Best way to keep fish fresh without ice

[HenryNSW]

Hi everyone,

Just been to a day hiking fishing trip out in the national park. No shade. 

We find a lot of fish die after a long day fishing (5am-12).  

We try to keep the fish in a bucket but apparently this stresses the fish (similar as a keeper net) so it is bad for eating quality. 

I see it as a trade off between bleed/kill fish or let it sit in a bucket.... 

It is a long hike so we cant carry ice (too heavy) 

Appreciate any suggestions on best way to maintain the eating quality

[slothparade]

Bleed then put in the keeper net then have a freezer bag with a couple cold bottles? Or 1 ice brick? 

[XD351]

You could do things the old fashioned way - gill and gut then wrap in hessian bag , keep in the shade and keep the hessian wet by pouring water over it every so often - the evaporation process cools the fish down .

You could also take a small inflatable pool and fill it with water and let the fish swim in there- this is what they do at places like Jervis bay to keep their lives in  , some also use a rock pool for this but getting the fish out can be an adventure .

[noelm]

Keeping fish in a bucket is not a way to keep them "fresh" the water heats up in no time and near cooks them, even when still alive. I see pictures on here all the time of fish just in an esky with no ice, the flesh is deteriorating rapidly, an esky without ice does not keep things cool! Just like a kill tank in a boat with fish sloshing back and forth in water, the sea temp at the moment is still over 20 degrees, after a couple of hours, your valuable catch is now rubbish to eat.

Edited May 29, 2023 by noelm
Typo

[Little_Flatty]

I’ve had good success with just an ice pack or two, an esky backpack and quickly dispatched fish in a plastic bag on top the ice packs. Worked well for me over two hours on the train and a few hours fishing on a summer’s day. Worth a try in your case, just have a decent esky and ice for when you are back at the car.

Dispatched on ice is much better than alive and ‘cooking’ in the water, as @noelm says.

[XD351]

All my fish are dispatched by ikejime ( brain spike ) , bled if needed and then into an ice / seawater slurry. Recently  I have moved away from bag ice to blocks I freeze myself , I find this lasts longer in summer and cost nothing . This of course isn’t what I do when beach fishing , for that I use a couple of small frozen bottles of water and some sea water in my bucket if it is going to be a long session - more than 2 hrs and if it is a quick one I just keep them in my shoulder bag - ikejime is always done coz it’s quick and clean .

Edited May 29, 2023 by XD351

[Bluebenbomb]

I use an oversized plastic zip-lock bag, ikejime (with a sharp object) the fish, and then chuck them in the plastic zip-loc bag with 3 or 4 ice packs (large ones).

Edited May 29, 2023 by Bluebenbomb

[campr]

XD351 has given you the best way without ice.  Only thing I would add is to keep in shade where it catches any breeze as this helps the evaperation/cooling process.  Ron 

[slowjigger]

They should keep a long while in a keeper net. Also how many and how large are you catching? It should be feasible to carry enough ice or ice bricks to keep a reasonable catch, especially if you fillet them. 

[noelm]

A keeper net is a lot different to a bucket of water slowly heating up.

[slowjigger]

11 hours ago, noelm said:

A keeper net is a lot different to a bucket of water slowly heating up.

Plus the oxygen will run out.

[noelm]

In the big picture, a bag of ice costs nothing compared to running/owning a boat and buying fishing gear, why not at least do your best to keep anything you're going to eat in prime condition? You can even make ice at home, a couple of old ice cream containers will freeze in no time, or even a couple of bottles of water, that way you get cold drinking water too! Many times I have seen photos on here of boxes/esky of fish just sitting there, not one ice cube in sight, an hour or so in summer will see an esky without ice hot inside, let alone a bucket of water that during summer started off at 22-24 degrees!

[bessell1955]

I think HenryNSW is on foot not in a boat, thus unable to carry ice.

Edited May 30, 2023 by bessell1955

[noelm]

Yep, true, but even one of those plastic "bricks" are better than nothing, take up no space and are pretty lightweight.

[HenryNSW]

Thanks all for the suggestion. 

My question is more around should i kill the fish straight away or try to keep it alive? 

And if I keep it in a bucket which is better 

(I will try to change out water more frequently) 

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, HenryNSW said:

Thanks all for the suggestion. 

My question is more around should i kill the fish straight away or try to keep it alive? 

And if I keep it in a bucket which is better 

(I will try to change out water more frequently) 

I think keeping it alive is the lesser of two evils. Sure the fish will stress, but live fish don’t rot, so to speak.

If there’s a decent size, clean rock pool close by, use that and a keeper net.