Kill tank uses

[Dirtyfuzz]

Not for me. If i ever were to have one it would have to have plumbing for drainage that exited directly to the outside world. I wouldn't wash the content's of my esky to my bilge at end of day - no difference with a tank. The closest thing I have to a "kill tank" is used for heavy equipment storage.

Some boats don’t have a bilge


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[Any_Weather]

Gday guys, yeh I love my kill tank and use it every trip for its intended use. It is fibre glassed with 50mm foam and drains and fills through a 2” bung directly through the hull below the tank. I bleed my fish in it for about 10 minutes then put them in ice. On a short local trip, sometimes I just put ice in the tank and use it as an esky.
The tank empties at speed in a couple of minutes and fills just as quick.


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[gazza2006au]

I have never owned a boat with a kill tank we just use 2 esky's one is a waeco another is a 1960 vintage esky its a little bit larger often use it for the flat heads but when we visit port kembla for the king fish thats a 50min trip each way from home we just stick the kingys head down in a 20 litre bucket filled with ice than a towel over the tails its sufficent in 45c days on the way home

I thought about building a kill tank in my big boat but cleaning it and letting it air out will be time consuming and remembering to close the hatch.. just easier to buy a 90cm 7-10 day ice esky

I have a little 30L weaco for bream, small flatties, flounder, tailor etc.. often use it as a esky for the first half of the day than as a kill tank its often used for poddy mullet too as a live bait tank i leave the poddys in there over night and use the next day

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[SAFisherman]

I own a 670

Don't worry about getting blood through your bilge pump, when I bleed my tuna on the deck I pump out pure red blood.

I always flush my sump and pump at home.

[scottar]

Some boats don’t have a bilge


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And some blokes with 6 metre boats don't like fishing with wet feet - but that's a different thread all together

[Ducksnutz]

Weird. So if you have a kill tank that’s insulated with appropriate drainage you guys still won’t use it?
I’m talking about fibreglass insulated kill tanks with flush systems that eliminate waste?
Curious more than anything. I do have an 80litre esky on board and use first for simplicity purposes but am happy if I fill the Kill tank as well.

[marto78]

Mates AMM has a self flooding kill tank which fills up about half way when at rest and then empties out when you take off. The water never gets close to the floor and gets refreshed every 10-15min when we go back for the next drift.

It's great when the fish are chewing as you can leave them in the water for ages to bleed out without having to worry about them drying out and going off.

[gazza2006au]

Marto wouldnt the fish go off due to summer water temps? This is the first time i have ever heard of a kill tank with no ice

Seems strange

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[NAGG]

Mates AMM has a self flooding kill tank which fills up about half way when at rest and then empties out when you take off. The water never gets close to the floor and gets refreshed every 10-15min when we go back for the next drift.

It's great when the fish are chewing as you can leave them in the water for ages to bleed out without having to worry about them drying out and going off.

The trouble is that 20-28 deg water temps is not good for keeping fish in prime condition ….. that's the reason why we get the fish into a salt water slurry as quickly as possible . Fish flesh deteriorates quite quickly & specially fish like tuna where they are literally burning up from the build up of lactic acid.

There is certainly a disenable difference in the eating quality of fish that have been killed / bled & placed in a salt water ice slurry .

Chris

[ranmar850]

Well, kill tanks and underfloor insulated storage are really two diiferent things, aren't they? People are getting confused here--a pure kill tank is just that, somewhere out of the way to minimise mess and get the fish out of the way while they bleed out. Underfloor iceboxes are a different thing. Some people think it is is acceptable to just start the bleed process and throw them straight into the ice/slurry. Makes a disgusting mess, much better to throw bled, clean fish in there if you want real quality. Bleeding out should only take 5 mins max, wash down,then onto/into the ice/slurry. Until you have used a boat with all the fish stored under the deck, you don't relise how good it is with a totally clear deck. My life prior to my current boat weas just a constant battle working out where to have a bloody great icebox where it wouldn't be in the way too much and securing it properly--leaving them to slide around the deck is bloody dangerous, IMO.
The Reefrunner came with underdeck storage, runs from the cuddy cabin door back between the seats. It is just a big (1.5m long) fibreglass tub , wide and full depth, with two access hatches. It came with a Starboard divider, which was easy to rip out giving me one big long area. It is not insulated, but the fact that it is fibreglass, and under the deck, makes it OK for keeping ice on a day trip. I normally use a cheap insulated fish bag in there to help, but, if the fish get too much for the bag, just open it out and lie everything on top. If big Spaniards are about, and you want to keep your limit, (3 each over here) I go with the big Madfish bag which just fits between the rear of the passenger seat box and the transom against the side pocket. It really is out of the way there, but is still a little annoying when you have gotten used to having a totally clear deck. This is also the option if you want to keep fish on overnighters.

