On board cleaning/bait board set up

[Chinookslayer]

Hey guys, curious to see your baitboard/cleaning stations on board. My last boat had a built in bait tank with water plumbed into it. It was perfect for bleeding fish, I could cut the gills in the tank, turn on the water and let it wash out the blood before the fish went in the cooler. I can't stand having fish in the cooler mixed with blood. Once the blood is gone it gets rid of the fishy smell and improves the meat quality I find. My new boat doesn'y have this set up. Was thinking of adding something off the back of the boat where I could bleed out the fish and keep it off the deck and outa the bilge ideally.

 

[Original]

Did this yesterday. Bag of frozen water bottles in the fish tub. Catch fish (this is the hard part) bonk & put into the tub then get lines back down. Then I will bleed them and add a bit of water. Once they’re bled out I use a hand bilge pump with a long 3ft hose and the bloody water is shot over the side and I add some fresh sea water. They key is get the lines back down first ;-)

 

[Fishin]

The easiest and cheapest solution I’ve found is a 5gal bucket fill with water cut gills and leave the fish for 5 min or so. I don’t have a raw water wash down or anything on my 18’er I did make a cleaning/bait board out of a cutting board from princess auto for pretty cheap and a few Scotty mounts.

 

[A-a-Ron]

I use the plastic baby bathtub that I raised my kids on. Works great

 

[chille51]

The old bucket of water for me too at the moment.

 

[Eden Island]

I have a fiberglass box [approx 40"L x15"W x15"H] mounted on the swim grid with drain holes. The fish goes in, gills get cut and I pour water over it every 5 or 10 minutes for the first half hour. Fish get cleaned in the box, washed with saltwater washdown, bagged and into the cooler with ice. No blood onboard to mess up family cruising.

 

[Chinookslayer]

I have a fiberglass box [approx 40"L x15"W x15"H] mounted on the swim grid with drain holes. The fish goes in, gills get cut and I pour water over it every 5 or 10 minutes for the first half hour. Fish get cleaned in the box, washed with saltwater washdown, bagged and into the cooler with ice. No blood onboard to mess up family cruising.

I like that idea. Good idea

 

[wolf]

I have a cooler on a bracket thats on the pod ,then I have a small bilge attatched to trim tab thats plumbed into a thru hole fitting that ive drilled into that said cooler (at the top) that I just stuff the hose into it, so every 30 mins or so fill it it with nice fresh ocean water and flush my fish after I gill them. and being a igloo coller keeps the fish cold from the ocean water. and leave the drain hole open. So im contintally flushing the fish. at end of day they are nice and firm and cold and bleed . make a WAY better product

 

[Aquaholic]

I use a coho trough that you can buy, Sea Dog makes them. There is a larger style available for the commercial fishing industry from Tri Core but you need to figure out a mount system.

I have kitchen scissors that i use right after the bonk to completely split the gills on both side. A few bucket of water helps bleed it out seemingly better than a hose system due to the volume and weight. I have a washdown system in a box just not installed yet. Usually no blood trace in the fish locker n ice after.

Some photos of peoples catch are disgusting. Always think like a commercial troller in that you don't want them to be second graded.

 

[SpringVelocity]

I have a welded tray. Its left over from ones I used to sell. It just clicks into scotty postholder.

I have a cooler on a bracket thats on the pod ,then I have a small bilge attatched to trim tab thats plumbed into a thru hole fitting that ive drilled into that said cooler (at the top) that I just stuff the hose into it, so every 30 mins or so fill it it with nice fresh ocean water and flush my fish after I gill them. and being a igloo coller keeps the fish cold from the ocean water. and leave the drain hole open. So im contintally flushing the fish. at end of day they are nice and firm and cold and bleed . make a WAY better product

Roy great for large boats with big beam. Your hourston is huge beam wise on a 26ft tank. Love to do it mine but not big enough.

This is what I did. I would make it removable so when your done you can store it. I find people put all these bait tables on permanently but it gets in way fishing....

 

[Chinookslayer]

I use a coho trough that you can buy, Sea Dog makes them. There is a larger style available for the commercial fishing industry from Tri Core but you need to figure out a mount system.

I have kitchen scissors that i use right after the bonk to completely split the gills on both side. A few bucket of water helps bleed it out seemingly better than a hose system due to the volume and weight. I have a washdown system in a box just not installed yet. Usually no blood trace in the fish locker n ice after.

Some photos of peoples catch are disgusting. Always think like a commercial troller in that you don't want them to be second graded.

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View attachment 108677

Yeah I totally agree . I see people that fill there fish cooler full of Chinook that haven’t been bled it grosses me out. I started removing the skin now too before vacuume sealing . Makes for a much better product when the fish thaws out.

 

[Aces]

Yeah I totally agree . I see people that fill there fish cooler full of Chinook that haven’t been bled it grosses me out. I started removing the skin now too before vacuume sealing . Makes for a much better product when the fish thaws out.

Some of us like to cook them skin side down

 

[SpringVelocity]

I actually found something interesting. This Japanese method is interesting if you learn how to do it. Never tried it myself but heard lots of good things on those that do. Sorry a bit off topic....

 

[wolf]

Roy great for large boats with big beam. Your hourston is huge beam wise on a 26ft tank.

Its easy to do and ive seen on smaler boats too. my old 20 foot double eagle I had a custom box out the back if there is a way it can be done!!!I had to cut certain pieces out to make it fit for engine to tilt up and cooler has to be in boat when engine is up small scarifices to make my product the best it can be... I used to cringe when people didnt care for there fish, its food treat it with respect blead and flush even beter on ice . we spend way too much money to ruin great fish we harvest...

 

[Chinookslayer]

Its easy to do and ive seen on smaler boats too. my old 20 foot double eagle I had a custom box out the back if there is a way it can be done!!!I had to cut certain pieces out to make it fit for engine to tilt up and cooler has to be in boat when engine is up small scarifices to make my product the best it can be... I used to cringe when people didnt care for there fish, its food treat it with respect blead and flush even beter on ice . we spend way too much money to ruin great fish we harvest...

Do you have any pictures of your double eagle set up? That’s what I have now ( 206 podded )

 

[wolf]

Do you have any pictures of your double eagle set up? That’s what I have now ( 206 podded )

that was 20 plus years ago lol My buddy built it for me and alumn box that followed the contour of the transom had 2 drain holes that you could plug with 3/4 boat plugs and id use a bucket to add water to the bleed fish, now its the cooler and bilge

 

[Squire]

I actually found something interesting. This Japanese method is interesting if you learn how to do it. Never tried it myself but heard lots of good things on those that do. Sorry a bit off topic....

That is interesting and I thought bonk, bleed and ice within a minute of the fish on board was taking good care of the meat.

 

[Squire]

Some of us like to cook them skin side down

And I believe the skin offers a layer of protection from freezer burn so I only remove it prior to cooking if at all. It depends on how I’m cooking it.

 

[jackfish]

Nice long fish box in the transom, with a wee bait cutting board on the lid. But...the bucket method seems to be the best. Gravity does the work.

 

[ReelSlim]

I went a bit of a different route since it was a build and liked one that I saw done this way. I didn't want to lose a bunch of real estate under the gunnel for access to batteries etc so mine is only set down a bit. I had the extra beam so I think it's about 44" across and drains overboard. It holds a lot of fish and even large Halibut easily. It makes the back deck feel safer on rough days and it's a decent height to work on. I also like to lean against while in steering and prefer to stand anyways. I wasn't sure I liked it when I first saw it but wouldn't trade it now for anything else. You can see the room with an 80cm Spring and a little shorter one....