Keeping/preserving your Catch

[Volvo]

This topic has propably been done before several times but thought ide up it again due to a variety of Dits/Films ive seen of late of people Filleting thier catch which looks a tad on the dry side which makes me wander how they have kept their catch.
Ive mostly brain spikes and placed in Brine till we get home , Fillet and seal packaged n frozen till time to Cook.
Some say dont let your Fillet anywhere near fresh water after filletting .
Maybe the dry fish up for Filletting is lweft that way for filming ??..

[Noelm]

Most of my fishing is just "quick trips" so keeping fish for a couple of days is not an issue (plus it's cooler here) so for me, eating type fish are just put in an esky with a bag of ice, and cleaned at the ramp (or at home) I don't like to fillet really fresh fish, so if possible I do them later, the flesh turns out much better than "just dead" fish. I tend to keep what we want in the fridge but have an "emergency" couple of fillets in the freezer that get rotated regularly, when filleting, anything I wash is in salt water, most fish are scaled, not skinned, simply because I like Snapper, Bream ,Flathead and Whiting skin, Blackfish I fillet and skin which are the fish I regularly eat, some other species like Kingfish or Tuna are skinned and all blood meat removed. Fish caught are not "bled" I have tried bleeding them on capture, but for my eating species it doesn't seem to make any difference, as long as they are put in the esky when caught, if I was chasing (say) Tailor, maybe I would, but even fresh Tailor I can't tell the difference.

[NAGG]

Yep brain spiking & if possible bleeding the fish - then into a saltwater ice slurry will keep the fish in primo condition . Sadly sometimes a hot bite or the anticipation of another fish does see the bleeding step (except with Tuna) skipped .... but I always brain spike.
Placing the fish in an esky with bottles of frozen water bottles is a total waste of time IMO as you cant chill the fish down quick enough or get it cold enough ...... the fish will dry out to some extent. When you do the comparison you'll see what I mean.

OK - If possible I like to avoid the use of fresh water when filleting - specially if freezing the fillets . I'm pretty convinced that the fish tastes better . If it's not too inconvenient , a bucket of sea water if you need to do any rinsing is the way to go .

Chris

[Dignity]

Brain spike, bleed, even whiting as I found them better. Ice slurry then packed in ice until ready to fillet. I don't cut through the rib bones so fillets are clean. Rinsing fillets if your going to freeze them is just going to not preserve them as well if kept dry. BTW, my brothers oncologist did her doctorate on seawater and if you think taking a bucket of sea water to rinse your fillets in is fine then have a rethink, the amount of crap even offshore in seawater is beyond belief, fresh water from the tap us safer although if I had to rinse fish I would use a handful of salt in an ice slurry, lots of paper towels to dry then leave in the fridge to as it will dry out some more. Clean filleting is the best way.

[disorderly]

Having fished with a couple of pro guys over the years I'm pretty impressed with a local guy here who prides himself on supplying beautiful quality reef fish straight to the restaurants...

Now that the live trout to China market has collapsed he has also been playing around with dry aging and other techniques to capture new markets..

Line fishing out of one boat and onselling direct to the restaurants is quite a admirable and sustainable way to utilize our fish stocks IMO...

https://www.facebook.com/watch/chrisboltonfishing/

Check out this video for his brain spiking and bleeding technique (and his FB page in general..its very interesting)......once his fish are boxed to send they look like they have just been pulled into the boat..

[Dignity]

Having fished with a couple of pro guys over the years I'm pretty impressed with a local guy here who prides himself on supplying beautiful quality reef fish straight to the restaurants...

Now that the live trout to China market has collapsed he has also been playing around with dry aging and other techniques to capture new markets..

Line fishing out of one boat and onselling direct to the restaurants is quite a admirable and sustainable way to utilize our fish stocks IMO...

https://www.facebook.com/chrisbolton...76020046001986

Check out this video for his brain spiking and bleeding technique (and his FB page in general..its very interesting)......once his fish are boxed to send they look like they have just been pulled into the boat..

I use Black Panther shears, about $35 unless you work in the mines then about $15. Crew keep dropping them overboard, one pair left, it has a leash on it to stop it going to the deep.

[gazza2006au]

Driving home with a couple kingys head down in a 20L bucket with ice big tails hanging out the top in a 3.75m tinny gets quiet a few beeps on the way home

[Noelm]

Might be time to buy an esky rather than have half the fish getting cooked driving home? I find a longer skinny one better than a standard rectangular one.

[Dignity]

Driving home with a couple kingys head down in a 20L bucket with ice big tails hanging out the top in a 3.75m tinny gets quiet a few beeps on the way home

It's other telling you that you have spoiled your catch by not looking after it.

[stevej]

be better off cutting the heads off and putting the bodies in a bucket of ice but even then its poor fish handling at play

i use filtered tap water as dignity said saltwater isnt exactly clean of debris and muck
the filtered water removes chlorine which i understand causes issues with the flesh

[Dignity]

be better off cutting the heads off and putting the bodies in a bucket of ice but even then its poor fish handling at play

i use filtered tap water as dignity said saltwater isnt exactly clean of debris and muck
the filtered water removes chlorine which i understand causes issues with the flesh

There are guys here that get a bucket of water near the ramp after we've gotten back so they can rinse their fillets at home. I have pointed out that some of the houseboats less than 50 metres away had permanent residents. Where do they think their shit goes.

[shortthenlong]

There are guys here that get a bucket of water near the ramp after we've gotten back so they can rinse their fillets at home. I have pointed out that some of the houseboats less than 50 metres away had permanent residents. Where do they think their shit goes.

Good for monster bream though.

Matt

[catshark]

yep another one for the ice slurry after a spike to the brain watching the japenese chefs preparing seafood is real pleasure , always have a ikejime spike now with me however ever see them shove the wire up the fish nostrils to nullify it , anybody go to this trouble ?

[Dignity]

Good for monster bream though.

Matt

Had a mate who used to catch bream near Luggage Point, we all referred to them as Churchill Bream.

[NAGG]

Had a mate who used to catch bream near Luggage Point, we all referred to them as Churchill Bream.

Do they come pre stuffed ...... with corn ?

Chris