As for actually killing, bleeding, I've stuck with my old favorite for many years now-a 35(?) litre lug bin, the type pros use. Lid clips on one end, and if the fish is too long for it, just let them hang out the end. Wash down when bled, on ice, rinse tub, ready for the next one. When not in use slides neatly under the outboard well, out of the way. Obviously no advantage if you have a straight transom with no outboard well.

[NAGG]

Well, kill tanks and underfloor insulated storage are really two diiferent things, aren't they?

100% - but you would be surprised at just how many boaties use their kill tank in a manner different to the intended use. A lot of it comes from just not understanding.
in essence an underfloor insulated storage - is a fixed esky . No different to a seat fish box …. it's just out of the way.

it's a different subject ….. but a hell of a lot of boaties really don't understand how to properly look after & prepare fish. Keeping fish cool or cold - bottles of frozen water , blocks of ice vs crushed ice vs salt water ice slurry - huge difference in what does the best job.

Anyhow that's another subject

Chris

[seastrength]

100% - but you would be surprised at just how many boaties use their kill tank in a manner different to the intended use. A lot of it comes from just not understanding.
in essence an underfloor insulated storage - is a fixed esky . No different to a seat fish box …. it's just out of the way.

it's a different subject ….. but a hell of a lot of boaties really don't understand how to properly look after & prepare fish. Keeping fish cool or cold - bottles of frozen water , blocks of ice vs crushed ice vs salt water ice slurry - huge difference in what does the best job
.

Anyhow that's another subject

Chris

Hi Chris and Ranmar

Just curious to know what you guys do to optimise fish quality using the kill tank / cooler on board. I normally bleed fish (mainly snapper) in my underfloor kill tank for about 10-15 minutes and then transferring them to my under seat esky. The tank drains directly into the sea so it is flushed out every time I move fishing spots. However, macks are a problem as they are too long for the kill tank. Normally I have 3-4 frozen 2 litre water bottles with 2 buckets of seawater in the insulated alloy tank. I find this coolant combination keeps the flesh colder than bags of crushed ice which seem to melt very quickly in the SE Qld summer heat. Seems to work well but am open to any other ideas from the knowledge base on this forum. Cheers SS.

[NAGG]

Hi Chris and Ranmar

Just curious to know what you guys do to optimise fish quality using the kill tank / cooler on board. I normally bleed fish (mainly snapper) in my underfloor kill tank for about 10-15 minutes and then transferring them to my under seat esky. The tank drains directly into the sea so it is flushed out every time I move fishing spots. However, macks are a problem as they are too long for the kill tank. Normally I have 3-4 frozen 2 litre water bottles with 2 buckets of seawater in the insulated alloy tank. I find this coolant combination keeps the flesh colder than bags of crushed ice which seem to melt very quickly in the SE Qld summer heat. Seems to work well but am open to any other ideas from the knowledge base on this forum. Cheers SS.

Most of my fishing I'm away for at least a couple of days

What seems to be working best for me ( I think the quality of the fish has improved) Is to brain spike immediately ( bleed) . depending on the fish & size - it will go into the kill box or live bait tank ( if not in use) for only 5 mins or so . Then into a ice slurry which is usually 3 bags of crushed ice (emptied) & I use the deck wash to add a couple of inches of water . If I have access to it - a couple of blocks of ice will also be in there. snapper on ice .jpg

I have a 100lt mackerel box that is between the cast deck & the console ……. this is where I put the fish, The beauty of the mackerel box is that it caters for anything from mackerel kings down to snapper - being up front it is out of the way fish box.jpg


My 120lt seat box - usually stores blocks of ice that I make up . Food / Drink & bait . A neat idea that is working well for up to a week s away is to buy 10lt casks of water (bag in a box) & freeze them ……. even cheaper if you can access them (or you are a wineo) is to refill wine cask bladder & freeze them ….. you can end up with 5kg blocks - What I like is you can freeze them flat or keep them in the box where they retain a square shape .

[marto78]

Marto wouldnt the fish go off due to summer water temps? This is the first time i have ever heard of a kill tank with no ice

Seems strange

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I haven't really noticed any difference in taste or the flesh of any of the fish we've kept in the kill tank for up to an hour. The bloody cod are usually still kicking when we pull them out.

What we do do on the bigger trips that def helps is stack the fish in rows belly down in the esky with a solid layer of ice over them then another layer of fish then ice again. With the bung cracked so any water/blood will run out of the fish and asky.

We've found this to be a great way to get the most amount of time out of the ice and the whole fish is chilled and not sitting in water or filling up with blood and guts from other fish.

[NAGG]

Just for your information - This video on how to look after fish is not only informative but actually gives some data on the difference in how you look after fish ……… take it on board - or not



A for leaving fish alive and kicking in a kill tank is not the way to look after the eating qualities of a fish …… a fish under stress will be releasing all sorts of chemicals into it's bloodstream -
I just happened to watch this video the other day ……. not only is it a good video but there is some interesting information towards the end of the video when they are commercially processing fish ( the 20 min point ….. is very informative)



Just maybe these two videos will change your mind on how you keep fish

enjoy

Chris