Thread: Mushy Crappie

Good idea

Don’t ever let them sit in water. Throw them straight into a cooler of ice.

I cut a plastic grate to fit in the bottom of my fish cooler. That keeps them off the bottom where the water is. When I get home I’ll take cooler out of the boat , and pull drain plug on the cooler. Add a little more ice to cover them. I like them to be on ice for at least a day before cleaning.

Never had a problem doing it this way for 30 years.


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Being from Michigan, here's what I do. Keeping them in the livewell while you're fishing is fine as long as you have plenty of water for the # of fish, you need to keep them alive. As soon as you leave the lake get them in a cooler with ice and wait until the next day to clean them. Rinse the fillets a couple of times then put them in a bowl and cover with water. I don't add salt to the water. Leave them in the fridge at least overnight, changing out the water if you think about it. Give them another good rinse before you package them or fry them. I vacuum pack my fillets. I lay the fillets out on a bath towel, cover them with another towel and dry them as much as possible. Then I vac pack them. Works good for me, others may have different opinions.