9 ideas for storing fish when fishing in the heat in the summer - what to keep and where to hide

If you ask an avid fisherman how to store fish while fishing in the summer, you will hear many original methods and ideas. There is no one correct recipe or instruction in this matter. To bring live fish home, it is stored in a cage or on a kukan. For long-term storage, you can dig a cellar, salt the catch, or layer it with freshly cut herbs.

The choice of method depends on the temperature of the water in the reservoir, whether there is grass nearby, what type of fish was caught and what size, how many hours or days it needs to be preserved and for what purpose - to fry, for drying, soup, fillet.

Storing fish during summer fishing - golden rules

Preserving fish while fishing in the summer is not much easier than catching it. Especially if the fishing promises to be long and the weather is expected to be hot.

Inexperienced amateur fishermen should remember 9 golden rules:

1. The caught fish, if it is not injured, should be immediately placed in a spacious cage, preferably a fabric one (metal ones live less). The cage is lowered into the coolest place in the reservoir - in the shade of bushes and trees, to a depth of about 1 m. The shore should not be surf. No strong currents. Conditions for fish should be comfortable.
2. It is better to keep large fish and predators on a soft nylon cord (kukan), passed through the gills, but not between the plates. For pike, it is better to make a hole in the lower jaw. This is less traumatic for her, the pike will even be able to hunt.
3. If the fish in the cage begins to “fall asleep” and float up belly up, you need to remove it and kill it. In water it will deteriorate very quickly and cause all the neighbors to fall asleep. You can cut a gill vein or make a puncture in the back of the head.
4. The caught fish should not be beaten on the shore. It cannot be washed or wiped so as not to damage it.
5. Killed fish should not be left in the water. You need to choose the best way to save it. In particular, it should not be in liquid during transportation. It is necessary to provide holes for drainage.
6. Fish mucus is full of all sorts of microorganisms. To keep it longer, you need to lightly dry the carcass in the shade.
7. The catch should be protected from flies. They lay eggs, from which larvae quickly hatch in the heat.
8. For better preservation, the gills and entrails of the fish are removed.
9. If possible, use available preservatives: salt, herbs and plants: tansy, sedge, rhubarb, alder leaves and twigs, nettle.

How to store catch in the summer heat - 9 ways with reviews

Even experienced fishermen sometimes lose part of their catch in the summer. Heat is a terrible thing for such a perishable product as fish.At temperatures above +30 degrees, everything “melts” - clothes, shoes, brains, bait. It happens that you don’t have time to get the fish to the shore, but it’s already rotten.

Method No. 1 - in the cage

The most popular method among fishermen. The main thing is to choose a cooler place. Cages can be metal or fabric, 85 cm or more in length. The cage must be sunk using a 1 kg weight suspended from the lower rim. From time to time you should check it and remove fallen fish.

Reviews:

• Vitalik: “Pike, crucian carp, and carp are excellently kept alive in the cage. I immediately salt the link, grayling and taimen. They don’t like warmth.”
• Andrey: “I also store large fish in special cages (carp bags): carp, silver carp, grass carp, carp. She is kept in complete darkness and water, is less stressed and lives longer in captivity. We're going home in the car. I put it on the floor of the front seat in a plastic bag, and turn on the air conditioner at full power. After an hour and a half, all the fish are still alive.”

Method No. 2 - on kukan

Kukan is tied to cattails, reeds (reeds), and if the fish is large - to a bush or fallen tree. Strong fish are kept on the kukan if it has not received serious damage. Pike, carp, crucian carp, and catfish can remain alive for 2-3 days in summer.

• Vladimir: “When traveling on a motor boat, I use a kukan. I pierce the upper and lower jaws of large pike, pike-perch, and perch with a clasp, and I don’t go out with a kukan in the water on a glider. If the fish is not dried, I prefer to store it alive.

Method No. 3 - in the freezer at the base or in a cooler bag

At many bases near water bodies you can reserve a place in the freezer for a small fee. If the catch is large, or the fishing is long, this option has a place to be.

Review:

• Arthur: “I use the freezer at the base and take it home in thermal packaging for food.You can buy one of these in any store. You put more ice in it, and that’s it. Bags for carrying ice cream and trays for chicken (from baked rolls) will also work.”
• Seryoga: “I bought a thermal bag with cold accumulators 5 years ago for 500 rubles. I freeze bottles of beer along with batteries. I caught a fish, drank beer, and took the fish in its place. And so on until all the beer is gone. There is enough cold for 2 days, the capacity of the cooler bag is 15 kg.

