How long can you keep a whole fish in the fridge?

[Dewey Cox]

I caught a big walleye yesterday, put it in a cooler of river water for the trip home (3 hrs in the cooler) and put it whole in the fridge for about 24 hrs. (Lazy, that's why). I just filleted it, and put it back in the fridge. There's no reason that walleye can't be supper tomorrow night, is there?

[timsesink]

No reason at all. Gut it prior to storage?

[Dewey Cox]

I didn't gut it prior to storage. Guts were in it for 24 hrs after its last swim.

[EZM]

It's not ideal to leave the gills, blood and guts in a fish overnight - but at least it was on ice and refrigerated. I'm not going to pontificate about how important it is to remove the blood, gills and guts and cool down your fish ..... sounds like you know that - so I will save the sermon.

Really - It certainly won't be as good as it could have been - but you are likely to survive.

I would bet quite a bit of the fish you eat from the store sits with it's gills, guts and blood in for a long time before it's processed.

I forgive you ..... just don't let it happen again !!!!! just teasing

You will survive - fry it up

[Redfrog]

Your location says Central Alberta. Not sure where that is exactly, but I used to be a fish inspector and if you aren't too far away, i could take a look at it for you. Maybe take a sample and have it tested. Just to be safe of course.:)

[Baitban]

Not to hijack your post but this falls into the same category. At what water temp do you guys stop taking fish? Some people say they are no good in the warm water, would like some thoughts on the topic.

[Habfan]

Not to hijack your post but this falls into the same category. At what water temp do you guys stop taking fish? Some people say they are no good in the warm water, would like some thoughts on the topic.
Fish are good if you gut and take the gills out, then throw them in a cooler of ice ! Your day is not over until you take care of your catch that you intend to consume ! Leaving a fish whole in a fridge for 2 days is not what I would call caring for your catch ! Wasting fish is illegal, so if you don't have the time or energy to clean the fish you kill, release them !

[CK Angler]

Not to hijack your post but this falls into the same category. At what water temp do you guys stop taking fish? Some people say they are no good in the warm water, would like some thoughts on the topic.

I would say this is true with pike. Someone here can maybe explain why? But I will only (if ever) keep pike from a cold water season.


I wouldn't recommend keeping fish that long before filleting. Probably won't kill ya but it won't taste nearly as good.... you'd be better to slab them when you get home and debone the next day. It happens on those late night trips when returning home you just don't feel like filleting, if that's the case I'll slab my fillets and debone the next day before dinner. But I also ALWAYS bleed my fish, makes for whiter and tastier meat.

[Dewey Cox]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07/17/d8bb75ed36f9c71afa972c339bf8ba20.jpg

Turned out just fine.
Thanks for the input everyone!

[JD848]

If the fillet is still firm your oka,if it is really mushy your on your own.

I recommend cleaning your fish asap when you get home,if you have to transport whole always break their necks it kills them right away and cover with ice,if you don,t and their still alive sometimes they uncover themselves flopping around in the cooler.

As for fishing in to warm of water ,if their still kicking when you hook em that means their alive and live fish are good eaters.Unless the body of water is polluted cool or warm your on your own .Their should be no pollution in alberta so ever thing should be good to eat,just don't swim in some of the lakes ,you may need more than a jar of noxzema cream to get ride of your rash.
Just joken, alberta has many beautiful lakes.

CHEERS
JD

[JD848]

IF your in a bind just take the guts out and chill asap,don;t slab them and leave the skin on because their is a lot of slim on the out sides of walleyes and gets into part of your fillet and not healthy at all besides tasting like crap.

[DiabeticKripple]

It takes 2 mins to gut and take the gills out.

Ideally as soon as the fish is caught, gut, take the gills out, pack with ice and eat it within a few hours and that's the best it can get.

[Warmbreeze]

Why do you need to get rid of the gills?

I have never gutted a fish before, I always just fillet them outright as it only takes me a couple of minutes for the whole process for a single walleye....its the set up and clean up I dislike! I leave the fish alive until I am going to get off of lake at which point I will bleed it out in the water for about 5 or 10 minutes before leaving.

Is there an advantage to gutting it over just filleting them?

[Astrocyte]

Why do you need to get rid of the gills?

I have never gutted a fish before, I always just fillet them outright as it only takes me a couple of minutes for the whole process for a single walleye....its the set up and clean up I dislike! I leave the fish alive until I am going to get off of lake at which point I will bleed it out in the water for about 5 or 10 minutes before leaving.

Is there an advantage to gutting it over just filleting them?

Gills contain a high concentration of bacteria due to the direct contact with the lake water. If left in those bacteria can lead to rapid spoilage of the meat as well as impart an unpleasent odor and taste.

As long as you clean the fish in a way that prevents direct contact with bacteria the filet will be safe. Avoid nicking the GI tract, and hence spewing of digestive contents onto the meat. Keep the fish cold and have safe handling practices and everything will be fine.

