How Many Fish in the Freezer

[Greg Clusiau]

Just curious, but how many fish, amount and species, do you anglers usually have on hand
(in the freezer)? As of this minute, I don't have anything in the freezer but have a dozen nice crappies waiting to be cleaned.
I usually don't have very much because of the amount of fishing that I do. Usually, when we have a fish dinner, it's from the same or previous day. Just something I've always wondered.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas......GC

[mwktrapper]

Greg, I usually have a few packages in the freezer for use of big fish fries with a lot of people. Otherwise, I'm like you--I like to eat my fish a day or 2 after they're caught. Me and a buddy cleaned 30 decent crappies last night--ate em today and man were they good. I sure like crappies. Have a good Christmas everyone.

[Ybone]

Greg, I usually only keep fish that I'm going to eat within a day or 2 so I seldom have fish in the freezer. The only time I freeze anything is if for some reason I was unable to cook them as planned or if I promised someone a fish dinner and don't want to wait til the last minute to catch them. I never keep them frozen for more than a week or 2. I'm able to fish on a somewhat regular basis so I see no reason to keep fish in the freezer since the best tasting fish are fresh fish.

[Steve Foss]

In the freezer, we've got a couple coho fillets, some pike chunks for pickling, two walleye fillets and a half dozen crappies or so. Oh yeah, got two whitefish fillets we've gotta smoke too. We eat fish a lot, and my wife quit making smart comments years ago about what it costs to catch our own fish, since she loves to fish herself. We try to eat it fresh as often as possible, but it's good to have it frozen when company comes unexpectedly or you've got a fish fry gathering to go to. We got one of those vaccum packers a couple years ago. They are great. I'd recommend them to anyone. No freezer burn and no more ice-cream buckets full of ice/fish taking up too much room -- and the packages are flat, easily stored and can be re-used.

[Greg Clusiau]

stfcatfish:

I just got a "Food Saver" for Christmas and can hardly wait to start playing with it. Tell me, any tricks to preserving your fish?? Just suck the air out of the bag and seal it? Shelf life? Didn't watch the video yet that came with it. As a matter-of-fact, I never even opened the box!

Up until now, any fish I would freeze were put into freezer bags and filled with water, tipping the bag to one side so all the air could get out before sealing it. This method works pretty good.

Regards.....GC

[PRO-V]

I don't have a vaccuum sealer but use a differant method. Put fish in a gallon ziplock, fill sink with water, add just enough water to bag to cover fish. Zip the bag shut most of the way, submerge in sink focing out air and excess water and zip shut.Just about as good as a sealer and saves you a couple hundred bucks.

[Steve Foss]

ProV and Greg:

I used to freeze fish exactly the way you described, ProV. It works really well. But the new way takes up way less room and is faster to thaw the fish. Of course, you gotta plop down more than $100 for the vacuum packer in the first place, and the plastic roll to cut the bags from doesn't come cheap either. Good thing you can re-use the bags.

Greg: Here are some tips. Part of the art is in figuring how long to make the bag as you cut it off the roll of bag material. Depends on how many fillets you've got. Too much bag and there's too much air to suck out. Too little bag and there's not enough room to get the open end in the machine. You'll get the hang of it. When you're figuring out bag size, remember this: The air is easier to suck out if all the fillets are laid parallel, with their ends, pointing toward the packer. If you lay them crossways, all the air won't come out and you'll have air pockets that invite freezer burn. Also, once you've made the bag and are laying the fillets in, make sure they're all the way in and touching the sealed end, so there's less extra air down there. Also, avoid the temptation to stack a bunch of fillets on top of each other. We pack them in pretty good side-to-side, but only one layer per bag. And before you seal the bag with the packer, make sure there's no water inside or out on the open end, as this will make the packer work harder and sometimes will ruin the seal. It's impossible to put in a bunch of wet fillets without getting some water on the bag. I just wipe the top of the bag inside and out with a paper towel before sealing. To thaw the frozen packs, I just lay them in a sink of warm water (hot water is hot enough to start them cooking, so I use warm). Since they're one fillet thick, they thaw quickly.

