just clean em right away lol
     
    Patty, Jan 11, 2023
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  14. Little Spoon

    Little Spoon Well-Known Member

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    Lol I'm not the fastest at it feel like I'd lose alot of fishing time lol but only one way to get faster
     
    Little Spoon, Jan 11, 2023
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  15. LizLakeZed

    LizLakeZed Well-Known Member

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    Wrap them in newspaper when you get home and thaw in the garage or fridge. Not perfect but it absorbs a lot of the slimy snot.
     
    LizLakeZed, Jan 12, 2023
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  16. Mike B.

    Mike B. Well-Known Member

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    I'll one up you-- a half frozen, half slime trailing goobery glob .....fricken gross, not to mention frustrating to work with

    What I do, is slab them asap (before freezing, packing in snow helps a lot) and leave the ribs in to take out just before preparing for cooking.

    Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk
     
    Mike B., Jan 16, 2023
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  17. Jneuf

    Jneuf Well-Known Member

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    Yep, that’s ideal @Mike B. …now, that said - I get lazy on the ice and leave fish in a frozen semi-circle more often than I’d like to admit, but slabbing them right away and finishing them off before cooking is by far the best way to go!
     
    Jneuf, Jan 16, 2023
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  18. Mike B.

    Mike B. Well-Known Member

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    Same....but a good solution to that is-- become a fair weather ice fisherman so you can wait til near end of day to slab them out

    What a mild winter so far



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    Mike B., Jan 16, 2023
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  19. Stevie B

    Stevie B Well-Known Member

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    I generally bring an extra empty bucket on days I'm expecting or wanting to bring home fish. The bucket stays in the tent with me, or in the cab of the truck to keep them from freezing. Then I will clean at home in the garage or basement utility room, which then you don't have to worry about keeping skin on.
     
    Stevie B, Feb 6, 2023
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  20. lirwin4

    lirwin4 Well-Known Member

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    I do the same thing, using the bucket as a live well!
     
    lirwin4, Feb 6, 2023
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