keeping fish alive in summer?

svnmag

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I'm picky,squeamish and girly about fish. Bleed and ice produces better results and texture than a kill on the cutting board IMHO.
 


guywhofishes

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I've done the test a number of times. I just can never tell the difference between conked and bled. Thus I just conk.
 

Davey Crockett

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I've never tried ice but I will give it a whirl in august when the water gets real warm, I kept a couple northerns and they killed everything in the well that was big enough to die and the gills had faded before I cleaned them, Those fish tasted pretty fishy so I learned the hard way. It's a pain but my little blue stringer works ok when the water warms way up.

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Or a few on the stringer and a few in the well so it doesn't get overcrowded
 

guywhofishes

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Nice thing about ice... If you're tired at the end of the day just clean them the next morning. So nice.
 

svnmag

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It's most notable with cats. A conk, gill clips then head down in ice negates a damn bloody assed mess on the cutting board. I've since applied this to all fish except trout. They are killed, gutted and iced immediately; resting on top as much as possible. If back in the Hills; they're dressed and buried in ferns in the creel with frequent creel dunkings in the stream. I don't tool around with a wicker basket. I use the satchel type. Grandma liked to get her trout gutted and finned only. She was an expert at skinning; breaking the neck and using the head as a handle. She secretly told me once most of the trout she received from other folks went out to the cats. I'm still very proud of this. She cooked her fish rolled in cracker meal, in olive oil/butter with a little garlic and S/P: Of course in cast iron over a gas flame.
 
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Petras

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I run my recirc pump while i'm fishing, but any time i get up and run to a new spot i drain the well and refill it when i get stopped. I move around alot when i'm on the boat so this works pretty well for me.
 

johnr

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Nice thing about ice... If you're tired at the end of the day just clean them the next morning. So nice.

Ice isn't free, and my livewell is already paid for

Plus cleaning fish is womans work...haha and if the woman is too tired get her a redbull.
 

guywhofishes

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Ice isn't free, and my livewell is already paid for

Plus cleaning fish is womans work...haha and if the woman is too tired get her a redbull.

the day I start worrying about ice with respect to the rest of my fishing expenditures is the day I should quit fishing and get a 2nd job
 

johnr

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See I am poor, and paying for ice is out.

I purchased an ice maker a couple years back, so other then electricity I can pretty much get my ice for free too, even so. I don't purchase ice or firewood, unless the mrs johnr has had enough of my cheapness.

I once ran my little ice maker all week, once the tray is full it shuts off, and it only takes about an hour to fill the tray up, so every hour or so I was bagging this full try of ice up and putting it in the deep freeze for a later date when I would need some ice. After bagging up about a hundred pounds of ice, she had had enough, unplugged the machine, called my a tight ass, and told me to act like a person with a job....haha.

I will blow my cash like a cheap whore on somethings, but for some reason buying ice goes against my grain like Hillary taking a lie detector test.

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#livewelllivesmatter
 

Jigaman

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So im still unsure what to do. Should I leave the dial on auto or recirculate? What about the switch? Auto or manual?
 


johnr

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auto will make it run periodically, manual leaves it on constant.

when you beach your boat, shut the fill off, as if shallow enough it will fill your livewell with sandy water, which eventually is just a layer of sand in the bottom of your livewell. I found this out once a bunch of times
 

scrotcaster

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See I am poor, and paying for ice is out.

I purchased an ice maker a couple years back, so other then electricity I can pretty much get my ice for free too, even so. I don't purchase ice or firewood, unless the mrs johnr has had enough of my cheapness.

I once ran my little ice maker all week, once the tray is full it shuts off, and it only takes about an hour to fill the tray up, so every hour or so I was bagging this full try of ice up and putting it in the deep freeze for a later date when I would need some ice. After bagging up about a hundred pounds of ice, she had had enough, unplugged the machine, called my a tight ass, and told me to act like a person with a job....haha.

I will blow my cash like a cheap whore on somethings, but for some reason buying ice goes against my grain like Hillary taking a lie detector test.

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I can relate!,, I have never in my life paid for firewood and and consistently fill the freezer to the gills with frozen milk jugs so dont have to buy ice.. Being a tight ass is just my nature but occasionally drivers the wife a tad nutty :) , but on the other hand will blow threw $50 on cranks and not think twice,, #priorities
 

Enslow

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This time of the year i think a cooler with ice is best. If i decide to just use the livewell i keep it on all day. That warm surface water though can make the fish take on an algae smell if it is really green water.
 

Allen

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my old boat had a very small livewell so I used to use a cooler and ice. I could do that now but am trying to avoid bringing another large cooler when the boat is already full.

Catch fewer/smaller fish. It works for me.

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the day I start worrying about ice with respect to the rest of my fishing expenditures is the day I should quit fishing and get a 2nd job

No kidding, my biggest problem with ice is I am too cheap to have a Yeti. So I run to the ice store often. Turns out it's also a good place to pick up more bait too.
 


remm

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See I am poor, and paying for ice is out.

I purchased an ice maker a couple years back, so other then electricity I can pretty much get my ice for free too, even so. I don't purchase ice or firewood, unless the mrs johnr has had enough of my cheapness.

I once ran my little ice maker all week, once the tray is full it shuts off, and it only takes about an hour to fill the tray up, so every hour or so I was bagging this full try of ice up and putting it in the deep freeze for a later date when I would need some ice. After bagging up about a hundred pounds of ice, she had had enough, unplugged the machine, called my a tight ass, and told me to act like a person with a job....haha.

I will blow my cash like a cheap whore on somethings, but for some reason buying ice goes against my grain like Hillary taking a lie detector test.

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#livewelllivesmatter


Most beer stores give you a free bag of ice with a purchase. Just buy more beer, than no need to buy ice.
 

espringers

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I've got the best of both worlds. Wife bought me a 30 ounce yeti tumbler. So, now I pre chill the yeti, add some ice, put the closable cover on it, throw it in the live well and just keep the livewell pump on all day. Then I just throw my fish into the ice cold livewell and they pretty much go dormant and survive indefinitely. Only problem is I worry about my battery with the pump running all day. I don't dare turn it off for fear of the livewell turning into a giant block of ice. Also, the trail of ice shards left in my wake is a tell tale sign of my economic prowess and chicks flock from all over the lake just to get a look at my awesomeness. . Much to my wife's dismay.
 


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