Good luck,

SF

[BLACKJACK]

STfcatfish, thanks for the info on vaumn packing! I just got one for Xmas and have been anxious to try it (but have been eating the fish as fast as I catch them). I know that the wife will enjoy watching the video on New Years Eve!! Question: Why don't you 'stack' the fillets? Is that only for ease of thawing? Also, how do you get all the water off before you vacumn pack? If you've soaked the fish in water to clean and get the blood off, they're be sopping wet. Thanks for the info.

[Crow Hunter]

One note on the vacuum sealer; ziplock bags do not block oxygen; oxygen is what causes freezer burn. The bags that are used with a sealer do block oxygen, so whatever you put into them stay fresher with no freezer burn.

[Steve Foss]

Hey BLACKJACK:

I don't stack the fillets because it's too hard for the packer to draw out the air with all those extra air pockets. I dry the fillets by laying them on paper towels, but don't try to take all the moisture off. I just daub them to get rid of the extra. And Crow Hunter, thanks for the info on ziplock bags. I noticed the vacuum pack material is a lot thicker than ziplock bags, but didn't know ziplocks let air through.

sf

[Greg Clusiau]

BLACKJACK:

I had to chuckle over "watching the video on New Years Eve", as that is what I planned on doing myself! Can certainly tell I'm getting older. No more going "downtown" to celebrate the new year. That's okay, however, as I can get up extra early tomorrow for those low-light walleyes and I won't be sporting a hangover!!

Also, I had the same questions for "stfcatfish", regarding stacking and drying.

Happy New Year to all......GC

[Steve Foss]

Yeah, I hear you on the getting older part. Just turned 40 earlier this month. Get off work tonight about 11. Home for a glass of champagne with the spouse, then up by 8 a.m. to prowl some of the inlets on the Wisconsin side of St. Louis Bay for crappies and walleyes. Fishing with a hangover's better than not fishing, but fishing clear headed is better yet. Here's to sharp wits, and the best of luck fishing in 2002. And remember, if you catch so many fish you're tempted to stack 'em up in the vacuum pack bag, eat some first!

[Greg Clusiau]

Figured I'd post a follow-up to my early morning walleye fishing on New Years Day. Made it out on Swan Lake by 6:00 a.m. and fished until 8:30 a.m., catching only 1 small walleye (15") which I released.

Shortly after noon, I headed up to Upper Red with two friends and enjoyed a good bite with some super fish. Crappies averaged 12".
Plenty of ice to drive on. It was, however, a long day, with me getting home around 10:30 p.m. but what a way to start the new year!

GC

[BLACKJACK]

I'm glad this topic popped up again, I went looking for it and couldn't find it, didn't remember which forum to look under.

Greg C. and Stfcatfish, thank for the info on the food saver! Since my last post I've been 'playing' with it, did some jerky and crappie fillets. Looks like it will work slick, though the wife was already complaining about the number of paper towels that I used. Now to see how stuff keeps. Will be interesting to see how it works on game birds like pheasants. As for the video on Christmas Eve, we didn't even make it through before we fell asleep! Must have been too big of a bottle of wine!!

Greg C., thanks for the Red Lake report. I'm already looking forward to getting up there in Feb!!

[Greg Clusiau]

BLACKJACK:

I forgot to mention my experience with the Food Saver! Like you said, it works slick. I had a little fun with it in packaging 9 Red Lake crappies. Three in a small bag and 6 in a larger one. We ate the other 6 fish for supper.

Also, I never even looked at the video yet. Think I already saw way too many infomercials (sp)on the product. One thing, it's easy to use. I'm already thinking about what else I can vac-pak. Stuff like a hunting survival kit, etc.

As far as celebrating on New Years Eve. I had a small glass of pink champagne and a bottle of beer and was in bed by 9:00!

Good Fishing.....GC