Winter Fishing Question - How to handle frozen fish?

[thill]

Went out for a couple of hours yesterday. Had fish on a stringer and dropped them in the boat for the ride home as it got dark. Was falling into the mid-teens fast.

At home, I went inside and ate dinner and hung out with my wife for awhile, then went out to charge the batteries and clean the fish. The fish were frozen rock-solid and absolutely cemented to the deck. Yikes!

It's supposed to go above freezing this afternoon, so I can chisel the fish out of the boat, but how do you handle fish that are frozen?
1) Do you just keep them frozen and gut and scale or fillet them right before eating?
2) Or do you defrost them, clean them and then re-freeze them after processing?

I don't think I've ever had this happen before, but I know northern fisherman deal with this all the time. Very interested in how others handle this.

[Grainraiser]

I would put them in cold water and filet/bag them as so as I can get a knife thru them.

[vbottom]

Happens a lot when we ice fish up here in the north. Just put them in a bucket or sink of cool water till they thaw enough to fillet. Doesn't hurt the quality.

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[keeferfish]

Just let them go, they should thaw out. Worked with a fly once when I was young.