Bringing Salmon from BC
 

My wife and I are going on a trip to Vancouver mid Oct. with the last day Sturgeon and salmon fishing. What do you experienced fishers do about bringing a fish or two home? I do not have a big cooler.

Thanks :sHa_shakeshout:

There are plenty of places that will vac pack and flash freeze your fish for a small fee. I had about 60lbs of salmon done for $50 earlier this year. If you are using a guide or outfitter they will point you in the right direction.

You either need a cooler or a insulated cardboard box from the processor

Mot much heat in October.

Get a cooler, put in 10 Pds dry ice, tape the lid shut.

DO NOT KEEP IN THE CAB!!

It is CO2 and is heavier than air.

Do not put the cooler near live pets either.

Starting from frozen it will be even more frozen. No soggy fish from melt ice either.

Drewski

Since you are fishing on your last day of your trip I would just gut them and put them on ice in a cooler for the trip home then fillet and package once you get home. Or if you don't want to do the work yourself find somewhere to process and vacuum pack then just put on ice for the trip home. I wouldn't worry about freezing them since its only going to be a day on ice and if you freeze them then you need to try and find dry ice or salt ice to keep the fish frozen on the drive home.

If you were going to be out there for a few days after your fishing trip it would be different but if you are coming back straight away I find freezing fish while out there to just be extra hassle.

Salt ice does a darn good job of keeping fish frozen, not as good as dry ice but less hassle. I don't know if or where you can get it in Vancouver but I know a couple of spots on Vancouver Island. We had frozen fish in a cooler full of salt ice for ~27 hours and it was only just starting to thaw around the outside edges when we got home.

I've never bothered with dry or salt ice. We had fillets and dressed whole fish flash frozen....it was packed with regular ice in typical Coleman coolers and we did a liesurly trip home from comox no issues in 30+ heat. 2 bags layered ice per cooler switched out once half way home and had no thawing. If the fish are bled out and on ice in the boat and flash frozen quickly they will last years and taste just as good as the day they were caught.

I bring back fish every year in the regular Coleman coolers. If you can vacuum pack and freeze it will stay frozen the whole way back.

Some good ideas for tasty salmon

I usually slide my regular Coleman cooler inside a sleeping bag - and find that helps quite a bit.

Im not even sure how good of table fare salmon in mid October would be.
I would just gut and pack in ice if no more than 4 days from kill to freezer.