Fish on a Boat.

Factual Questions
1

…In theatres/theaters now. Ha ha.

I’ve been a casual saltwater fisherman for years (Coastal NJ and DE in USA), and for so long every boat that I’ve fished on has had ‘live wells’, which caught fish are tossed into and kept alive in fresh seawater pumped in by the boat. Every boat from 23’ walk-arounds to 34’ center consoles are configured this way. I can’t remember fishing on a boat that didn’t have this feature.

Then I got to wondering about my youth spent fishing (I am 42), and I realized that most of my time was spent crabbing (Blue Claws) off piers and small boats w/out ‘‘live wells’’, and we used to use big plastic painters’-type buckets to store the crabs, and we drilled plenty of holes in them, kept them sealed and hanging in the water. Basically, these were poor-kids’ live wells.

So, in all of my experiences, we came home with live crabs, or live fish. But if I find myself with some nice Stripers (striped bass) and some flounder, and I don’t have a purpose-built fishing boat, what am I doing with them? Am I just to store them in ice? I would need a decent-size and well-built container/cooler to store them in, and then a good supply of ice. Then I’d be fairly nervous about how long they can stay this way, and how much ice I would need.

What do I need to know? To do? To monitor? What could I wind up doing that would jeopardize my health later when I clean and grill 'em?

(FTR, all the fisherman I know have differing opinions and are spoiled by their live wells. I don’t think they know any more!)

2

My understanding is it’s the guts which go “hot” on fish, contaminating the flesh. I only ever fish from land and the first thing I do when I catch a fish is gut and clean it. Keep it in on ice or in a cool bucket of water and I’d think it would be fine for a few hours once the intestines, stomach, and liver are gone.

Edit: I just thought I’d add, be responsible with your gutpiles. Bear bells have become useless in a lot of places now thanks to hunters and fishers who use them and then leave gutpiles laying around. The bears have learned to associate the bells with food, which is exactly the opposite reason you wear them.

3

How long will you be out fishing? Purely an anecdote, but my FIL usually brings a large cooler with 10 lb or so of ice in it on his boat, and we put the live fish in there. We’ve had fish in there for 6+ hours without a problem.

4

As a kid I went fishing with an uncle. You do not get room in a 14’ boat for water! Unless it’s a very hot day or you are intending to spend days far offshore, dead fish will keep for about a day, or can put damp seaweed over it and keep it out of the sun. If you really must keep it alive, hang a sack or a crab-pot over the side and throw it in there.

5

All of the day boats out of San Diego I ever went out on just had gunny sacks hanging on hooks around the live bait tank. Each bag had a numbered tag, and each fisherman had a number. Fish went in the bags, and were all cleaned at the end of the day.