After fish have froze on the ice do you clean them or freeze whole?

[fishboy]

It is hard to keep fish from freezing when ice fishing. Are you better off freezing the fish whole and cleaning it when you are ready to cook it or to thaw it clean it and refreeze it. Its a difficult question. Especialy when you have a fish lets say that was half frozen from sitting on the ice. ???

[Alberta Bigbore]

Ive always put them in the sink... made some dinner, come back to them and fillet them.

[bammer1]

i'll bite... dont let them freeze in the first place... but if your lazy and toss em on the ice and its -20, clean em first thing when it is possible... but killing an animal, any animal, and leaving the guts in what yer gonna injest longer than needed seems superfluous... i cant imagine thawing a whole fish and cleaning it... doesnt seem food safe...

[stinkynuts]

Originally Posted by Alberta Bigbore

Ive always put them in the sink... made some dinner, come back to them and fillet them.

x2 and never had any issues after

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Alberta Bigbore

Ive always put them in the sink... made some dinner, come back to them and fillet them.

x3 Sometimes I'll take the guts out on the lake but usually not.

[junglejay7320]

well i never was one to bring a slimy pike into the cab of the truck for the ride home or a walleye of perch for that matter...most of the time they are frozen stiff from the ride home...thaw them out and fillet them...no problem...

[Redneck Renagade]

If its pike you are fishin for throw them in the tub when you get home. I've had them come back to life. Lol. It's a little weird. I've never had a problem with thawing the filleting.

[DiabeticKripple]

Originally Posted by Redneck Renagade

If its pike you are fishin for throw them in the tub when you get home. I've had them come back to life. Lol. It's a little weird. I've never had a problem with thawing the filleting.

and that would be illegal. i would bonk it if that is the case.

[fishtank]

i was told for longer freezer life, freeze them whole with the guts and defrost them then you want too cook em, it keeps the fish from getting any freezer burn if you keep em whole. seem to work great for whitefish.

[Kim473]

I only freeze whole if I get home very late and too lazy to clean them. Seen perch come back to life many times after beeing out of the water for more than 5 hrs and 1/2 froozen solid.

[thunderheart]

Originally Posted by fishtank

i was told for longer freezer life, freeze them whole with the guts and defrost them then you want too cook em, it keeps the fish from getting any freezer burn if you keep em whole. seem to work great for whitefish.

we do this every yr with salmon that we want to can later ... never ever freezer burn

[-JR-]

I have found out if you thaw the fish just enough to make a cut down the bottom ,you can open it up ,and pull the the frozzen insides out without having wet blood and inside slim all over a counter.

[slivers86]

I clean/fillet/de-head my fish where I catch them, and put them either in a ziplock bag (small trout/perch/whites) or a safeway bag for anything a bit larger than stocker size.

[TylerThomson]

I wouldn't recommend deheading any fish with a size limit until you are at home as doing so on the ice is a good way to get your truck confiscated and all your gear.

[TROLLER]

Originally Posted by TylerThomson

I wouldn't recommend deheading any fish with a size limit until you are at home as doing so on the ice is a good way to get your truck confiscated and all your gear.

Don't know what the problem there is. Trout and perch, whitefish, didn't know there was a specific size except for a handfull of trophy trout lakes.

I clean on the ice as well, if it is a pike then you need to keep evidence of length but since I never keep pike not an issue. I clean the burbot on the ice and it is very easy to keep the skin as evidence of species.

Clean em and put em in a plastic bag. then just a quick wash when I get home and it is done like dinner. Only thing I have to dispose of is the skin. All the guts and what have you go back down the hole after I am done for the rest of the underwater crew to have something a little different for dinner.

[huntin'fool]

Originally Posted by Alberta Bigbore

Ive always put them in the sink... made some dinner, come back to them and fillet them.

x4.