methods for freezing fish

we had a wonderful time in pennsylvania and between 5 of us southern guys we were lucky enough to limit out each day, only in erie.
first off thanks for helping us out. fisherman in virginia are tight lipped and never volunteer info. you pennsylvania guys are great and unselfish, volunteeing to help us out.
I do have one more question, we did trade a bunch of our fish in for smoked ones but we did keep quite a few fillets for grilling and such. my question is on storing smoked and fresh fish. is vaccum sealing the way to go or freezing in water?

Freeze them   When ready to Eat  MICROWAVE  for 5 minutes

Tim,

I totally support catch and release.  The fish you caught today may be the fish I catch tomorrow.
I also release most of the fish I catch, however, I did bring three home from my first outing in Erie
simply because I have never eaten steelhead and want to give it a try.  In fact, Wednesday evening
there will be steelhead on the grill at my house.  Does that make me a bad person because I brought
three of your steelhead home?

As for those guys keeping a days limit a piece,  so be it.  They paid for their licenses (in fact more
for non-resident licenses) and stamps just as we did and they are certainly entitled to keep their
share.  So they kept 15 fish a piece.  That is no different than us going trout fishing on three occasions
and keeping a five fish limit each outing.  I've done it and I would wager so have many others on this
forum.  They clearly stated they traded in some of their catch for smoked fish.  So, others are going
to benefit from their catch also, maybe even some of those near and dear to the Erie area.

As for cleaning out the stream, I highly doubt that.  From the amount of smolt I enountered when I was
there, granted on the west side, I highly doubt your streams are going to be extinct of fish.  It would
appear the PFBC, and the authorities to be, are taking great care of your fish population.

Lastly, and please don't take this the wrong way.  Who are you to say that most of those fish will be
thrown out?  Do you know these Virginia residents personally and that they routinely throw their fish away?
Maybe they really enjoy their fish and their entire catch will be gone within a week or two.

In closing, we all pay for our licenses and we are entitled to keep our legal daily limits.

Thats what they're stocked for.
 
end of story...................
 
 
On a sidenote, fishing a stream when smolts are present..
thats a crime.
 

"Does that make me a bad person because I brought
three of your steelhead home?"

No. 

"As for cleaning out the stream, I highly doubt that.  From the amount of smolt I enountered when I was
there, granted on the west side, I highly doubt your streams are going to be extinct of fish.  It would
appear the PFBC, and the authorities to be, are taking great care of your fish population."

lol...  nahh man, thats not what I was saying.  I am well aware that there will be tons of fish next year to replace these ones.... 

What I'm saying is that this time of year it is very easy to clean out a smaller stream, on the count there there is little if any more fresh fish comming in.  Let someone else have the joy of catching them before its all done until the fall.


"Lastly, and please don't take this the wrong way.  Who are you to say that most of those fish will be
thrown out?  Do you know these Virginia residents personally and that they routinely throw their fish away?
Maybe they really enjoy their fish and their entire catch will be gone within a week or two."


I'm going to take a wild guess and say that alot of fish are thrown away.  Do I know that these dudes personaly are going to do that?  No, so maybe I was wrong to assume that. 

But what I do know is thats a heck of alot of fish for even a family to eat...  and I HIGHLY doubt that ANYONE can eat 15 freaking steelhead in a week or two, cmon...  First of all, not only is that disgusting, but dangerous check out the consumption advisorys... 

anyways...  one steelhead should be able to feed 2 people for a meal.  Theres a difference between keeping a couple 9 inch stream trout and a couple 25 inch steelhead... 

If they would go by the fish consumption advisorys, I'm guessing it would take about a year to eat all of these fish, lol.  But my guess is they will either find out how bad they taste first, or just get sick of eating them.  Best case scenario, they give some of them away.


-Tim

Glad u guys got into them , ignore some of the more sarcastic replies for keeping fish some guys are just full of it. Like Loon10 said freezing fish in water is the way to go. 

