Cleaning opinions wanted

[Icemanjay]

So we’re planning to head up camping and crappie fishing again this coming weekend and I’ve been pondering something….how long do you guys leave a fish before cleaning it? What I mean is, say we’re catching evening crappies annd into the night and leave them till the morning, do you think it affects the taste or quality of the meat? I’m not afraid of them going bad, but Im wondering if leaving them for a night makes much of a difference with the quality of meat. What do you think?

[Fisherman]

Clean them the same day, no point in letting them spoil.

[Drew]

Not sure - if it’s cold enough out, I’ve had em freeze and thaw at home to clean…. Ling I’ve had frozen in a bag for hours and when I get home they start wiggling and coming back to life as I clean em… I can’t say I really can tell a difference. In summer, yeah sure clean a fish in an hour or so and that it… winter, you have time.

[Knuguy]

If you leave them overnite they will taste crappie for sure---sorry, could not resist.

[Winterfisher]

With the cold temps, i dont think it matters much. If anything, i bleed them. Then just leave them in my garage till next morning to be cleaned. The fish you buy in the grocery store is most likely left uncleaned for much longer.

[crappeeeman]

I keep all my fish at 3 degrees or colder when returning from a night of fishing. Sleep for a while and clean them when I wake up.

[Icemanjay]

Thanks for the input guys, all good points much appreciated. Hopefully we catch some now that I’ve gone and opened my big mouth… and Knuguy, I never looked at it that way but I guess they’re gonna taste crappie one way or another!

[Icemanjay]

I’ll add I’m no expert, I’ve got a lot to learn about crappie fishing but I’m having fun doing it! It’s a new lake to me so it’s gonna take time. The bite was really finicky last weekend, we actually had to watch for the line to start moving across the hole to know they had the bait. Definitely different and fun.

[simcoeslayer77]

Just cut from the bottom through the gill plate and bleed them out then put them in a bucket with snow or ice shavings from the auger. This buys you time and you dont have to worry about affecting the taste of the flesh. I dont target crappie however I hear of alot of anglers use foam floats or spring bobbers for a visual on finicky bites.

https://icefishingworld.com/ice_fishing_equ...ishing-bobbers/

[Dogfish1979]

Im with crappie man..under 4 degrees no more then 24 hours. I prefer to do it right away, it's almost as much as the fishing

[Disco]

Most bacteria in fish come from the guts.

If you’re concerned, bleed them, gut them and put them on ice.

I have eaten fish that I didn’t clean and put in the fridge because I was too tired to clean them. I did notice a difference that it wasn’t as “fresh” tasting.

[Icemanjay]

Thanks again for the input guys, I figure I’ll try to stay on top of them, if I catch any once I’m in bed they’ll go on ice and wait till the morning. I know now that I’m talking like this I won’t catch a damn thing, but it’s fun to talk about haha!