Ice for your catch

[noelm]

Something that has always puzzled me, is why people don't take ice to keep fish fresh in the esky/kill tank? Fish in an esky with no ice do not keep cool, in fact, during summer they will simply get warmer, just like using seawater to keep your catch, water temps are still above 20 degrees, let's say you fish for a few hours, would you leave your fish in the sun for hours? A bag or two of ice is probably the cheapest part of fishing, if you're that tight, make your own, the quality of the catch will improve considerably if looked after when captured.....rant over!

[Bryant fish]

I keep old plastic juice bottles of water in the bait freezer always have ice that way and I suppose in an emergency you could drink it as well

[Bryant fish]

Oh Noelm I'm not that tight I normally  have everything organised so I don't need to stop anywhere

[Green Hornet]

I do the same as @Bryant fish. 2 large, frozen juice bottles fit neatly across the bottom of my fish cooler bag. Virtually costs nothing to keep my catch in prime condition this way.

 

[Yowie]

I freeze a container of water, then remove the ice block and place it in the esky when heading out. I add a bucket and a half of salt water to the esky when fishing starts, the ice block eventually melts and the water remains cold for hours, even for half a day in the sun.

[Isaac Ct]

I will buy a bag of ice and when I catch a fish, the esky will have salt water added to it, just enough to cover the fish with the ice.  Then once we have finished fishing and all the fish are cold then we remove the water.

[noelm]

Freezing plastic bottles of water is a good idea, they don't melt and make a mess, and there's always the possibility of emergency drinking water. I just use square ice cream containers, or square buckets to make ice, when crabbing, a 10l bucket of ice, plus a bag from the servo keeps crabs fresh until the boat is washed and put away and the cooker is ready to go, the crabs are ready to cook being in the ice. You only have to look at photos to see fish sitting in a no ice esky, or a bucket of sea water on the deck.

[Little_Flatty]

It was a real revelation to me when I started dispatching and icing my catch immediately. I don't think one realises how much a difference it makes until they try it.

To add a land based slant to this, you can buy one of those cheap cooler backpacks if you're fishing for bread and butter fish. Keep a couple of icepacks, a plastic bag for the fish (to avoid getting a 'fishy' smell into your bag), a small amount of terminal tackle/lures (or put on a tackle belt) and a knife. When you get a keeper, dispatch it, put it in the bag then onto the icepacks and then continue fishing.

I find this to be quite efficient and if you are smart about how much you carry, it doesn't limit mobility.

[noelm]

Yep agree, it makes a huge difference to the texture of the flesh and the taste, fish like (say) Kingfish and Tuna benefit greatly from icing ASAP, more common table fish like Flathead, Bream and Snapper return a much firmer flesh than ones just left in a bucket, cleaning and so on is also easier.

[Yowie]

2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

 

To add a land based slant to this, you can buy one of those cheap cooler backpacks if you're fishing for bread and butter fish.

If I am travelling about in the caravan, and fishing from shore somewhere, I use an Aldi blue cool bag, only a couple of dollars each, just add some ice to keep the fish/bait cool.

I keep several bags in the back of the car. They can be washed and re-used, but I do mark them "fish only" so the wife does not use one. I think the fish smell would give it away anyhow.  🤣

[noelm]

I have used them when beach fishing, mind you, most of my beach fishing trips are pretty short, but a couple of those plastic freezer "brick" things work a treat for a few Whiting.

[Bryant fish]

Yeah I wouldn't be eating any sort of seafood that hadn't  been kept cool it would be an easy way to get sick

[jenno64]

I agree with the ice packs and/or frozen bottles but I know that keeping fish away from tap water also improves the eating quality. When I clean fish or squid I only use salt water or paper towels as tap I've noticed the chlorine in tap water starts 'cooking' the flesh by turning it from opaque to white. If i freeze whiting or flathead fillets in a zip lock bag after being cleaned in salt water, they defrost as fresh as when first filleted and taste great, same with squid hoods.

[Bryant fish]

Hey Jenno I agree with not using  tap water but I'm a bit wary of the quality  of most saltwater for rinsing fillets.most of my fish come from the hawkesbury or pittwater  or within  a few km offshore so just a bit concerned it's clean

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, Yowie said:

If I am travelling about in the caravan, and fishing from shore somewhere, I use an Aldi blue cool bag, only a couple of dollars each, just add some ice to keep the fish/bait cool.

