simple question

[plank]

never actually brought any fish home to eat. do you gut the fish before you freeze them or do you gut and fillet then freeze.
thank you


alan :-S :-S :-S

[rabbi2]

Hi Alan mate, depends on the fish but with mackerel I tend to fillet the fish then freeze, but with cod and flatties I gut them and freeze.
Cheers
keith

[andy1_i]

alan fella gut at the point of catch if you can ie:beach etc. then give a good wash out in the surf,it will save so much hassle later,i have known people to freeze ungutted fish only to find its ruined when defrosted (waste ),i also fillet at home then freeze,if needed

good luck

Andy1i

[SafferSteve]

Gutting at the sea has the added benifit of feeding the wee critters that may one day be the part of the biggun on the end of the line.

[plank]

thanks for the replies guys.must bring some of the (takers) home.

[aston74]

and remember

only take home what you need



send me the rest

good luck

[baitdigger]

I always gut all takers at point of catch. I never freeze anything I am going to eat as I think it defeats the idea of fresh fish. Even the mackerel I take for bait are gutted unless they are to be use the same day.

[Clarissa]

There was a key piece of information given to me by an old 'commercial':

if it's oily like mackerel or herring or even bream (slightly oily), then eat it same day if you can.

If it's a white, flakey fish (cod, plaice, whiting), always keep it in the fridge for 24hrs before eating or deep freeze it quickly.
It actually makes them firmer.

As for eating frozen mackerel ... no ta!

I'd keep all sea fish away from freshwater if possible ... osmosis will take its toll on the cells of the flesh.

:-S

[andy1_i]

some good points there clarissa,although its a good idea to give your catch a good wash in freshwater at home.

on white fish being held in fridge when i pass the odd bit of cod to my mum she will keep it for a few days in the fridge before eating it(upto 4 days!!),but yeah a good 24hrs is enough for me though.oily fish i like to eat so fresh its almost still flapping

Andy

[Seasurfer]

I can only recommend two points with my limited experiance of catching this year, but if at all possible, bleed your catch once dead, then gut straight away. If you can fillet it on the beach so much the better! Once frozen, make sure to only defrost once or ealse it can lead to a growth in harmful bacteria, which can cause one very sick fisherman! I know I haven't said much new, but hope this helps!

[baitdigger]

When I freeze the mackerel for bait I gut it at point of catch then put it in a coolbox. When I get home I wash it in fresh water then leave it in ice water for about 20 minutes. I then dry it, individually wrap it and lay it out in a singular fashion in my bait freezer so each one freezes as quickly as possible.

Unfortunatley I do the same thing every year, I never collect enough to last the winter and most of it is gone before Christmas. I dont enjoy catching strings of mackerel ( they are fantastic on the fly or jelly eel) so I usually only catch enough for a session then move on for some serious fishing.