Salmon on ice

[scott craven]

How long do you guys leave your cleaned fish on ice before processing ?
I'm thinking 6-7 days should be ok as long as the ice is topped up.

 

[burnsy22]

Our trip usually has them at around 5 days easy....And they are fine...6-7 should be ok...Wouldn't go much longer than that.

 

[codfather]

Two rules about ice.

1. You can never have enough ice. Keep the fish packed in loads of ice. When you open the lid the cooler should be full.
2. Keep the ice as dry as possible. Keep the plug out and the other end tipped up so it drains.

The commy boats can keep fish on ice for up to 10 days.

 

[seadog19]

ice or not

good info on icing fish, I once was asked to fish with fellow, who says don't need any ice, never use , never carry,
leave guts in fish, they stay insulated for 4 days no problem......just leave in coleman cooler dry..........

are u seriuos.??..........I have never EVER heard of this , I said, sorry but Im not coming... no ice no go.....

so we are going to Kyuquot offshore with NO ice........ no no no

course , don't know who fishing partner is now

 

[Anyfishlldo]

Good call on dropping that partner. The first thing to rot is the blood in the guts. Once decay starts it will pick up speed quickly.

 

[Labman2]

Good call on dropping that partner. The first thing to rot is the blood in the guts. Once decay starts it will pick up speed quickly.

Close, but it is the stomach acid that starts to eat it's way out, the minute the fishes circulatory system quits. Once it eats through the stomach wall, it will continue to eat into any of the fatty tissue it encounters.
Gilling and bleeding, is as important for preservation of the flesh, as gutting is.

 

[Charlie]

Two rules about ice.

1. You can never have enough ice. Keep the fish packed in loads of ice. When you open the lid the cooler should be full.
2. Keep the ice as dry as possible. Keep the plug out and the other end tipped up so it drains.

The commy boats can keep fish on ice for up to 10 days.

X2!
I have kept salmon bled, gutted, and gilled on salt ice for that 10 days. Drain plug pulled and not setting in water. Come to think about it, that is actually better than sticking in a freezer and that freezer running during the day cooling the meat, then the feezer is off at night, letting the meat warm and allowing the temperature of the meat to fluctuate prior to freezing. To answer another question that will make the meat turn out tough and "rubbery"!

 

[Steelhead S2]

My thoughts exactly. Thanks Charlie!

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

i think its important to add this: keep the fish in the round as long as possible. Many people fillet their fish right away. The minuet flesh is exposed, bacteria sets in. Even with halis. Bleed first (as soon as its in the boat), then head off and guts out and ice.

 

[Sharphooks]

Here's the commie formula for producing a white-table cloth fish fit for a five star eatery:

1)) Give the fish a wood shampoo immediately after it's in the boat---don't let it flop.
2)) cut out the gills, gut the fish, scrape out 100% of the blood line. With your thumbnail (or water jet), force all the remaining blood out of not only the blood line but the individual veins going up into the fillets on either side of the belly cavity
3)) Belly-ice the fish (or keep a supply of frozen water-bottles in your cooler and insert them into the belly cavity after you gut your fish)
4)) stack the fish with the heavy ones on the bottom, teenagers on top, with generous layers of ice in-between the fish. Flake ice (salt or regular) is the best---plug the cooler with ice
5)) Open the drain, then chock the cooler so the drain is on the downward slope---codfather got it right---draining is the key----it's an invitation to bacteria to let the melted ice pool in the bottom of the cooler

As codfather also mentioned, commies typically will get 10 to 14 days of shelf-life out of their fish, provided they're properly cleaned, bled, belly-iced, layer-iced, then the cargo be arranged to DRAIN

If you want shelf-life on your hali, heed IFL's advice---leave them gutted but in the round. Only fillet the fish for freezing or for eating; not for storing in a cooler. I'd add the following--- if you're going to store a headed and gutted male hali for any period of time, reach back along the blood-line to the extreme rear of the belly cavity, then with your index and middle finger, get the nuts out.

 

[eaglemaniac]

Great advice. lol. eman

 

[Dogbreath]

1)) Give the fish a wood shampoo immediately after it's in the boat---don't let it flop.

Correction-bleed the fish in the net don't bonk it at all-being as how we catch one at a time we have that luxury.