I keep several bags in the back of the car. They can be washed and re-used, but I do mark them "fish only" so the wife does not use one. I think the fish smell would give it away anyhow.  🤣

Yep, I often keep one of those rolled up with an ice pack if I'm fishing in waters where I can safely eat the fish. They are enough to keep fish ice cold for an hour+ trip home in the middle of summer. It can be surprising how effective those things can be.

[Fab1]

14 hours ago, noelm said:

Something that has always puzzled me, is why people don't take ice to keep fish fresh in the esky/kill tank? Fish in an esky with no ice do not keep cool, in fact, during summer they will simply get warmer, just like using seawater to keep your catch, water temps are still above 20 degrees, let's say you fish for a few hours, would you leave your fish in the sun for hours? A bag or two of ice is probably the cheapest part of fishing, if you're that tight, make your own, the quality of the catch will improve considerably if looked after when captured.....rant over!

You can’t teach common sense and you can’t fix stupid either mate.I use to see imbeciles in your neck of the woods(Windang) doing that very thing with undersized bream,mullet,tailor etc.

I took great pleasure “accidentally” kicking their buckets over back in the water to “cool” their catch for them.

  For you the rare times I’d catch something decent I have 2 litre coke bottles frozen with saltwater and dump a bucket full of water over them in the esky that would keep my fish colder than Antartica for hours.

 I’d use the water in the esky to wash my fillets too.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Fab1

[bessell1955]

I use 2 Litre milk containers

[noelm]

For my crabbing ice, I make salt water blocks, then add salt water to form a slurry, crabs put in the esky are "dead" in seconds.

[campr]

I mostly fish from my boat and have no problem taking heaps of ice in 2 or 3 litre plastic bottles.   I prefer bottled ice as it doesn't dilute the seawater in my fish box.  Adding salt makes the ice colder and last longer but I don't as this removes option of drinking the water in an emergency.   I also believe you shouldn't wash fish in fresh water and bring clean seawater back in a bucket in case I need to wash fillets.   Ron 

[slowjigger]

3 hours ago, noelm said:

For my crabbing ice, I make salt water blocks, then add salt water to form a slurry, crabs put in the esky are "dead" in seconds.

Crabs are very prone to spoiling if not iced.

[noelm]

Yep, it's amazing how many times I have seen people with a few crabs, dead in a bucket, who knows for how long?

[Yowie]

48 minutes ago, slowjigger said:

Crabs are very prone to spoiling if not iced.

One thing I do not do is add the crabs to the ice water in the esky. I have had the nippy mongrels grab hold of the fish and bugger up the fillets. 

I usually leave the crabs in the bottom of the boat, where they seek shade under the esky so keep cool but not cold. Still alive when I return to shore, and I'm not fishing in the middle of the day during the main heat period.

[slowjigger]

13 hours ago, Yowie said:

One thing I do not do is add the crabs to the ice water in the esky. I have had the nippy mongrels grab hold of the fish and bugger up the fillets. 

I usually leave the crabs in the bottom of the boat, where they seek shade under the esky so keep cool but not cold. Still alive when I return to shore, and I'm not fishing in the middle of the day during the main heat period.

I stick a knife between their eyes to dispatch them and avoid problems like that. 

[noelm]

A good ice slurry will see crabs go dead/unconscious/stunned/asleep in less than 10 seconds, long before they can nip each other.

[Squidless]

I have a dedicated section in my freezer for some ice blocks and baits (salted fish strips, squid, next trips burley). Ready for when a window for fishing opens.

You should see my wife's eyes roll when we are running low on freezer space!

Just to add, growing up fishing with my dad and extended family. We would just scoop some seawater in our fishing bucket and drop the fish in...as it swam in circles till its death...😔

It was only when I got back into fishing as an adult, I read more online about how to keep fish properly.

I can understand the frustration, if you are going to end its life, treat it properly and try to maximise the quality of the sacrifice...for your belly 😅

Edited July 9, 2022 by Squidless