Icing your catch

[Rockin Johnny]

For me filling my freezer with quality protein is top priority while harvesting. I have always used salt ice and buried my catch within 15 minutes of catching. The last trip I was on there was no salt ice option and even fresh water ice was hard to find. I talked to multiple guys at the dock who say they never ice their fish…!? One said he puts his in his fish well and covers his catch in salt water, freshening it up every half hour, another said he keeps his in fish box and just sprays it down every once in a while. As convenient as this sounds I would imagine the quality would be jeopardized by doing this. What are your thoughts, hacks or ideas for keeping quality up when salt ice is not available?

 

[Poppa Reelie]

I used to just ice the fish all day then gut at days end... now I gut (when time allows) and get them on ice, meat stays firm. Thats sort of gross actually, any dead animal need to be kept cool.

 

[Rad Gumbo]

We keepem on ice blocks .. didn't always do that, and hven't noticed any difference. more for peace of mind

 

[Brando]

if using fresh water ice try to keep it seperate from the meat if possible (exposed belly cavity) think about what happens to salmon as they enter the river. Brain spike bleed immediately, personally don’t gut right away if I’m using fresh water ice. You can make a slurry in your fish box with fresh ice and saltwater as another option. Or keep the drain open on your cooler so the water doesn’t pool up. Getting the fish chilled asap is important though. I wouldn’t feel right leaving a salmon caught at 7am in a warm box all day guts in that sounds gross

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

I put 4 -6 big ice packs in my fish hold, fish is always cold at the end of the day

 

[Macdeep]

Ya, I usually have a few flat icepacks on the bottom of the cooler. Did salt ice a few times. Didnt notice the difference.
This year went with no ice for the most part. Bleeding them seems more critical, as long as you have a cool spot like under the floor boards, or in a cooler with or without ice.

Haven't noticed a difference. Fish still come out of the box decently cold. Even the morning fish seemed ok in the afternoon. Mind you, those morning fish are buried under a few mid-day / afternoon fish which are decently cold from living in the sea.

But if I was planning on retaining pinks, I'd 100% make sure that I have ice, or only retain one of those slimy bastards at the end of the day. Pinks are notorious for going soft on ya...

 

[chille51]

I will definitely always ice my fish given the opportunity. Salt ice preferred, but freshwater ice better than none. However, if I am just going out for a few hours and don't have ice handy I won't make a special run just to get some. Worst case I put my fish in an insulated kill bag after bleeding, and take one of those giant orange shammy rags you can get from Crappy Tire, soak that real good and wrap it around the fish for evaporative cooling. Charlie White used to write about laying burlap over the catch and soaking that - same idea.

 

[Rockin Johnny]

I will definitely always ice my fish given the opportunity. Salt ice preferred, but freshwater ice better than none. However, if I am just going out for a few hours and don't have ice handy I won't make a special run just to get some. Worst case I put my fish in an insulated kill bag after bleeding, and take one of those giant orange shammy rags you can get from Crappy Tire, soak that real good and wrap it around the fish for evaporative cooling. Charlie White used to write about laying burlap over the catch and soaking that - same idea.

Great idea, we do that on fresh picked cherries so makes sense.

 

[SpringVelocity]

I put ice in my kill bag. I bleed fish in bucket first and then into a fish bag. Huge difference and the fish doesn't touch ice.

Another thing I do is vaccum and freeze for transport back at dock. Usually places I stay remotely have freezer access and just take my own vac sealer if they don't have one.

I wanted to have that cooler on back like @wolf has. He has his fish in cold seawater in back of boat with a bilge pump. That is a good idea but I don't have enough room.