Chilling salmon after bleeding/gutting

hey salmon slayers - so I know many of us chill salmon on ice in a cooler bag right after bleeding/gutting it. But I also know some (including myself and even a few charter boats like Tigerfish) run there catch through cool seawater...in our case, off the side of our yaks. I don't really notice degradation in the meat doing this vs times I've iced it in a bag.

Is one method better than the other for preserving the quality of the meat?

 

I've seen noticeable degradation of fish that are not kept cold.

Ideally fish are quickly bled and placed in an ice slurry.

Way I see it is, I've spent a couple grand on a kayak and fishing gear, might as well go the extra mile to ensure that my fresh caught fish stays as fresh as possible.

My routine is:
  - bleed fish
  - gut fish
  - place fish in an ice slurry

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

Way I see it is, I've spent a couple grand on a kayak and fishing gear, might as well go the extra mile to ensure that my fresh caught fish stays as fresh as possible.

My routine is:
  - bleed fish
  - gut fish
  - place fish in an ice slurry

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

I used to do all this, but now I go as light as I can.  Bleed the fish, then straight to gunny sack.  Dip in water once in awhile to keep it as cold as I can. 

Way I see it is, I've spent a couple grand on a kayak and fishing gear, might as well go the extra mile to ensure that my fresh caught fish stays as fresh as possible.

My routine is:
  - bleed fish
  - gut fish
  - place fish in an ice slurry

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

Yea, it's nice to have ice when you catch...but it wears thin after skunks. I've even had a few guys donate their unused ice to me 

All that said, I now just leave the cooler and ice in the car.

If the cooler is water tight, you can use cooler shocks with a little bit of salt water after bleeding it. I use the same method but with blocks of ice made with SS food pans.

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

bring the ice = skunk
leave the ice at home = limits of hogs

If the cooler is water tight, you can use cooler shocks with a little bit of salt water after bleeding it. I use the same method but with blocks of ice made with SS food pans.

I use the Cooler Shock with Hobie/reliable kill bags too.
Couple years ago when I was catching those small salmon in the South of SF. I was noticing the meat get pretty mushy like when I was fishing for Kokanee. I think I might be staying out too long and it can get pretty warm around noon (even the surface water temp comes up quite bit), but I’m sure I wasn’t keep the fish cold enough.
Since I started using the kill bags, the both Chinooks & Kokes meats have been pretty nice & firm, and I really like the Cooler Shock stuff cuz they’re not that expensive, reusable, gets super cold & I don’t like my fish sitting on freshwater...

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

bring the ice = skunk
leave the ice at home = limits of hogs

I hear you... in my case usually the ice chest...

This has been a productive read for me -- clued me into Shock Ice. I'm reading about it on it's website, and this caught my eye:

"It is colder than ice which falls at 32°F compared to Cooler Shock at 18°F."

It's been ages since high school chemistry/physics; but this is confusing me. If you store ice at 20 degrees F for a day, that ice will be 20 degrees F, right?

I'm guessing that the big difference b/w regular ice and Shock Ice is that the latter sucks a lot more energy out of the environment before heating up?

yah...20 degrees gets you 20 degrees.

however, (and check my work here)
the gels in the icepacks usually have a lower melting point (25-28 vs 32)...which means you get a lower temp as that stuff melts....and absorbs tons of heat.

Agree with SteveS - it's the melting point that really matters.  20 deg ice cubes will rapidly heat up to 32 deg, but the shock ice stays around 18-25 depending on brand.

I recently switched over to using a couple of the large Cooler Shock ice packs and they work really well to keep the fish reasonably cool while out on the water.  I should start throwing in some sea water to improve surface area contact with the fish.  For the rare occasion when I am traveling home with a large salmon in the bag, I will stop and throw in an extra 20lbs of wet ice.

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

bring the ice = skunk
leave the ice at home = limits of hogs

Didn't work for me the couple of times I applied this logic (nearly verbatim!) to my packing.... lol.

All others regarding Cooler Shock and it's associated physics - thanks, I learned something today that will make my prep work for fishing a good bit easier.

Oh, I’ve spent hours thinking about this.
Here’s my system:
1. I got the NRS 140L expedition style dry bag. Light, compact, and less than $100 bucks. Doesn’t leak. Excellent quality. Leave in car trunk.
2. I got a burlap sack. $10 on Amazon. Store inside kayak.
3. If I catch a salmon, I leave it in the net. Then stringer. Then I spike it in the brain to paralyze it. Use a stainless steel ice spike ($10 on Amazon) or better yet use ikejime (Japanese method of killing and preserving fish)
4. Next, I take it out of the net, clean up the kayak and prepare for paddling.
5. Once the kayak is in motion, cut the gills on both sides. Don’t cut under the mouth so that the heart keeps pumping blood out. If possible, let the fish hang head down to drain the blood.
6. Leave the fish in the water so that the blood doesn’t coagulate.
7. Don’t stop, or you’ll have seals and other unwelcome visitors.
8. Use a bungee cord for your stringer, Attached with a carabiner, and have scissors ready to cut in case the bungee is pulled.
9. Once the fish stops bleeding, put it on the kayak under the burlap sack. Wet the sack as often as possible. And once more before landing.
10. Upon landing put the fish inside the sack. Once at the car, if you don’t have ice, then pack everything, leaving the fish and the kayak for last. Put the sack with the fish inside the NRS bag. Lock it. Make sure it has enough air trapped inside. Air is one of the best insulators in the world.
11. Drive to a nearby store and get a few bags of ice. Put in drybag and drive home.
12. You have all the time in the world to wash yourself and the kayak.
13. Ice will stay in the drybag at least until the following morning. I usually wait until my kid is asleep and the kitchen is quiet. Then I clean the fish and store in freezer

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

bring the ice = skunk
leave the ice at home = limits of hogs

this is my system.

I don't bring ice, but I know where the closest place to the launch to get ice is, so I can trick the fish into thinking I don't have ice for them, so they come on board.

The only issue that I face is that it's hard to put in the work for the infrastructure after I've been skunked 5 or 10 times in a row. Hauling the cooler, bringing the ice - it can get a bit much if you're pretty sure all you're gonna catch is a skunk.

bring the ice = skunk
leave the ice at home = limits of hogs

this is my system.

I don't bring ice, but I know where the closest place to the launch to get ice is, so I can trick the fish into thinking I don't have ice for them, so they come on board.