Keep what you need is what I believe....If the meat is going to feed your family then thats great for you.  You paid for it. 

I guess there will always be ****ing about keeping fish, too many fishermen, stop fishing when you catch a smolt, etc. etc.  You'll find the "chronic complainers" that complain about everything in every crowd on every subject.

Is there a problem with the Erie fisheries???  I don't think so...I don't know about some of you, but everytime I fish Erie streams or the lake, I do pretty darn well.  I would say that on average, when steelheading, I get 10 per trip...at least.  I won't even mention the walleye, perch and bass fishing successes I've had on Erie.  The fishery is phenomenal, so quit crying!  Something is being done right and folks should be proud of that and promote to, educate and welcome newcomers so that your region can prosper because of it and them.  I only live about an hour and a half from Erie and have been fishing there for years.  Things have only gotten better from what I see.  Catch and Release is partially the reason, I agree, but like anything else, you need a good balance of C&R and "thinning the heard" to let them regenerate etc. As for the stocked fish...they are stocked for a reason, and will be stocked again year after year for that same reason.  So if you Catch and Release, more power to you...you're doing your part, Thanks....and for those who keep a few for the freezer, more power to you as well, If you like the taste of fresh fish, Enjoy!  But keep only what you need. 

ORIGINAL: steelydaze

Glad u guys got into them , ignore some of the more sarcastic replies for keeping fish some guys are just full of it. Like Loon10 said freezing fish in water is the way to go. 

 
No sarcasm here. I think fishrmn makes a valid point do you need to keep 75 fish over the course of a long weekend? It not a cr vs harvest issues, its just a question of how much is enough...are you feeding a village.

only on fisherie....
 
bunch of do gooders spewing out info to anyone that asks on the internet.
then get boo boo lipped when that person uses the info they gave.
 
you'll never learn.
 
~ted~

oh and thanks to the guys who gave help with the freezing issue.
vacuum sealed is the way to go. we did them last night and they came out perfect.

RONNY FROZE OVER 200 WALEYES FROM PYMATUING SO FAR THIS YEAR WE VACCUUM SEAL THEM WITH THE FOODSAVER AND RONNYS NEFEW KEEPS THEM IN THE FREEZER TILL WE HEAD BACK HOME WE EAT THEM ALL YEAR.
WITH GAS PRICES SO DEAR WE SAVE ALL THE MONEY WE CAN AND HAVING FRESH WALEYE IS A GOOD DINNER AND SAVES MONEY

ORIGINAL: virginia slim

sorry about the trouble I caused.
just to explain myself,we only get to erie once or twice a year.yes,we keep limits if we catch them.as far as 75 fish being to much,not hardly.we will eat these fish all summer and thats why i asked how to freeze them.
we payed about $400 for our licences and keeping 75 fish. we payed about $3 for each fish.if you think thats wrong,too bad.
it's legal and we will do it as long as it is legal.

 
Actually if you kept 75 I think that is a violation. I read on here before that there are one time posession limits...in other words if you are there for the weekend you can only keep a certian amount of fish, and it isn't three per day. Would someone clarify this.
 
BTW I get up there 2 to 3 times a year and last seasom I kept three fish...not judging just stating as you did.

I am not judging anyone because I do keep some fish.  But I have found that the only time a steelhead is worth eating is when they are bright silver and fresh.  I can not understand how someone could eat the old black males or old spawned out females.  They taste like fishy mashe potatoes.  Something that they would eat on fear factor.
 
 

Just my opinion.  Filllet the fish dry it off as much as possible get as much water off it as u can.  Wat er as a tendency to deterate  fillets and break them down.  Then seal pack them this is how i do all my fish.  Also i found less ice on the fillets that can take the fresh taste away.

Fact is they were NOT within the confines of the law as stated above. Not making accusations, they probably were not aware. Now they are, what they choose to do with that knowledge is up to them. Not trying to bit(h just trying to edumacate