We keep our crappies in a bag or the livewell. I want them alive to the knife and the fillets immediately cooled. Fish so dead they are decaying I simply discard, I do not risk eating spoiled fish.
I see a lot of crappie that are showing their pink side lately due to the summer heat. I've always kept mine on ice to avoid the pinky, never wanted to take a chance and end up with spoiled fish.
S10CHEVY LIKED above post
We keep our crappies in a bag or the livewell. I want them alive to the knife and the fillets immediately cooled. Fish so dead they are decaying I simply discard, I do not risk eating spoiled fish.
fish spoil fast, I keep mine alive until ready to clean. Some fish I see posted sometimes I wouldn't eat.
pink and red is a sign of stress in fish most of the time , hence the deadly effects of a pink headed jig in the winter when the shad are on their last leg .
discolored eyes /cloudy and washed out coloration coupled with a less than firm feel makes me say ....no thanks
not just pink .
my 27 cents
sum kawl me tha outlaw ketchn whalesRoy LIKED above post
I think crappie taste better out of cold water, so I don't keep them at all once the surface temp hits high 70s and above; for here that is about June thru September. I keep enough in the winter and spring to last me the summer.
"Alive without breath, as cold as death; never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail never clinking."
Don’t think I’d eat that spoiled fish. From mid May to mid October I put mine on the ice.
murdok LIKED above post
I was one that always thought fish tasted better out of cold water until I started going over to Mississippi last summer and pulling cranks and they are the best crappie I have ever eaten and everybody I feed say the same thing. The water temp. when I go has always been in the upper 80's or low 90's and when we catch them we always put them on ice in the cooler and they usually have pink around their mouth but I have never had a bad fish from over there.
Slabprowler, BarryG LIKED above post
If there's ANY question about the safety of food throw it out. If you've never had food poisoning, count your lucky stars. It can really put you in a world of hurt.
I feel if they are packed in ice real good they will keep just fine for me.
I catch 99% black crappie and never see the pink show up especially around the mouth area like on white crappie. I think it's something inherit to the whites. I find wintertime crappie taste much better but summertime caught fish need to be put on ice immediately. I'm not talking about throwing them on top of a bag of ice in a cooler, but rather open that bag add some water to it to make a slurry and then bury the fish in it. Safety first.
"gene"
"G" Gone but not forgotten!!BarryG LIKED above post