May seem like a silly question but if you are keeping your fish, where do you put them after you have caught them.

On a hot day the bank cant be too good, nor the car, so what if you ahve another few hours to go?

Also how do you initiate the `blow` exactly?

I've only done catch and release so far but want to start keeping some :-)

Any hints welcome.

Thanks

You can get cool bags, y'know the thermal insulated kind. Stick a freezer block in and away you go. They were giving them away at Ikea a few weeks ago if you spent so much. I don't know if they still are...............birdsnest

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Fear not if I steal from your side, as of yore, from paradise streams to fish Teifi once more.
BN based in Wolverhampton

depends where you are fishing mate... on the boat get a fish bass and hang it off the oar post... some small waters will stick the fish in a fridge for you... alderneuk takes them and puts them in a bass then into the feeder spring which keeps them very cold all day!

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if it was that easy they'd call it catching!

There will me a plethora of ideas here from bass bags and Hessian sacks, to wrapping fish up in newspaper.

The most important thing you must do is gut your fish as soon as possible.

After that, take a cool box fishing with you in the car. Either the manual one with the freezer packs, or one that plugs into your cigarette lighter.

Administer one good blow to the head above the eyes, this should be enough. Nowt worse than seeing someone thrash the life out a fish.

I use a bass bag with zip top. I hand it from a loop on wading jacket with a boot lace if on a big resie and wading. Just leave it to hang in the water. If boat fishing, it hangs over the side via rawlock. If bank fishing and no wading (smaller waters or wading banned) the bass bag is just dumped in the water and either a stone placed over the boot lace of hung of sturdy bankside vegetation. I also have a small adjustable bank stick if need be. Make sure bag is in a shaded area if possible or some water flow to help keep it cooler.
I also have a cool bag, specially made, I put freezer blocks in this then just place bass bag in cool bag. Very effective as sometimess the trout have been semi frozen when I've taken them out.

Why did you say gut as soon as? Can this effect taste?

Also can you do this on the side of the lake?

Will look at Bass bags :-)

Thanks all!

For your fish to be in prime eating condition the fish should be killed as cleanly and as swiftly as possible. A fish flapping around stressed will bruise the flesh and hormones released give the fish a strong stinky taste which you don't want.

If you are going to do it right, smack the fish cleanly once above the eyes, on the head, this should render the fish unconscious. Slit the gills and bleed the fish. The heart will pump for a minute or two sending all the blood out.

The blood is a vehicle for parasites and bacteria. Most, if not all fish are carrying parasites. They're not 'daft', they know when a host is moribund and will quickly start to move from the gut to the flesh. You don't want that.

And yes, you can do this with a clean sharp knife by the waters edge. Like I said it should be done as soon as possible after despatching the fish.

At most fisheries it is not permitted to gut trout on the bank or rinse them in the water. Discarded guts can be a health hazard and dogs are likely to eat them and sick them back later.

Take your fish home and clean it as soon as possible. Guts can be disposed of wrapped in newspaper and put in the appropiate bin.

Gutting the fish does not affect the taste and helps the fish to stay fresh. The fish can either be frozen or stored in the fridge if it is to be cooked shortly.

BK

The point of a Bass Bag is that it cools by evaporation - ie you stick it in the bottom of the boat out of direct sunlight and keep hoying water on it which as it evaporates cools the contents ( see Physics - O level ! )

Me I haven't ever bothered to gut any trout - squeeze the c... out , wash , into plastic sleeving , knot both ends and straight into the freezer ! So that's around 15,000 over the last 50 years dealt with and nobody ever poisoned and everybody asking for more !

And yes I believe I am the last man standing in the UK who actually makes the things and you can buy them at Rutland Water , Grafham , Pitsford , Bristol etc etc etc .

But what do i know

Best wishes

Steve P

With all due respect I don't think we should be basing the advice given to the OP on the effect fish guts have on dogs. Fish guts will also make a human vomit, but that's neither here nor there.

All fish to be eaten should be gutted as soon as possible for the fish to remain fresh. That's the information the chap is looking for, nothing do with dogs being sick.