View Full Version : How do you keep your fish on the ice (dressing)
Keeping Fish
12-09-2006, 10:18 AM
Wondering if you dress out your fish or just toss them on the ice or keep them in a bucket of cold water?
skeeter
12-09-2006, 10:24 AM
I put them on the ice and cover them up with snow if there is some. Some people cut a troff in the ice, let it fill with water and put them in that until they are ready to go. Skeeter
Use the WALLEYE CENTRAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY "Skeeters Stuff" under marine supplies (boat cleaning supplies), it really does work.
http://www.walleyecentral.com/wcdirectory/yellowresult.php?goal=Detail&ckey=29&primaryField=description&category=Boat%2FMari
dewyg
12-09-2006, 01:44 PM
I put them in a bucket filled with water, and keep them alive.
Dacotah Eye
12-09-2006, 04:16 PM
I use an Ice Well.
Papascot
12-09-2006, 07:49 PM
I use an 80 lb salt bag. Keeps them getting sleime all over the sled and keeps the blood off of the ice. Had alot of hot spots get really crowded from bloody ice.
Scott
The main thing is to try to keep them from freezing as it destroys the tissue. Fish always tast better fresh rather than frozen.
ChadM
Carle
12-10-2006, 05:58 AM
Here is a great way to keep your fish alive if you have a gas powered auger:
Drill one hole that does not penetrate the ice, then drill many adjacent holes in a square or circular pattern that do not penetrate the ice. Drill the last hole and penetrate the ice just barely through the ice (preferably create an opening through the ice about 1" in diameter with the tip of the auger). The water from the lake will fill the square or circular "live well" and after scooping out the ice chips you will have a "live well" that is atop the ice. Be careful that warm weather does not cause the hole that allows the water to enter the "live well" become too large and allow your catches to escape back under the ice.
Indiana Lou
12-10-2006, 09:12 PM
I picked up a mesh laundry bag with a pull cord. I stick the fish in there and just let it down in the hole through the ice. The fish stay alive and could be released if you decide you're not in the cleaning mood. Lou
Limiterr
12-10-2006, 10:27 PM
I drill another hole near the shack and put them on a stringer. At night when very cold we will mound the snow over the stringer hole. When we're ready to leave I fillet the fish and leave the remains on shore. The birds are critters are very appreciative.
Reels
12-11-2006, 09:21 AM
Here is a picture of a multi-purpose livewell.
http://www.midwestangling.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?6900
<{{}}><:cheers:
omar2
12-12-2006, 03:54 PM
what ever happened to just throwing them in a pail inside the house so they don't freeze? grab the pail when you leave. done deal.
Limiterr
12-12-2006, 05:40 PM
This works great if you're staying for a day shift. We stay as long as three days and the stringer thing works great. We also can't fillet our fish by law untill we are off the ice so the fish can be measured.
skeeter
12-12-2006, 06:41 PM
To warm in my shanty. :) Skeeter
Use the WALLEYE CENTRAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY "Skeeters Stuff" under marine supplies (boat cleaning supplies), it really does work.
http://www.walleyecentral.com/wcdirectory/yellowresult.php?goal=Detail&ckey=29&primaryField=description&category=Boat%2FMari
old_timer
12-13-2006, 11:08 AM
>what ever happened to just throwing them in a pail inside the
>house so they don't freeze? grab the pail when you leave. done
>deal.
No kidding, cripes sakes. Put em in a dam pail, throw some ice on em, and they'll be fine for hours. Laundry bags, "ice-wells", stringers ?? :horsepoop:
For those of you cutting / creating "ice wells", use your heads a little bit. I can only hope it will be you who comes along in your 4wd pickup and drops a tire into something like that. Or, worse yet, it skims over with ice and snow and some poor unsuspecting individual falls into the #### thing.
Use some common sense people.
Oldtimer,
How is drilling a hole for an icewell or stringer any different from all the tip-up holes we drill?
I have good luck keeping a 5 gallon pail in the house with a water/snow/slush mix. Keep it near a cold wall, clip a gill and throw them in the pail. Put more snow in when needed. They bleed out, stay cold and don't freeze.
EJ
old_timer
12-13-2006, 02:16 PM
EJ:
THIS is how it differs.....I quote Carle:
""Here is a great way to keep your fish alive if you have a gas powered auger:
Drill one hole that does not penetrate the ice, then drill many adjacent holes in a square or circular pattern that do not penetrate the ice. Drill the last hole and penetrate the ice just barely through the ice (preferably create an opening through the ice about 1" in diameter with the tip of the auger). The water from the lake will fill the square or circular "live well" and after scooping out the ice chips you will have a "live well" that is atop the ice.""
You evidently didnt comprehend his method. Read a few times slowly.
Settle down Oldtimer I agree with you on that one. I wouldn't want to run into that either. I was refering to the stringer or ice well idea's with one hole. You said "Ice well" and that is a MFG'd product with a net you place in a hole.
Drilling a bunch of connected holes is a bad idea.
EJ:)
Dacotah Eye
12-13-2006, 07:21 PM
>EJ:
>
>THIS is how it differs.....I quote Carle:
>
>""Here is a great way to keep your fish alive if you have a
>gas powered auger:
>Drill one hole that does not penetrate the ice, then drill
>many adjacent holes in a square or circular pattern that do
>not penetrate the ice. Drill the last hole and penetrate the
>ice just barely through the ice (preferably create an opening
>through the ice about 1" in diameter with the tip of the
>auger). The water from the lake will fill the square or
>circular "live well" and after scooping out the ice chips you
>will have a "live well" that is atop the ice.""
>
>You evidently didnt comprehend his method. Read a few times
>slowly.
>
>
>
>
I guess I see the need to explain my Ice Well. I bought it at a bait shop and it is a stiff mesh bag 33" long with a foam ring on the top that goes down an auger hole. A 7" bag for an 8" hole and a 9" bag for a 10" hole. By the way, I have a 7" bag and an 8" auger so no one gets hurt stepping in a 10" hole which seems to be a concern for some. I don't like cleaning frozen fish and the only time they spend in a bucket is the ride home. lol By the way, they are 20 bucks at the local bait shop. They also work well for hanging over the side of a boat in the summer.
:cheers:
Limiterr
12-13-2006, 07:47 PM
The bag sounds like a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Dacotah Eye
12-13-2006, 09:25 PM
If you want to look at one, just google ice well.
Seedtree
12-18-2006, 08:59 PM
I just throw them on the ice to freeze. If it is warm, then I kick them in the shade of the shanty. When I go home, I put them in the fridge to defrost and fillet them the next evening after work. Yum Yum.
Tight lines.
docktorj
12-20-2006, 02:31 PM
I agree with Old-timer. Drilling a bunch of adjacent holes can be extremely dangerous to anyone elso who happens upon them. Dropping an ATV wheel or sled ski into one at any speed could seriously hurt, especially when pulling a fish house.
Even worse is the warm weather we have been having the last couple of years. I have seen 8" holes open up to 12" holes with a large area of water on the ice. I can't imagine how big a 2 or 3 foot hole would open up once the warm wind starts to swirl the water in the hole. large enough to swallow a person or ATV I bet.