Storing your catch on extended trips

MattyA · Post by **MattyA** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:13 pm

So the scenario is you are going on a three day trip after barra. On the way back you must pass through waters where you can have three fish each. There are two of you on the boat. The first day you bag out with six lovely chrome barra.

Do you

a) gut and gill the barra, leaving them otherwise whole in the esky to be filleted when you get home
b) fillet them leaving the skin on as required and try to keep them in bags (which invariably fill with bl..dy water from the esky)
c) leave the fish whole (guts and gills in) and fillet when you get home

I've usually gone with option c, but wondering if this is really the best option in the interests of table quality.

Cheers

Matt

fishfanatic · Post by **fishfanatic** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:05 pm

Why not go with option D and that is eat barra fillet, breakfast, lunch and dinner...

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:40 pm

option c.
get better h/duty double seal bags and seal the bags inside plastic containers inside the esky.

seano · Post by **seano** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 3:05 pm

Keep them whole on ice. Dont gut or gill them as it lets oxegen into the flesh which spoils it quicker.

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 5:45 pm

yeah good point. thats how the barra farms do it for that reason. Just takes up a lot of room in the esky. I suppose you could always drink all the beer to make room

theodosius · Post by **theodosius** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 6:02 pm

So if i understand right, don't bleed them?

shaynes_god · Post by **shaynes_god** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 6:37 pm

Always cut the neck on your fish. I fillet my fish (leaving the skin on) and keep them in zip lock bags. If we go on extended trips I salt the ice and never keep fish until the last day.

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 7:44 pm

sorry. I was just agreeing that the barra farms do it that way for that reason. no cuts, no bacteria entry points.

nah, i neck and bleed every fish i keep. fillet and store in a double lock zip lock bag, inside the plastic container and pack ice around that. keeps for days

MattyA · Post by **MattyA** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:19 pm

Hey Nomad, where do you get these double lock zip lock bags from?

Hey Shaynesgod, yeah I thought about doing that too, but have suffered the old syndrome of catching heaps day one and two then none day three!

Do you blokes reckon the slime from the skin affects the fish flesh for eating or not? I've always taken the skin off but I know we're not supposed to do that anymore.

Matt

STANDY · Post by **STANDY** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:05 pm

Gills and Guts removed is the best way to keep fish fresh the longest.

Fresh water will cause the most bacteria, thats why ice slurry used alot.

Up here just cut them and keep on ice and drain water regularly.

seano · Post by **seano** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 12:32 am

When I was working on pro boats out at the Box we used to chuck-em in the brine to chill em down quick-didnt bleed them as when they hit the cold water the blood goes staight to their organs ,then we soldier packed them on ice in layers- these fish would be on the ice in the boat for up to 10 days then sent down on ice to Sydney,so they could be on ice for up to 2 weeks!!. Personally when fishing for my self I bleed them-all they need is a gill raker cut, there is no need to fully cut their throats. I always fillet at home so I minimize the time the flesh gets exposed to the air- fillets get wrapped in gladwrap and placed in the freezer and spread out if possible so they freeze as quickly as possible.

olfart · Post by **olfart** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:47 am

Agree with Seano, we use a half 20l bucket of seawater, bung em in head first after cutting the gill. Kept on ice they do alright.

nomad · Post by **nomad** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:58 pm

Mattya
I think they are called Hercules bags as they are tougher than glad bags. or even the glad freezer ones have double zips on em
just from the supermarket.

Biff · Post by **Biff** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:11 am

seano wrote:When I was working on pro boats out at the Box we used to chuck-em in the brine to chill em down quick-didnt bleed them as when they hit the cold water the blood goes staight to their organs ,then we soldier packed them on ice in layers- these fish would be on the ice in the boat for up to 10 days then sent down on ice to Sydney,so they could be on ice for up to 2 weeks!!. Personally when fishing for my self I bleed them-all they need is a gill raker cut, there is no need to fully cut their throats. I always fillet at home so I minimize the time the flesh gets exposed to the air- fillets get wrapped in gladwrap and placed in the freezer and spread out if possible so they freeze as quickly as possible.

Gday Seano,so you say "Gill cut" sorry if this sounds stupid,so all your doing is cuting the gills to bleed them? How well do they bleed out with this method,as you said no open wounds to start the break down process.
Cheers.

seano · Post by **seano** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:30 am

They bleed out very well Biff- they actually squirt out loads right after you cut them. I some times just punch my thumb through the membrane behind the gills to. If your just going out for the day it doesnt matter if you fully cut their throat ,but for extended trips I would try to minimize any cutting of the flesh. As I mentioned the pro reef boats dont cut their fish at all ,they rely on the cold water in the brine tank to cause all the blood to rush to the organs.

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Storing your catch on extended trips

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