how do you treat your catch

[shortie]

After a days fishing how do you treat your catch.

for eating same day

for eating at a later time.

How do you go about freezing. skin on shin off , sclaes on scales off

Is freezing good for the quality

What species do you freezer and what dont you freezer

How long will each keep in the freezer

If you have purchased your seafood how do you go about choosing what to buy ie in quality

Do you buy imported seafood

[Davo_Dinkum]

me i like it eat it fresh that day ,never keep and freeze it unless it's bait.

as for freezing it mose well buy that cheap frozen crap from the super markets once u cook it and add 10 spices ,it's ok i guess.

some of the fisho's and fish shops have good stuff on the right day .again if it's frozen mose well go to the supermarkets.

anyways that's my opinion on it. only 1 way fresh is best

bit of salt pepper garlic onion butter on the bbq beautiful m8

[werewolf]

fish is always the best fresh, but flake seems to defrost and maintain a lot of its moisture

[tomca]

I only take fish for eating that day or the next. Not a fan of freezing, gives me an excuse to go fishing;)

[dhess]

All fish I keep to eat I dong over the head with a wooden bat and put straight on ice. Killing them instantly is not only humane but also insures that they don't get bruised flapping around in the esky. All pelagics are bled immediately. Brain spiking is also meant to be good.

When I get back to the ramp I gut and gill the fish and wash them in salt water. From what I have read, washing fish flesh in fresh water is not a good idea as the fresh water washes away oils and deteriorates the quality.

I try to eat all of my catch fresh. I don't scale any fish as after I have filleted I skin the fillets. Any fillets I freeze I leave the skin on or leave the fish whole. Helps prevent drying out. I also wrap in several layers of glad wrap and double bag in zip lock bags with the air squashed out of them to minimize freezer burn. Any fish I bake whole I leave the scales on as they prevent the flesh from drying out and are very easy to remove in one hit with a fork once baked.

[Tybo]

I'm with everyone else, in that if I catch fish that day I'll eat it that night, no questions asked. You cannot get fresher than that, and money can't buy that freshness. Even if you've got duck al'orange on the stove, or mums lamb roast, piss it off and eat the freshest thing you can get, that you fought over and tried over that day.

I worked for years processing seafood, and although I'm not an expert there's certain things that should be and shouldn't be done.

Don't keep more than you need, and only keep decent size stuff that you can get a feed out of. If it's not worth the time, make the fishes day and let them go. Trophy hunting piddly fish is a real pet hate.

Know what you're going to do with it, as in cooking methods before you kill something. If you don't know, research and ask, or let the fish go. People will be more than happy to tell you there favourite recipes and techniques.

Gut and gill your fish as soon as possible(even on the boat if need be) and then keep them as cold and as wet as possible. Always go fishing with a decent ice supply, if you're hunting for keepers.

I rarely scale, I skin everything. Fish such as squire and reefies between 35 and 50cm, I keep whole, I've got some great recipes for them. Once again, I gut and gill them on the boat.

There's an idea going around at the moment(which I think was started by Neil Perry) about never washing fish flesh in either saltwater or freshwater. I agree that freshwater isn't as good for food as saltwater, but this is ridiculous and pedantic. All commercial fish is washed in brine, and has been for a long time. They came out of the water and the water's what adds the taste. Still don't soak fish flesh in water for too long and make sure the flesh is patted dry before cooking.

Freezing is good as long as it's done that day too. Don't freeze two day old fish. The secret to freezing is salting with rock salt before freezing. Wrap in heaps of glad wrap and make sure cold dry air doesn't touch your fish, as this will burn and detriment your fish. Lastly don't leave fish frozen for months, eat in with a fortnight and will still be nearly as good.

[Leighton]

I make my own ice ( 2 L ice Blocks )

Fish straight into the slurry after being dealt with

Once home I fillet and skin all my fish, dump the frames in the Creek and wash all the fillets in Salt water. I never let any fresh water touch the fillets

Keep what I want for that night, a few fillets to the neighbours.

If I keep a few then the salt washed fillets can be frozen.

I have even frozen Tailor and it was still fantastic to eat

[bootyinblue]

Pretty much going with the flow here.

Keep 1 or 2 fish for eating that night and they go straight into a ice slurry. Back at ramp, gut and gill, or fillet and feed the pelicans or bait fish in the area with scraps. Fillets leave the ramp prepped ready for the pan, no need to mess around at home with them.

Brings me back to one reason I was punted from Ausfish, and it was a discussion of slow freeze versus fast freezing, crystal size and cell wall destruction. Where were you Tybo, could have put some input into it!

[Malexander]

Cell wall destruction?

This is fishing, not science...

what's next? The cell wall and the neurons... The ph of fish deep grilled ..

I just catch and release my fish. Don't photograph

[Bommie]

I'll go against the general flow, I prefer fish, prawns and crabs a day or two after being caught, they seem to have way more flavour. I still put the catch in ice slurry straight away and clean as soon as possible. Especially with banana prawns if caught then cooked and eaten that day the are tasteless but let them sit in the fridge for a day or two and they are delicious

[dhess]

There is definitely some truth to what you say Bommie.

I find most fish especially pelagics prepared for sashimi at there best after they have been refrigerated for 24 hours or so. It seems to firm up the flesh and improve the texture.

[Davo_Dinkum]

i have heard that about some fish and prawns too.

never caught prawns for eating yet so will try that if i ever do.

crabs i have caught killed cleaned cook and eaten hot ,not bad bit diffrent .

but usually i catch kill clean then ice for a 1/2 a day then cook then ice for a few hrs.

as for fresh prawns the freshest i have have is off the trawlers in the bay when we where at Morton,a long time ago now .so i suppose since they where cooked they would be a day or 2 old i guess.

[ellicat]

Throat them, ice them, get home and go to sleep. Next day fillet and skin them. Stick the waste in the bait freezer for berley next time (if I remember to take it).

If it's a day trip I'm usually too tired to bother cooking same day, so do the same as above then refrigerate enough for next nights meal and freeze the rest. Don't notice any difference to taste or texture after it's all firmed up in the pan.

Except for whiting I always skin them. I've discovered some pretty disgusting things under the skin that would have gone unnoticed otherwise.

[shortie]

ellicat wrote:

Throat them, ice them, get home and go to sleep. Next day fillet and skin them. Stick the waste in the bait freezer for berley next time (if I remember to take it).

If it's a day trip I'm usually too tired to bother cooking same day, so do the same as above then refrigerate enough for next nights meal and freeze the rest. Don't notice any difference to taste or texture after it's all firmed up in the pan.

Except for whiting I always skin them. I've discovered some pretty disgusting things under the skin that would have gone unnoticed otherwise.

Or leave em in the car for 3 days and the sky with bait in the boat for a week. lol