Keeping Fish

[Steve6902]

You know, I asked a simple question, how do you guys keep your rockfish in your yaks. That's it, nothing else. Only 2 people (ccchrisccc and fishmoken) answered it. Everyone else, except for Sega, wants to tell me how we are conservationists, and let the big ones go, not to post keepers, and about the Drum in FL. I didn't ask about those things. Sega hit it on the head with it's MY fish. I go to the bay to catch fish and consume their flesh. If I want to catch a 40" plus Rock and eat it, so be it. I drove the hour plus to catch fish. I did not ask for a lecture, I asked a question. Oh and if I want to post my big ass fish on here and it upsets someone, to bad. They have an issue not me. This forum has been real nice, with lots of good info, but for some reason this just sit's in my Hillbilly craw. You do what you want with your fish and I'll do what I want with mine. Oh and ccchrisccc, fishmoken and sega, thanks.

[HeaveToo]

Wow...this thread really stirred up some stuff over something little.

Honestly, I wouldn't bust on a guy in a kayak or a guy in his boat keeping a fish. They aren't the big problem. What really gets me going is when I take my boat out in April and I have to dodge all of the stupid fish nets everywhere. You can't convince me that this is a good practice. Nets are horrible and should be illegal. I am not even a big fan of the bunker industry with their nets. Funny but you catch fish until they show up and then you don't catch any. You can't convince me that a net only catches one type of fish and game species aren't harmed in the process. Don't pick on one fisherman because they don't even come close to what they allow the fish industry to do.


Now to the question in hand. You can probably keep the fish on a big stringer in the water. Maybe you have to use a club and club it and it will be a lot of drag. Keeping it in the water will keep it fresh. Probably the best bet is to keep it alive if you can but that may be a lot of drag. The water temps should be cool enough to keep the fish like it was in a cooler.

[HeaveToo]

Oh, and for the record, I am mainly a catch and release fisherman. That being said I will harvest something once in a while but it is rare.

[Salty Dog]

To somewhat answer your question, use a strong stringer. Its impossible to keep a large fish in yak due to space restrictions. From a different perspective, the fight, landing, photographing, measuring and successful release will overwhelm you with a state of satisfaction and reward you will never forget. I fish the salt, ALOT, during the spring run I release 10X more then I keep each day. There is a fish stringer I use for larger fish. It is one big clip and works well.

[yakscientist]

You know, I asked a simple question, how do you guys keep your rockfish in your yaks. That's it, nothing else. Only 2 people (ccchrisccc and fishmoken) answered it. Everyone else, except for Sega, wants to tell me how we are conservationists, and let the big ones go, not to post keepers, and about the Drum in FL. I didn't ask about those things. Sega hit it on the head with it's MY fish. I go to the bay to catch fish and consume their flesh. If I want to catch a 40" plus Rock and eat it, so be it. I drove the hour plus to catch fish. I did not ask for a lecture, I asked a question. Oh and if I want to post my big ass fish on here and it upsets someone, to bad. They have an issue not me. This forum has been real nice, with lots of good info, but for some reason this just sit's in my Hillbilly craw. You do what you want with your fish and I'll do what I want with mine. Oh and ccchrisccc, fishmoken and sega, thanks.

People jumped on your for your gas trolling motor comment as well, it's a bit frustrating to see so many strong opinions expressed without answering your question. However, seeing that those opinions are based on an approach which is more conservative minded, is nice. For what it's worth, I can't answer about the larger fish, but I keep a Coors Light cooler bag (when they used to sell the 36 packs) behind my seat, and keep a couple ice packs and some bagged ice in it, depending on the ambient temp. I just club the fish with my soul-pole, it's a wooden club I bought off amazon, and throw them behind me into the bag, I think it's more humane to dispatch of them quickly like that. Oh and you might already know, but you can keep a fish whole on ice for up to probably 2-3 days, or in the fridge, before filleting it, and it'll be fine. In fact, with oily fish like bluefish, it's said that once oxygen hits the meat, it'll spoil it quickly, so some people freeze them whole and thaw them slowly in the fridge the day before they intend to eat them, or just fillet and eat right away. I follow fishing rules strictly, and lately I've been confrontational when I see people needlessly killing fish, usually skate or rays, and I don't have any issue with people obeying the rules of the fishery, if you want to keep 1 big fish an outing, go for it. I am all for heavy penalties, much heavier than they are currently, to crabbers or fisherman who routinely harvest far more than the limit, and far smaller fish/crabs. Also, I know thule makes some large fish bags, you can also look on amazon, or at ACK, they will probably have a variety to choose, you could even use one of the insulated trader joes grocery bags with the foil lining.

[LivinTheDream]

For fish between 20 and about 22 inches, I cut the gills with shears, hang them in the water for about 20 minutes to bleed out, then put them in a Sam's Club cooler bag ($10) with a bunch of ice so they stay fresh and I'm not dragging them around. I cooked one the other day from the fall that was just 24 inches or so and even it didn't taste nearly as good as those a little smaller. I use the same technique for anything I keep. Bleeding the fish makes for nice clean cuts and chilling the meat make cleaning easier in my opinion.

