by Robert Johansen, March 07, 2002

The fishing season in the beautiful Pacific Northwest is just around the corner. Many anglers will be bringing their catch home to enjoy a nice fish dinner. Here is a tip on how to make those trout and other fish taste a little better. Cool your catch.

Keeping your catch cool is always important but it becomes even more critical during periods of very warm or hot weather. With warmer weather, comes warmer water temperatures – especially surface water.

How many times have you seen trolling anglers dragging stringers of fish in tepid surface water? These fish soon die and will spoil quickly. Some anchored fishermen try to keep their fish alive in mesh baskets hanging in luke warm surface water – or a bucket in the boat of even warmer water. Fish kept alive under stress conditions, produce chemicals that changes the taste of their flesh, and the warm water certainly softens them and affects the flesh texture.

Anglers that are a little careless with their catch are probably the same ones that complain about the fish being too soft and muddy or musty tasting. Warm weather anglers who want to retain some of their catch for table fare should always carry a cooler filled with plenty of fresh ice. The fish that are kept should be killed quickly and humanly with a sharp rap to the top of the head – not just tossed into the cooler alive.

The ice chest should have a drain plug and an elevated ice tray or platform to keep fish out of any melting ice water. I made a wooden, removable platform for my fish cooler. The melted ice water that probably contains some fish blood and slime should be drained as often as necessary to keep the fish cold and dry.

Anglers using coolers without a drain plug or elevated ice tray can use frozen ice packs instead of ice to keep their catch cool and dry. Except when fish are being washed, the drier they are kept, the better they will taste.

I prefer a large, hard-bodied cooler, one that is strong enough to sit on without it breaking. The large size comes in handy for large fish like jumbo trout, steelhead and salmon – And, for lunches, beverages and perhaps a container of bait. Worms perish quickly in warm weather and luke warm beverages are not the favorite drink of very many hot weather anglers.

Summer time can be the most pleasant time of the year for all types of angling in the great northwest. Whether you fish for summer-run steelhead, salmon, trout, bass, walleye, yellow perch or whatever, keeping an ice chest handy will definitely pay off when it comes time to enjoy a great tasting fish dinner. Game fish are much too valuable of a resource to waste. Take proper care of the fish you keep – And, keep only enough to eat. No self respecting angler needs to prove anything by always killing a limit.

Tight lines, BJ