how do you preserve the catch. your freezer etiquettes.?

I dont have a vacuum sealer.  my good friend has one he brings to camp.  it is a restaurant one with a vacuum chamber with a plexiglass lid.  you see the air get sucked out of the chamber taking the stuff in the bag with it.  the bags are robust. 

the one I can get at Costco doesnt work for me.  I think ice shards will perforate the bags eventually. 

me?  I take off heads, fins, scale, guts and triple wrap in cling wrap..then into a zipper baggie, squeeze out the air.   it seems to be working.  no freezer damage.  same with fillets.  easier with fillets. 

side note.  good scissors are the best tool for clipping fins.  hands down.  mine are a cheap pair from Taiwan.   they look and feel like one a YouTube fish monger sells for $40,..

I also do the ziplock thing and try to get out most of the air. I think it’s usually good for up to 6 months this way. I can wash the bags and reuse and maybe get 3 uses out of a bag. I have not tried it on whole rockfish though - that seems like it wouldn’t work so well.

Did the ziplock bags for years. Finally got a food saver. Tip for you ziplock people- rather than trying to squeeze the air out,  Zip the bag 3/4 of the way closed. Dip the bag in a pot of water. It will push all of the air out. Just don't go all the way under water, keep the top of the bag right on the surface. Then zip shut once the air is pushed out.
Kevin

side note.  good scissors are the best tool for clipping fins.  hands down.  mine are a cheap pair from Taiwan.   they look and feel like one a YouTube fish monger sells for $40,..

Pruning shears work well on those fins too, maybe even cheaper and easier to get.

-Allen

side note.  good scissors are the best tool for clipping fins.  hands down.  mine are a cheap pair from Taiwan.   they look and feel like one a YouTube fish monger sells for $40,..

Pruning shears work well on those fins too, maybe even cheaper and easier to get.

-Allen

+1

side note.  good scissors are the best tool for clipping fins.  hands down.  mine are a cheap pair from Taiwan.   they look and feel like one a YouTube fish monger sells for $40,..

Pruning shears work well on those fins too, maybe even cheaper and easier to get.

-Allen

Great idea - thanks for sharing that!
 

My Costco vacuum sealer works good for me. I pat dry my fillets first with paper towels before sealing to avoid freezer burn and get a good seal.

My Costco vacuum sealer works good for me. I pat dry my fillets first with paper towels before sealing to avoid freezer burn and get a good seal.
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+1. I always double seal too (two different seal lines). 

After Ikijime, first step for me in fish fillet integrity, Food Saver and double seal, which means seal it, then pull the bag down or up and do another seal.  It makes me feel like a pro sealer.  I seal the fillets flat so I can stack them without them falling all over the place with different crammings of thickness.  I have an upright freezer.

After Ikijime, first step for me in fish fillet integrity, Food Saver and double seal, which means seal it, then pull the bag down or up and do another seal.  It makes me feel like a pro sealer.  I seal the fillets flat so I can stack them without them falling all over the place with different crammings of thickness.  I have an upright freezer.

This is the real advantage of the vac sealer - custom size bags and double seal. I also seal my fillets flat.

After Ikijime, first step for me in fish fillet integrity, Food Saver and double seal, which means seal it, then pull the bag down or up and do another seal.  It makes me feel like a pro sealer.  I seal the fillets flat so I can stack them without them falling all over the place with different crammings of thickness.  I have an upright freezer.

This is the real advantage of the vac sealer - custom size bags and double seal. I also seal my fillets flat.

Yessah!  Now, if there were only a silly windless and swell less weather window, I could get out and hopefully practice this art of sealing fresh fish.

After Ikijime, first step for me in fish fillet integrity, Food Saver and double seal, which means seal it, then pull the bag down or up and do another seal.  It makes me feel like a pro sealer.  I seal the fillets flat so I can stack them without them falling all over the place with different crammings of thickness.  I have an upright freezer.

This is the real advantage of the vac sealer - custom size bags and double seal. I also seal my fillets flat.

Yessah!  Now, if there were only a silly windless and swell less weather window, I could get out and hopefully practice this art of sealing fresh fish.

Haha, for sure! I need the magic schedule wand right now ... School is about to start, which should give me some more opportunities.

My wife cooks or gives away all of fish that I catch before there is a chance to freeze it. She is very popular with her friends but, strangely, only during fishing season...

OK, she does freeze a little bit of halibut, but that's mostly so that it can be eaten raw a few weeks later (after thawing, not as a butsicle). She uses the handiwrap-squeeze-out-all-of-the-air technique, and it seems to work well. As an aside, if you avoid the stringy parts, raw CA halibut is great, even after freezing (i.e., no flash freezing, just regular freezing, which is supposed to be a big no-no for sushi).

 I bought a Foodsaver when they first came out.......4-5 pro models later I finally got a commercial chamber vac.
Day and night difference in quality, bag selection ,speed,  after the initial purchase.
 Bonk or spike and bleed, then in to ice slurry or cooler bag. Small rockies, gut, de-fin and freeze for steamed?fryed whole fish. Larger fish filleted, pin bones removed, either scaled skin on or meat only.
 If you tuna fish a pressure canner is nice.....
A separate small chest freezer is nice to have for bait......lol

I bought a Foodsaver when they first came out.......4-5 pro models later I finally got a commercial chamber vac.
Day and night difference in quality, bag selection ,speed,  after the initial purchase.
 Bonk or spike and bleed, then in to ice slurry or cooler bag. Small rockies, gut, de-fin and freeze for steamed?fryed whole fish. Larger fish filleted, pin bones removed, either scaled skin on or meat only.
 If you tuna fish a pressure canner is nice.....
A separate small chest freezer is nice to have for bait......lol

nailed it with all of this!!