[RavensDfense]

I would suggest a catch bag of some sort. Hobie makes two sizes. Here is a video showing them. They fit nicely on the bow or stern of your kayak. I bought one for a large cobia, but have also used them for several smaller fish. It holds ice for quite some time and doesn't take up too much room on the bow of my Outback. It has a very heavy duty zipper, is made of thick material that will not tear, and is easy to clean.

Wilderness Systems also came out with a catch bag. I do not know much about that one, but you can view it here.

There are some DIY options out there as well if you do not want to spend $150 on a name brand cooler. They look like they use simple materials from auto parts store. I don't know how well they will work, but here is an example.

IMO these options are much better than a stringer. Hanging your fish over the size is OK (so long as the water is cooler), but it creates a lot of drag and tends to get in the way. I prefer to bleed my fish out and get it on ice as soon as possible; especially if I have a long day on the water.

[dasher]

Steve, I feel for you. I have kept many large stripers over the years. However once I started kayaking, it was more fun to catch fish than to catch big fish. I disagree with others here, I've have found no difference in the taste of a 44" striper over that of a 24" one. I used to troll in my powerboat but sold all & now kayak. The others are correct in that the larger fish are the primary spawners. A large cow striper can produce as much as 10x the eggs as a fish 1/2 that size. (and it doesn't matter when in the year you keep a big stiper, thats that many less eggs being produced.)
But, you bought a license and are legally allowed to keep your limit. To the best of my knowledge & contrary to other's post the limits and sizes have not yet been set for this year. DNR's online post " See the online guide for season, size and creel info." Generally DNR will set the limits prior to April 15 ( a Saturday this year & there likely the fisrt day of the season.)

Also larger fish contain greater amount of toxins. Smaller fish can be eaten more often & larger fish should not be eaten more than say once a month. All that means is that trace amounts of things like PCPs are in the muscle of the fish.

To answer your question, I have a fish bag cooler & I freeze water bottles partially full & use them to drink or ice my fish.

tight lines

Don

[22Tango]

Okay got it, let the big ones over 30" go, and don't post pics of me keeping a big fish or someone will be upset. Sooooo, how do you keep the under 30" fish in the yak?? I usually keep them on a stringer over the side. I'm kind of looking for some DIY ideas to keep them out of the water.
Oh and for the record, I hunt to. Also do CDP's.

I bleed them like Living the Dream because it reduces toxins seeping into the meat, and put them in a Seattle Sports Catch Cooler 20 which I got off of Amazon for $60. I generally don't keep anything that won't fit in that bag not because of conservationism, but they are too dang heavy to paddle around with all day. I've seen guy peddle back to put the large catches in the car, then go back out. Small fish on a stringer over the side.

But most importantly, what is a CDP?

[dasher]

It is expected that Md DNR egs will be similar to Potomac R regs. : http://prfc.us/sports/BLUE%20SHEET-2013.pdf
1 fish per day > 35" beginning 4/15-5/15 then 1 fish > 20" & 1 over 28

[Steve6902]

22Tango, CDP is Crop Damage Permits. I usually kill anywhere between 30 and 60 deer a year. I hunt two different farms. And the farmers hate deer. No size limit there.

[yakscientist]

22Tango, CDP is Crop Damage Permits. I usually kill anywhere between 30 and 60 deer a year. I hunt two different farms. And the farmers hate deer. No size limit there.

I'm not sure if all that meat is already spoken for, but if you ever have any extra, I would gladly trade some rockfish fillets (or other fish fillets) for some.

[silasvirus82]

No need for all hate, good lord. While I do not personally keep very many fish there is nothing wrong with folks that do within the limits of the law. Recreational fisherman have virtually no impact on overall health of the bay. Commercial fisherman on the other hand, those are the guys to watch.

Getting back to your question, generally I store fish in some type of cooler or in my livewell if they are small like perch. One trick I do have for bigger fish that I plan to release is to get them on my boga grips as quickly as possible, unhook, and then back in the water with the grips still attached. My bogas are attached to my boat using a retractor, so the fish can just swim along next to my boat while I fiddle with my camera or measuring board. This helps keep the fish calm and more likely to recover after I get my measurements and/or pictures. I've even used this system as a stringer to hold one fish that I plan to keep.

In reference to your CDP permit, if you need any help with that please let me know. I'd love to come out and cull the herd.

[Slobber Bob]

This is probably the reason I don't keep too many large fish from the kayak; no place to store it properly. I would think fish bags would be the way to go for large fish so you can fill it with ice and also fit the entire fish in there and don't risk ruining the meat. Or keep a large enough cooler in your vehicle and immediately bring the fish back to shore so you can throw it in there.

I keep several a year 30" - 40" from the surf because I keep get them on ice right away and they taste just the same as schoolie sized fish. So don't worry about it "not tasting good". Anything over 40" I personally will release, but you can do as you see fit.

[cryptotek]

Criticism from the same guys that exhaust cow stripers on light tackle and then release them... sometimes only to die a day or two later because they never recover.