Insert a pair of pliers into the gills/rip out a bunch of rakers-and leave the fish in the water to bleed out-the heart will continue to pump and you'll be surprised to see how much blood comes out.

 

[muttley]

Great thread; I have made the mistake of filleting too soon until my father in law (ex commercial fisherman) set me straight.

Dumb question: If you have the ability to fillet and vacuum seal on a trip (keeping pieces together for identification), is it OK to keep on ice for a few days before freezing? Or is it better to fillet, seal and freeze once you get home?

 

[easywater]

With your thumbnail (or water jet), force all the remaining blood out of not only the blood line but the individual veins going up into the fillets on either side of the belly cavity

I learned this on my last trip to Tahsis.

After cleaning and before fileting, I use the cut end of the cleaning table hose to push the blood out of all the blood vessels in the stomach area.

Cutting the end makes it a fairly soft tool (instead of the metal) that you press along the vein.

I have heard of some setups that use some kind of a syringe on the end of the hose to force the blood out.

 

[Tsquared]

x2 on sharphooks post. We kept salmon for 10 days on my commercial troller--bleed, lots of ice and drain well and you should be ok. In a fish camp, save yourself a lot of work and put a minimum of 4 inches of ice in the bottom of the cooler before you start laying fish in, more if you are staying more than a few days. That way you don't have to pull out your fish and ice and start over when you realize the bottom ice has disappeared. Drain, drain, drain--that water is taking bacteria with it. Simple is good--lots of ice, drain and you're good to go.
T2

 

[Sharphooks]

Dogbreath has the bleeding part absolutely right, but maybe you wouldn't want PETA joining in on that particular party....

My preferred method when it's one fish at a time: the club comes down on the head and immediately after, I thread a short length of cord into their mouth and out through one of the gill plates and tie a bowline. The other end of the cord then gets cleated off to a stern cleat. With the fish hanging over the gunnel, I stick a knife tip into the circle of one of its gills, work it through to the other side and on out through the circle of the opposing gill, then I bring the entire blade on up through the isthmus (the triangular piece of meat that forms the throat). This move cuts through both gill membranes and the artery that feeds them. If you do it right it will look like you just butchered a cow back there

The key is the beating heart. It's like the Energizer Bunny---it keeps on ticking for about five minutes after the wood shampoo, just long enough to pump out most of the blood. Some guys use a basinet for the bleeding part. I find the cord off the stern works, as long as there are no sea lions in the area...

If you did that on a commie boat, the captain would think you were a time wasting tree-hugger and would cut your share in half for slowing down the operation.

But to hell with the captain--it makes for some really nice looking fillets...

Get the blood out, ice it and drain it, and if you decide to vac-pac the results, you'll have a fillet that in a year, will taste as good as it did the day you stuck it in the vac bag.

 

[sammyslabber]

Great tips guys a little extra care goes a long ways...sammy

 

[Bait tricks]

i think its important to add this: keep the fish in the round as long as possible. Many people fillet their fish right away. The minuet flesh is exposed, bacteria sets in. Even with halis. Bleed first (as soon as its in the boat), then head off and guts out and ice.

I agree with the halis to bleed but do it before bringing it in the boat then put on ice round, let rigormortis subside or recede or whatever you call it then butcher for a quality tender hali fillet(s).

 

[Sculpin]

I agree with the halis to bleed but do it before bringing it in the boat then put on ice round, let rigormortis subside or recede or whatever you call it then butcher for a quality tender hali fillet(s).

That's what we do. Kill them on the side of the boat then cut the gills to bleed them and hang them from a rope off of a cleat until bled out. Then gut them and put them on ice. I heard the slime on the skin is what keeps them?

Great thread. Care of the catch should be mandatory. If your spending money to get out there to catch these fish shouldn't you do everthing possible to make sure they are in prestine condition for eating later?

 

[Islandgirl]

Bleeding a fish definatly makes a difference in the quality of the meat. We bleeed everything salmon and hali. Next time you are at the cleaning table notice the meat of a fish that they do not bleed, it is full of blood when they are filleting it. When you bleed your fish they are not bloody at all when you get them to the cleaning table.

I learned about bleeding a fish from a friend that worked at a fish plant. Once you do it you will always bleed it.