I have often wondered how other people keep their nighttime caught Walleye alive and fresh over night in the hot summers? On some Northern Lakes I have had success leaving them on a stringer off of a deep water shoreline. However many lakes I fish, seem to have as many Snapping Turtles as Fish!! It is not too fun being awakened at night from the battle sounds between Snapper and fish. We try to keep as light weight as possible, so I am not too anxious to cart in 5 or six pieces of chicken wire to make a fish cage. (Big bulky and sharp)

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Paul

Catch them in the morning

They are just so active in the southern ontario lakes in the couple of hours just as and after the sun has set.

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Paul

Hi PB,
I have thought about this subject often. The thought of fresh fish fried up in the morning is a nice thought. And yes I know how easy they can be to catch in the evening.

But I just don't like the idea of stressing out these animals on a stringer for that long. Its extremely stressful for the fish. I don't believe in any hocus pocus, or religion or spirits or spirituality or supernatural anything, or karma. But on that last one, karma, I like to behave as if there is karma, because I think it is a good code of practice. E.g. When I catch a fish to kill and eat, I try and dispatch the fish immediately. I may have it on a stringer out in the canoe out of necessity, but when I come to shore, fish are dispatched. If fishing from shore, I dispatch the fish immediately. Ice fishing I also dispatch the fish immediately. I don't like when fishermen let the fish flop around on the ice to die slowly. I need to eat, fish are food for me, and I respect the fish. I want there to be fish in the future, and I want to catch fish in the future, and I don't want the animals suffering unduly. Its not anthropocentric, the fish are not "mine", I am just a predator in the mix. Predator-prey is what life is all about, and these fish I am catching are predators themselves which have killed and eaten many fish in their day and now its their turn, but they deserve respect as critters which share the planet with us, so I am just saying.....

During the day when I have caught fish on a lay over day, around camp I have bagged fillets and rocked them down in the water to stay cool, and I will be eating them for dinner same day. Zip locks are not odour proof. This is done in the north, usually north of snapping turtle distribution. I also keep my eyes open for gulls and otters. Gulls are very observant and very bold, so you need to camo the bag with lots of rocks.

Everywhere I travel in the north I see otters and otter sign everywhere, including otter poo on just about every campsite and portage trail. I cannot recall the last time I did NOT see otter poo on a campsite (e.g. those scats with crayfish parts in them are very distinctive). They like to loaf around "our" campsites when we are not there, I guess because its open with good site lines for predators. Where I travel, I just cannot see an otter passing up a free meal if they can detect it, so if fish are on a stringer overnight, there is a risk of otter predation.

Bears are very clever, and if there is any fish scent on that rope you attached to a shrub to get that stringer out deep...well a bear might just figure it out. Maybe lower risk, but why risk it and the train up a bear for future travelers on that campsite.

So I am anti keeping fish on a stringer for a long time. Fish can be easy to catch very early in the morning too…but I tend to sleep in and miss that magic window of "sure-thing" catch-ability.

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My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Wintertrekker

'tis what I do.

I rarely keep more fish any day than what I will eat that same day, the rest get thrown back. The exception is on an overnight trip meant for fishing, and I will have a cooler of ice on these occasions.

I love rising early, brewing myself a coffee, and then float out to relax and fish a bit. Nothing like the smell of fresh caught trout frying in butter and onions to get others out of bed if you are with a group.

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-Jim-

"Paddle faster, I hear banjos!"

No trout in the back lakes we go into. Just Bass and Walleye. The Bass we catch as many and as often as we wish. Most we just return to the water. About 20 minutes before we are done, we catch 1 or 2 for the pan. These we kill, eat and cook within a short time period. The Walleye in these lakes do not hit well during daylight hours. After 10 days of Bass a little Walleye would be a nice change.

Not an option when you are portaging many times and some fairly long distances.

I am not looking to start a animal rights debate. I understand what you are saying, but if I feel badly about stressing a fish that I am going to eat, I could not justify having someone else stress out my chicken, cattle or pig as they go through their ordeal on the way to slaughter. I see no difference in paying someone else do this to my food or doing it myself. The fish I have kept on a stringer in non-turtle water have all been very strong and hearty come first light. They would gladly and powerfully swim away if I let them off the stringer. Maybe not happy, but definatley stronger than when I first caught them.

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Paul

I would clip the fish unto a fairly long piece of string(say 20') so that they could evade the turtles. Use a shower curtain clip or maybe a big safety pin.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

I fillet the fish usually walleye just before dark, put them in a zip lock or two .Put a wet cloth around the package and hang it with the food pack or put it the barrel. Unless it is really warm out the walleye is quite fresh in the morning and even lunch.

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Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Prov. 19:20

When we were kids and had negotiated a bushplane dropoff at a remote lake we would build a rock wall pool against the shore at our campsite. Over 3 or 4 days we would select the best specimens and keep them in our improvised live well, about four feet deep, We were never bothered by hungry predators. An hour before pickup we would dipnet, dispatch and fillet.

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Time's but a golden wind that shakes the grass...

Keep in mind that in some jurisdictions possession of live fish is not legal. Here in Maine, fish must be immediately released or killed. I'm not sure how many other places may have the same rules.

By the way, I sincerely doubt a fish you've kept on a stringer overnight would swim away "stronger than when you first caught them". Poking a foreign object through their gills and tethering them to shore overnight is not training, and they are not better off for it.

I've never been shy about killing fish for food, but was taught early on that it was disrespectful not to dispatch them immediately if we were doing so. Except with very large or toothy fish, snapping the neck for a quick kill may be performed easily in the canoe.

These collapse flat for packing & keep your fish overnight just fine:





http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-C ... duct/1308/

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In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.
Mark Twain

I use the same method as Bill P except I fillet at my next stop. Dragging them around on a stringer or trying to portage them live is a pointless hassle.

If you keep the cloth wet and out of the sun and even 24 hours in a Zip-Loc in 85 degree humid, no wind August temps it's still way fresher than any walleye I can buy in a store around here.

Try it. You'll be surprised.

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Enjoy the Journey

I think sk8r's idea is good. If I arrive back at the campsite near dark (when fishing is usually the best) i don't want to be messing about cleaning fish( I always go to some shoreline spot away from the site to clean them).

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

The whole concept is somewhat awkward. It requires additional equipment or risking losing the fish. I like the idea of eating fish caught that day.

I mostly fish for cold water trout and salmon, but had an interesting experience on the Ont. border in the BWCA. We were catching walleye and sm mouth bass nearly everyday. I caught a good sized smb in the late morning and kept it for dinner. We had no ice and the water was warm. I cleaned the fish and hung it up in the shade. It was one of the best fish I have ever eaten. Maybe it was just the outdoor living that sharpened the appetite, but I suspect that the fish "aged" much like a deer does hanging the barn for a week.

I like Sk8ters idea. There is nothing worse than trying to clean fish late at night with hordes of mosquitoes to contend with.

We did find one of those rock wall live wells last year and it is a great idea if you are base camped...depending on the legality of it of course. Cleaning the fish and then using the submergence technique is a good idea too.

I have been mulling over the idea of a partially submerged cooler bucket to keep perishables longer. Put anything you want into it and suspend 6 feet down in the cooler water. Water tight but use rocks to sink it and maybe a float to locate easily? Place and retrieve by canoe or a rope from shore? Some people read books when wind bound...I think of stuff like this.

Christy