Fish cooler

Do you really want to store your fish in brine for an extended period?

Do you really want to store your fish in brine for an extended period?

I do if I'm gonna smoke it!   

Do you really want to store your fish in brine for an extended period?

That's sort of my (read between the lines) original question.  Dry ice, lots of wet ice, clean fish first, are sort of obvious but the brining effectiveness and whether or not there are disadvantages to storing in a brine? I don't know.

Also, related to preserving your catch -  does anyone else think it's bad karma to throw out the guts?  On a multi-day trip it would be difficult to manage - but I normally will compost the undesirable parts for the garden.

Also, related to preserving your catch -  does anyone else think it's bad karma to throw out the guts?  On a multi-day trip it would be difficult to manage - but I normally will compost the undesirable parts for the garden.

If you're on a multi-day trip where there are crabs available (or anything else that might be tasty and go after guts as bait), then I'd use the guts as bait.  Otherwise, if you know that something will eat the guts, then you aren't really wasting it.  Wasting it would be wrapping it in plastic and sending them to a landfill.

I usually try to leave my guts in the water the fish came from - this usually applies to river fishing where, from what I've read and heard, the smolt salmon usually depend on carcasses for food as they migrate to the ocean.

Ponds and Lakes, I put it in the garbage unless I'm really close to home (usually I'm either 15 minutes from home, or 3+ hours)

Saltwater - well I'll figure that out Saturday around 4pm!   

I usually try to leave my guts in the water the fish came from - this usually applies to river fishing where, from what I've read and heard, the smolt salmon usually depend on carcasses for food as they migrate to the ocean.

Ponds and Lakes, I put it in the garbage unless I'm really close to home (usually I'm either 15 minutes from home, or 3+ hours)

Saltwater - well I'll figure that out Saturday around 4pm!   

Yet another stoopid ODFW rule that is written really crappy.  We're not supposed to dispose of fish or fish parts in Oregon waters. I believe the intent was to keep folks from dumping their carcasses at and around boat ramps causing smell and bugs, but it doesn't spell it out like that.

  Actually yes I have made ice cream at home, but never really thought of comparing ice cream and fishing.  Since I replied, I've discovered the reason rock salt is used on hwy's.  When it melts and combines with snow melt it creates a brine which, freezes at a lower temperature than regular snow melt and created a barier on the road surface.
  So, I guess adding salt to your cooler, you're lowering the freezing temp.

 

Yet another stoopid ODFW rule that is written really crappy.  We're not supposed to dispose of fish or fish parts in Oregon waters. I believe the intent was to keep folks from dumping their carcasses at and around boat ramps causing smell and bugs, but it doesn't spell it out like that.

I know they do it around here to keep the furbags down to a minumin in the harbor, and i think it's working somewhat, even though not all people comply of course.
I don't see as many at the cleaning stations.

When i'm here i trade my carcasses for jigs at the tackle shop when i don't get mobbed by crabbers looking for bait before i get that far. I'm always happy to oblige

Do you really want to store your fish in brine for an extended period?

Commercially caught salmon in Alaska are often held in RSW (refrigerated sea water) for days. 

So, I guess adding salt to your cooler, you're lowering the freezing temp.  

Yes.  That's why you use it for homemade ice cream.  Ice cream freezes at 27f.  

Another use for rock salt is for skiing or snowboarding.  It can turn a slushy mess into a more durable surface.  T line goes through tons of the stuff in summer.


But to the OP, I wouldn't bother with rock salt if It's just a few hours in a cooler. Two or three bags of cubes and you should be fine.

Brine coolers on commercial sportfishers have kept 20-40lb albacore frozen hard as rocks on overnight fishing trips. Don't know exactly how it works; staple your tag to the fish, throw it in the cooler, six hours later the fish is as hard as an aluminum baseball bat.
My surfing friends on the East Coast say that salt water freezes at 28F. This is something I never want to witness in person.
We have kept 200 pounds of 5-10lb tuna fillets on regular ice for 3-4 days while we cleaned and vacuum packed them, no problem. Also, vacuum packing fish is the way to go. We've kept vacuum packed fish for two years.
Cleaning fish at sea? Seagulls will clean up after you, not much left when they are around. Blue sharks will get the rest.

Brine coolers on commercial sportfishers have kept 20-40lb albacore frozen hard as rocks on overnight fishing trips. Don't know exactly how it works; staple your tag to the fish, throw it in the cooler, six hours later the fish is as hard as an aluminum baseball bat.
My surfing friends on the East Coast say that salt water freezes at 28F. This is something I never want to witness in person.
We have kept 200 pounds of 5-10lb tuna fillets on regular ice for 3-4 days while we cleaned and vacuum packed them, no problem. Also, vacuum packing fish is the way to go. We've kept vacuum packed fish for two years.
Cleaning fish at sea? Seagulls will clean up after you, not much left when they are around. Blue sharks will get the rest.

In the northern Pacific at about x00 feet deep, I've seen sea water injection temp at 27-28 many times.

Refrigerated seawater and a salt bath (brine) are different things. First, seawater freezes around 29F.  A salt bath (1:3) can get below 0F because there is much, much more salt in a salt bath.  We use salt baths in the lab for a cold source between freshwater ice and dry ice. 

Second, keeping fish in seawater is different than keeping fish in a strong brine.  The fish live in seawater and while they drink constantly to replace the water drawn out by the sea, it would take a long time to significantly dehydrate a dead fish in seawater.  Strong brine will draw water out of your catch much more quickly.  Brine is used to make herring a more useful bait by drawing out water and firming the flesh.  I am not sure you want to do that to your catch.

Refrigerated seawater and a salt bath (brine) are different things. First, seawater freezes around 29F.  A salt bath (1:3) can get below 0F because there is much, much more salt in a salt bath.  We use salt baths in the lab for a cold source between freshwater ice and dry ice. 

Second, keeping fish in seawater is different than keeping fish in a strong brine.  The fish live in seawater and while they drink constantly to replace the water drawn out by the sea, it would take a long time to significantly dehydrate a dead fish in seawater.  Strong brine will draw water out of your catch much more quickly.  Brine is used to make herring a more useful bait by drawing out water and firming the flesh.  I am not sure you want to do that to your catch.

well said Mr!
 I have never used ice on the Yak ('cept for the brews).


My old gunny sack soaking wet works juss fine.