Im worried ive ruined a haul of fish

[myusernam]

Hi all ive just got back from a trip up north in mega croc country. We had about 13 or 14 trout in an esky - rules say cant fillet at sea and getting back late and where we were staying didnt have any fillet facilities and i didnt want to fillet on the bank so i left them whole completely covered in ice. The days got away from me. (Ive never really gutted fish to keep just filleted)
’A trout boat that used to moor near my old mans used to keep them under ice for many many days gut in but that was seawater ice..
Ive filleted the ones with gut in now but it was wednesday and thursday caught and its now monday night. We were very carefull not to pierce the gut cavity. Will they be ok?

[NAGG]

Plenty of fish are sold days old - ungutted & just covered in ice . Were the fish bled ? If not - I think you might be pushing your luck though at 5 days even if you had really good ice (not sitting in ice water) .

What do the fillets smell like ? ..... fresh or tainted

Chris

[bluefin59]

No problem if they have been on ice

[Lucky_Phill]

The fish will be OK. pro's can keep fish on ice for well over 5 days.

There are many theories, so here is mine:-

If you are to keep fish on ice ( and in a salt water brine ), this is best done whole ( no bleeding, gill cutting etc ) as cutting the fish will allow bacteria in more quickly.

I suggest you make good plans for fish keeping, filleting etc etc.

They say bleeding fish straight away improves taste, I say ............... maybe... I can't tell !

The whole fish will be fine.

LP