keeping a fish fresh

[locdog8169]

When catching a keeper fish when shore fishing, whats the best way to keep it fresh so you can keep fishing. should i just stick it in a huge cooler?? i read somewhere else to bury it in the sand??
Any suggestions

[bloocrab]

Leash her.

If your jetty/pier/rock/bridge fishing...tie her up with a rope, she's kinky, she'll like that...and if your wading, tie her to yourself...just make sure she dead or she'll bite your weewee off.

Put a rope down her throat and out thru her gills. Tie knot.

[locdog8169]

should she be alive or dead when i tie her up either way, from a dock or to myself

[bloocrab]

..."keeping a fish fresh"....

If you have confidence in your rope, keep her alive. You can't get much fresher than that. The rope won't allow her to breathe properly which in turn won't allow her swim bladder to function properly...and she'll eventually turn sideways/belly-up...but she'll still be ticking for quite some time, keeping the fish(meat) as fresh as possible. Don't go out of your way to keep he alive though...let the rope take it's course. Some may consider this cruelty, but let's not forget...this fish is being kept for a reason - consumption -

swim bladder = It looks like a balloon and is. It is divided into anterior and posterior chambers by a narrow passage. Gas is secreted from the blood by the epithelium of the anterior chamber. In the posterior chamber gas is re-absorbed. By balancing secretion and absorption, the fish can maintain neutral buoyancy at any depth in the water column..<<from the net

..yeah, my middle school science project was on the anatomy of a fish. I drew some great pictures...I think the A+ was more for the pictures than my report though

[capesams]

carefull of keeping a stringer on you with a fish . new state law[I beleive] says no stringers for sb.. I guess they fugure if you catch a 29"er the first 10min's your fishin your not going to call it quites, but stay to see if you can get a bigger one, so off go's the little one an on gos the biggin...they call it culling. big no no with them.

[TheSpecialist]

Ditto what Capesams sais,stripers not allowed on stringer.

[Goose]

Cover it with alota weed and it keeps eyeballs off too

[RickBomba]

I like the cooler idea....I only have giant coolers around when I'm fishing live herring, though.
Later,
Rick

[Joe]

If you catch the fish in the night and fillet it before you leave – that fish will still be way fresher than any store or restaurant fish you’ve ever had.
A freshly caught fish is not going to go bad at night unless it is a scorching hot night or you let it sit out in the sun. I’ve caught fish in the summer (at night) and left them on the beach for 4+ hours and they still tasted great when prepared. They don’t die as quickly as you think.

[capesams]

has to b brought HOME in the whole,,men in green here aren't nice at all......

[fishweewee]

Originally posted by bloocrab
...just make sure she dead or she'll bite your weewee off.

And don't get into any fights with ornery crabs!

There was a time when I had my act together and always brought along a large cooler filled with ice. That's probably the best thing to do to keep fish fresh - on ice and out of the sun.

This time of the year, while it's still fairly cool near the beach, you can get away with just a cooler with no ice.

I fish mostly at night during the summer, so the hot temps which can spoil meat quickly during the day aren't an issue.

-WW

[bloocrab]

Originally posted by TheSpecialist
...stripers not allowed on stringer...

...had one on a stringer at the canal. Green guy comes buy and asks me to take it out of the water. He measured it and said Good job. I guess it's not steadily enforced.

...I guess I'll stop driving over 65 mph too...

[STEVE IN MASS]

Bloo, you got lucky, cause as of last season, high grading was made illegal in Mass......and if you have a fish on a stringer in the water, they assume you are high grading, so like I said, you got lucky.

As to filleting them, you can fillet them, but you must keep the carcass for measurement, should you be stopped. Again, with the (ir)regularity of enforcement, that's probably a moot point as well....

[wjm]

You also may want to check local rules. Weymouth has a posted law banning cleaning of fish in it's waters. Seems kind of ridiculous because the sign say's nothing about chum

[Adamfishes]

I heard that putting some sea water in a trash bag and then puttin the fish in there is good. Any thoughts?

[luker]

...absolute frehest? filet it out immediately, ice the filet, keep the rack for the coppers ....

also- did you know that the rack and head cleaned down and boiled and picked is the start of a tremendous fish stock...you will be absolutely amazed at the quality of stock and quantity of meat you can get from the rack...

[Notaro]

well, i usually gut the keeper i catch and clean the entrails and anal canal out and wash the blood in the saltwater when im near the water. and stuffed it with crushed ices in its belly and in a bag. then i bag it with more ices. but having a cooler is a good idea. usually if i catch a keeper, i stop fishing right away because i dont want to wate my time and lose the fish's fresh flavor.

[bloocrab]

Notaro...I used to do the same thing. I always felt it made sense to 'undress' the fish while I was there. #1 the guts/fins go back to be recycled (crabs/other fish/etc..) instead of wasting them by putting them in the trash. #2 I don't always fillet...and when you de-scale a striper....WATCH OUT!!..they're like mini-frisbees.. ...and #3 papa always said, use saltwater while undressing, keeps the flavor in the fish....I will still string fish, as it suits me purpose. If you decide to bleed a fish, the water helps move the process along. I do NOT keep more than legal limits...so if they have a problem with that, let them do what they gotta do.

i catch and clean the entrails and anal canal

...thats just wrong, let him wipe his own a$$!!!

[Strippedgear]

Hi all,

Yesterday at the canal I observed a green guy in the parking lot checking out the guys with fish and writing some kind of reports after doing interviews.

So, a word to the wise, BE LEGAL IN WHAT YOU KEEP. Big brother is watching.

Tight lines to you all.

[Notaro]

i don't put the entrails and guts in the trash. i toss them into the water to feed some junk fish and sea gulls. i saw a sea gull swallowed a large intestine of a striper last summer. it was damn so big.

[STEVE IN MASS]

Originally posted by Notaro
i don't put the entrails and guts in the trash. i toss them into the water to feed some junk fish and sea gulls.

Ah, but if you bury them in the vegetable garden, they grow AWESOME tomato plants......