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Some small fish species such as the Smelt are eaten whole. In some fish the appeal is in the flesh of the fish and are therefore gutted and deboned. Gutting can prevent some tainting of the flesh. Like deer, the guts can deteriorate the flesh faster. One factor can be how fast you will refrigerate/ice your catch? Another concern with specific types of ...

You can kill tropical fish by freezing them, or even just letting them cool down. From the outdoors perspective, most game and eatable fish are not tropical. There is a post on a sister site Fish “coming back to life” after being frozen and there are many google finds about frozen fish coming back to life. From personal experience I recall my grandfather ...

Depending on your situation, you don't have to necessarily gut the fish, but in that case should cook it much longer than you otherwise would. Parasites are a concern, and the innards will make it harder for heat to propagate through the meat. Longer cooking times to ensure the insides are properly cooked mean a greater chance of overcooking the outer meat ...

Ice water will not kill any fish quickly. Some fish even live in ice or icy water. A tropical fish may go into shock, but it won't die right for a long time. I think people may believe the fish is dead because the body has stiffened, but that's just a function of the cold and doesn't indicate a dead fish. The fastest way to kill a fish would really be to ...

Important to note that specific state regulations could apply to your situation. For instance, my state has a fishing regulation which states: "It is unlawful for any person to possess a fish in any form or condition other than whole while on or when unloading the fish from a boat, while wading, or while fishing from shore on any waters in this state where ...

It depends on what you have access to. If you have plenty of cooling, then gut, bleed, and ice immediately. However only do this if you can keep it cold. This requires a LOT of ice because you have to have enough ice to bring the fish down to near freezing and keep it there. If you cannot keep the fish cold then you want to keep it alive. There are many ...

SALT Before refrigeration salt was the primary means of preserving fish. As you mention in your question filleting them is a a good first step, they should also be dried to reduce the amount of salt needed. But what you really want Keep them alive, until you get home to clean, and freeze or refrigerate them. There are several solutions listed in When to ...

It is absolutely not humane - in fact it is by FAR one of the most CRUEL methods to euthanize a fish. Regardless of them being tropical or not, before they are sufficiently cold enough to die, their blood crystallizes and they basically end up with ice shards shooting through them. Ouch. This is a very common question on aquarium forums and message boards ...

There is no reason to kill, bleed and gut the fish immediately. The ideal way to preserve freshness is to keep the fish alive as long as possible. Depending on your situation this is best accomplished via a livewell (found in most recreational fishing boats), if fishing from shore, a traditional fish stringer or a wire basket are your best bets. Once you are ...

I suggest keeping it alive in a keep net. That way all of your problems disappear.

I fish daily in a kayak and have caught and eaten thousands of fish from snapper to mackerel to wahoo. I throw them in the hull of the kayak with no ice and continue to fish, sometimes for several hours. Been doing this for years and have never had an issue.

After you kill and gut the fish, then clean it (wash it and scale it, if it needs scaling.) I don't know what you mean by "bleeding" a fish: I only ever gut it. After doing this, you do not actually need to put it in the cooler. You can leave it out for a couple hours, it will not spoil. This has been my experience - I've done this, and then cooked the fish ...

Here's a decent video detailing just how to do it: Basically filet it like any other fish. Remove the "dark meat" that is pungent and distasteful. Then remove the row of spines. Taste tests described in the video show that virtually everyone preferred asian carp (poached or fried) over the other varieties such as tilapia. Here's another one narrated with ...

I heard a news story about a year ago about some group along the Mississippi River that was catching these carp and processing them for human consumption. I wish I could give more details. They hired some top chefs to come up with recipes for the fish as they appear to be good to eat. The carp are not going away. They are only going to increase. So, why ...

If the water is sufficiently clean that you are willing to eat the fish, it's clean enough to use to bleed the fish. Dirt as such isn't poisonous. Clear water isn't necessarily safe. Two ways come to mind: Use a pail of river water. This will at least keep most of the local critters nibbling on it. Wrap in wet burlap, and set up a can to drip on it. ...

Your concern for keeping the fish alive longer than necessary is valid. I used to like to club fish to kill them immediately. However I now typically bleed by cutting the gills as you describe. This kills the fish rather quickly if done properly. It also offers other benefits which may or may not be important in any given situation. First, it helps diminish ...

I kayak fish and do it this way: catch fish cut through the "throat" by putting the fish on its back (belly up), inserting a knife through one gill opening to the other, and then cutting "upward" to sever the little connection of flesh directly under the gills (where the belly becomes the chin) bend the head backward to snap the neck (spinal column) (this ...

Bleeding really only needs to be done for fish that have really bloody meat. These fish are often "athlete fish" such as Jacks or Tunas. From what it sounds like you are going to be fishing in rivers and lakes, this is not a situation where you are going to need to bleed the fish. Fish like trout, bass and walleye have white meat so you won't need to do ...

There's an excellent Asian method. These directions are for a good size carp. Buy 1 short 3/4 inch thick coco lumber, 3 inch wide board. Some places have it in a scrap box. Shape it like a flat hair brush. Drill 6 holes in it offset. Put 6 wood screws in holes, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch long. This is to scale them. Run a sharp pointed knife along top of spine ...

Depending on the weather, I would try to keep them alive in the water until you are lamost ready to start back. Clean them just before you start back. If the weather is colder than that water, clean them immediately, and hang. You can wrap them in a burlap bag. If you keep the bag wet, evaporation will further chill them. Refrigerators are kept below 40 ...