[EZM]

Why do you need to get rid of the gills?

I have never gutted a fish before, I always just fillet them outright as it only takes me a couple of minutes for the whole process for a single walleye....its the set up and clean up I dislike! I leave the fish alive until I am going to get off of lake at which point I will bleed it out in the water for about 5 or 10 minutes before leaving.

Is there an advantage to gutting it over just filleting them?

Absolutely agree - It's better to fillet a fish - way quicker and easier, but, unfortunately, many fish have slot limits so you can't fillet them until you get home or back to the camper.

For gills (all fish are pretty similar) - slit under the jaw all the way to the chin. Then with pliers just grab the areas where all the gill arches come together in the front and give it a pull - the intersection (limbs) will come off.

Repeat the same in the back.

Really it's just brute force - just try and grab close to where all the arches and limbs come together.

[TUFFBUFF]

Little trick I learned, they'll stay good wrapped in a damp towel for 3 days. Not sure with the guts in though.

[JD848]

I have to clean up to 200 walleye a day by myself,we have up to 60 guest per day and I do all the filleting at shore lunch and most people bring in 1 to 2 fish in for lunch and I clean what their allowed to take home for their limit at days end.One boat has 2 some times 3 per boat on a 100,000 acre lake.

I am the only guide at this fly in resort and set up on average of 20 boats per day and put these people on hot spots where fishing is good,the average boat catches and release between 40 to 100 walleye per boat each day,their is no one in my boat,all I do is find and figure out what the fish are doing that day ,I don't cook shore lunch another boat does this.Their is a lot of pressure on keeping 50 people happy every day.I don't use any fancy fish finders or electronic gadgets,all I need to know is finding structure and depth of water and sometimes temp but if the weather changes or winds temp is out the door.

What I wrote in the above posts is very correct kill your fish and put them on ice and cover with ice ,don't let them die slowly on the side of your boat they get soft very fast in the heat and drag them around on a stringer,if you have live wells this is not a problem,but if you have to travel home a few hours kill them as soon as you get them out of your well when you reach the shore, and put on ice ,don't leave them in the water of the live well till you get home because warm water spoils fish rapidly.

IF your a guy that only fishes a couple times a year , I would find a good resort and try fly in at the cheapest price I could and get the most out of my vacation time possible .buying a boat and all the costs if you add where you have to stay travel gas etc , a 1700 dollar guided trip is your answer and the enjoyment of a life time. Trying to save a few bucks and having a poor trip,you may as well stay home.

Even with all the hunting pressures and the short seasons I am thinking very hard on just going to an outfitter and I am not thinking of a 20 thousand dollar moose hunt.Just a good place where I know for sure their is game.
This all depends on where you live and how good the fishing and hunting still is.You may have all this for some people right next door to you so what I am writing about is for people who want to spend quality time but are wasting this time year after year in poor fishing and hunting areas.

I went of topic a lot but it seemed to me that a lot of people don't even know how to preserve their catch, life is very short and fishing and hunting doesn't last for ever,make the most out of it spending your money on quality time instead of all the crap and high priced stuff we thing we all need and do nothing or very little with.
I have the best rods and reels money can buy but if I am not in the right place with them their worthless,a 100 dollar rig and tons of good fishing is worth way more than 100,000 worth of gear and slow action with very few fish.Same goes with hunting but I recommend a good rifle with good optics.

I was going to go guiding this year but couldn't because I have tumor in my lower part of my head,so this is why I stress this out to everyone ,make the most out of your time because the greatest commodity in life is time,rich or poor you can't buy it back.

CHEERS
JD

[EZM]

As a number of contributors noted - preserving your catch the minute you decide to keep it is the key to the best meat.

For the few times a year that I do intent to harvest fish - there is a large cooler packed with ice on board.

If you can catch them, bleed, gut and gill a fish and pack it in ice right away - that's your best bet.

You can always do the filleting at home or back at camp.

I can't tell you how many times I've seem someone bring in a hammer handle that's been sitting on the floor of the boat in the sun, or being dragged around the lake on a stinger OR worse yet, in a hot black trash bag over to the cleaning station.

I bet these fish don't taste great.

[JD848]

As a number of contributors noted - preserving your catch the minute you decide to keep it is the key to the best meat.

For the few times a year that I do intent to harvest fish - there is a large cooler packed with ice on board.

If you can catch them, bleed, gut and gill a fish and pack it in ice right away - that's your best bet.

You can always do the filleting at home or back at camp.

I can't tell you how many times I've seem someone bring in a hammer handle that's been sitting on the floor of the boat in the sun, or being dragged around the lake on a stinger OR worse yet, in a hot black trash bag over to the cleaning station.

I bet these fish don't taste great.
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