[BHB]

I catch and release all the fish I catch. However, what if I couldn't release in time and the fish died or if I decide to keep one, where and how do I keep it fresh in my belly boat? What do you guys do?

 

[stone]

If you carry a spool of 20lb Maxima in your vest to make butt sections for your leader, you can just make a stringer with a length of that and tie it off to one of your d-rings in your tube.

 

[fishortho]

You can also fill one of the storage compartments with a medim bag of crushed ice. With a small rope thru the mouth/gills to secure the fish, bleed & clean the fish on the water, then place into the bag of ice, and fill the cavity of the fish with some ice, also....If you don't catch anything, you can always use it to cool off the lemonade.....er.....ahhhhh margaritas :yummy:........Ortho 8)

 

[reelangler]

If you carry a spool of 20lb Maxima in your vest to make butt sections for your leader, you can just make a stringer with a length of that and tie it off to one of your d-rings in your tube.

Thread it through the gills. But make sure the fish is dead, or else it's illegal.

 

[mrmugs]

Stuff it down yer waders with sum ice!!! :happy:

Seriously,
If I do keep one and want to keep it fresh I run nylon rope through the mouth and out the gills. Make sure it's dead first!! Having a live fish tied up in the water is against regs! And make sure you are going to use this fish, EAT IT! :cheers:

 

[BHB]

Thanks for the ideas guys but Ortho what do you mean when you say "If you don't catch anything" I don't understand?

 

[professori]

Thanks for the ideas guys but Ortho what do you mean when you say "If you don't catch anything" I don't understand?

You can use the ice to cool drinks.

 

[fishortho]

Thanks, Prof.....I thought it was pretty clear..........guess not..............Ortho 8)

 

[reelangler]

Determining the situation, with the use of the fact that sarcasm is not always detectable over the internet through typing, I'm pretty sure that when bedheadbean said that he doesn't know what ortho means when he says "If you don't catch anything...", he was being confident in the fact he would definitely catch fish. Just in case you (prof and ortho), didn't catch that.

If you did catch that, and there's something I'm missing then I apologize, and I am apparently not very skilled at determining the way people talk over the internet.

 

[BHB]

No reeangler you got my sarcasm dead on but it was meant in good humour eace:

 

[professori]

ooops!! :happy: :happy:

 

[fishortho]

I guess things are a bit slow right now...................MMmmmmm..............as a good friend once said to me...."I'm going to have to give this a good think"..... ...............Never go 'tooning without cool drinks or hot drinks, pfd, take some food, and your mp3 so you can listen to tunes when the fish are not co operative. When the fish are co operative take your camera. Take an extra oar and some repair stuff (duct tape, and vinyl rerpair kit.............Oh and by the way, take some ice...............Ortho 8)

 

[mrmugs]

You might want to to take a rod, reel, and your lures and/or flies. Maybe :beerchug: a net? :happy:

 

[HOOK]

do none of you guys use the fish chains?? thats what i use with my fish. snap its neck, put the chain through the gills and let it hang in the water :thumbup: works grear for me. of course im not the one eating my trout (friends do) but they have never complained.

 

[Kuma]

Gill chains are common on the prairies where I'm originally from and I was surprised at the shock on the faces of those who initiated me here when they saw that I had brought one along. I'm assuming that the basis for making it illegal to keep them alive on the chain is to prevent people from transporting the fish to other lakes? Prevent people from "upgrading"?

 

[HOOK]

true but most of us kill our fish first even before they made it a rule to do so. no sense in leaving it there to suffer thinking if got away when it hasnt :naughty:

 

[mcallagan]

I have a square mesh bag with domes and velcro at the opening. It is then attached to my Bboat by a nylon rope that I can lower and raise depending on where I want it. I usually keep it about 1.5 - 2 feet into the water below my Bboat when fishing. When I'm trolling a fly I let it sit at the same depth.
When moving I bring it up so that the fish are just covered by the water.
It doesn't seem to get in my way when either fishing or playing one.
It's about 18" X 18" square.

 

[4x4]

I was told by quite a few people over the years that you should never keep a dead fish in the water.
Big time affects the quality of the meat. Jack Shaw also wrote in his first book that keeping a dead trout in water is the same as keeping a steak in water.
When I do kill a fish I clean it right away and put it in a wet burlap sack. I dip the sack in the water and then wrap it up and lay it on my lap. Besides the burlap sack the mesh apron does a good job keeping the sack out of the sun. On the weekend I put a frozen water bottle in the sack to keep the fish as cool as possible in the hot waether. Worked pretty good.

Ps - dip the sack every 15-20 mins to keep it cool.

 

[fishortho]

Now, you guys are catchin' on....You see, when fish are left in relatively warm water(on another post the surface water is now pushing into the 60's,) which is common for many lakes in the summer, it is not the best way to keep your catch (by leaving it in the water) if someone is planning on eating it.....Doesn't matter how creative you get, but three things MUST be done
1) You must cut or rip out the gills to Bleed your fish
2) You must clean the fish, remove all the entrails and the blood along the spine
3) You must keep the fish as cold as possible OUT of the water
4) Immediatle freeze or refrigerate at the 1st opportunity.

The flesh on a trout will deterirate VERY quickly, especially if you leave it in water that is more than 45 F...The end result will be a mushie/ non flavourful offering that you won't be overly proud of, or happy with.

The same can be said for all species of salmon, especially pink salmon

Tight lines...........Ortho 8)

 

[BHB]

Why do you need to bleed and gut the fish if they are going on ice or into a cooler?