Method No. 4 - in sedge and a wet rag

• Sergey: “I travel hundreds of kilometers to go fishing. I gut the fish, cut out the gills and cover it with sedge. Then I wrap the whole thing in a wet rag and carry it away. The main thing is not to put it in a plastic bag - it will either cook or go rotten. The method works great with pike and carp.”

Method No. 5 - in brine

In Turkic languages, “tuzluk” is a solution of table salt that is used to prepare fish. In the heat of summer fishing, the catch can be immediately salted.

How to do this correctly is described in the review:

• Victor: “For me, fishing is about Don herring. I arrive and immediately mix brine - 1 kg of regular table salt, not iodized, per bucket of water. I drop the bucket near the water and drop the fish straight from the hook into the brine. It may not be humane, but it is very effective. I'm taking it home, draining a little brine. And I put it straight in the refrigerator.”

Method number 6 - in a homemade cellar

One of the oldest ways to preserve fish during summer fishing in the heat is to bury it in the ground. It is always cool at a depth of 35-50 cm. Green herbs are placed in the cellar, then fish, then grass again, etc. At the end, everything is covered with film, earth is thrown on it and trampled down tightly.

Reviews:

• Valya: “We always bury the fish at least half a meter into the ground. We tightly spread nettles and salt into the gills, and it stays calm for a day!”
• Anton: “My opinion is that fish gets wet from salt, releases juice and spoils faster. I store it in a cellar with nettles and aspen, in a wet rag. I take bottles of ice with me and line them on all sides. Ice does not melt underground for 2 days. I store food there in the cellar.”

Method No. 7 – “Cossack”

Suitable for preserving large fish when fishing in summer. The carcasses are laid out with green grass, if possible covered with bottles of ice or placed in a cellar. Further, before taking the catch home, the Cossack trick is used:

1. Moisten a piece of rag, bandage or cotton wool with vodka. Stick it behind the fish's gills.
2. Transport in a wet cloth.

According to reviews, even after a day the fish does not dry out and remains as tasty as freshly caught.

Method number 8 - using vinegar

• Alexander: “I had a chance to go fishing in the Astrakhan region. It's the middle of summer, the heat is incredible. The fish died out within an hour in the car while being transported to the freezer. I looked at the local fishermen's method of storing fish. You need to wipe the entire fish with a weak solution of acetic acid, and then stick the cotton wool into the gills. I tried the method. In 5 hours the fish did not spoil.”

Method No. 9 - in the form of preparations: battering ram, roasted fish, dried fish

Some fishermen prefer to cook dried fish right there while fishing, or even take a smokehouse with them. Part of the catch, so as not to be lost, is eaten in the form of fish soup and roasted fish soup.

• Lech: “Before leaving, I gut the perch, wipe the inside with a dry cloth, sprinkle it with coarse salt, and wrap it in normal paper so that air can pass through. I carry it in a cooler bag. At home I put it in the shade. In this way I brought salted pieces of lenok and taimen in the heat. Fish without gills and in salt can be stored normally.”
• Temych: “I clean the fish on the spot. I caught a certain number and put them on a kukan.As soon as it starts to fall asleep, I rip it open for salting or smoking.”
• David: “I always salt the fish in the summer. That's how I taught it. If it is large, the intestines and gills need to be removed, but if it is small, you can simply coat it with salt and place it in the shade. You can soak it at home or fry it right away, it turns out fine.”
• Andrey: “There’s no point in catching fish in the heat of the day. I caught a couple on fish and fried them, and then I swim, sunbathe, and relax in a hammock. I fish early in the morning and at sunset.”
• Vova: “For long-term transportation, the fish must be gutted and sprinkled with salt. For the battering ram I make a cut along the back and fill in the entire volume. At home I bring it to dry salting. For roasting I add a little salt. You can rinse it and put it straight into the frying pan.”

Questions and answers

At what temperature should fish be stored when fishing?

The best temperature for storing fresh fish is -1C. When fishing without a refrigerator, it is impossible to achieve the ideal temperature. You also need to remember that not every portable or car refrigerator is capable of cooling food to a temperature below +5 degrees. The solution is to strive for the ideal, look for the coolest places, use bottles with ice and cold accumulators.

Which herb preserves fish better?

Alder is considered the best option. Its leaves and young twigs release preservative substances without heating the fish’s body, as nettle does.

Preserving fish while fishing in the summer is not easy. You need to have a fish tank, kukan, bottles of ice, salt, a knife, rags or a cooler bag in your arsenal, and act according to the situation. The ability to keep your catch fresh comes with experience.