Leave it to the forum for a good laugh ever day.


Yall need to stop swimming in cold water or start putting ice cubes in the mix if ya get my drift.

We use an ice chest and ice so there much easier to remove after the trip. I've found it's hard to keep a bunch of fish alive in a live well anyway, not to mention a pain to clean them when there alive.

I actually thought this was a 2 topic post:
1) Icing down crappie
2) Shrinkage

lol

All kidding aside, when I go fishing and plan on keeping fish (whether it's sandbass, crappie or catfish), I always take a cooler with ice specifically for the fish (don't like mixing my fish and drinks). Or, I put the plug in the livewell to keep all lake water out then put the ice and fish in there (works good to conserve room in the boat from too many coolers). Granted, the livewell doesn't keep ice real well but it does "okay". I have always found that they are easier to clean when they are dead and cold, not flopping around. The meat seems to cut better when cold in my opinion. The bonus is you don't have to get in any hurry when you get home since the fish are already on ice.

Me too!

I think chuck knows what he is talking about here!

I noticed the same thing about fish shrinking when on ice. I would have never noticed if I hadn't been dealing with a possible lake record though. I swear the fish was over 17 inches on the water and after an evening of being on ice all night only went 16.25 the following morning. Didn't affect the weight much though luckily lol. I still would have rather submitted a 17+ inch fish than a 16.... Oh well lesson learned.

Im not talking about cooking a fish that has been in the freezer My comment is the taste of the fish if filleted alive vs dead stiff and slimey from being on ice all day after being caught. Personally i usually won't even clean a fish that has been dead over a few minutes. This of course is just my preference, Each to his own.

Comercial fishermen put fresh caught fish directly on ice, I think they would know best.

My understanding is that HOW the fish is put on ice is key. If placed in ice and water, the fish dies from hypothermia, with blood from the muscles pooling around the internal organs. Blood in the flesh gives that fishy taste. If you just put the fish on ice, it dies of ssphyxiation first.

So I guess that means you wont eat beef, chicken or pork if it's been dead longer than a few minutes?

I reckon you throw away a lot of meat, including crappie.