annoying fishsicle problem

The last 2 days Ive gone out Ive been on ice from about 7-8am until sundown, catching fish early and late. Im a bucket brigadier, so I just set my catch next to me on the ice. With the temps the way that have been, the fish freeze within 10-15 minutes on the outside and are solid by the time I leave. Whats a good way to prevent this not including fishing in a shack/flipup? Ive been putting them in cold water and cleaning them once semi-thawed, but that takes an hour of wait time. Any suggestions to speed up the thaw or stop the freeze?

Place them in an empty water softener salt bag and then
put in an insulated cooler.

The salt bags are tough and the fins won’t pierce them.

I always layer the fish in a bucket with snow. Layer of fish, layer of snow, etc- the snow is an insulator, plus it helps with taking the slime off when you clean them.

i thought i’ve seen adverstments for a “livewell” in a hole. basically an onion bag stuffed down an adjacent hole. i have in the past drilled a hole 3/4 to 7/8’s down, punched a small hole in the bottom and used that to keep fish from freezing. it is not very handy for hole hopping/run and gun though.

fieds

When its cold any thing freezes, so in order to save the hour at the end of the day, bring a bucket or salt bag with to keep fish fresh. I have a bucket usually 1/2 full of water to put the fish in, checking on the bucket periodically throughout the day making sure they don’t freeze. Or take the cooler idea and leave in your vehicle assuming you drive on.

I know today insulation wouldnt of worked, my minnows were in an insulated bucket inside a 5 gal and they started to freeze over even with the bucket covered. The onion bag sounds like a neat trick for pannies. Does the salt leave any residue in the bags at all?

I walk on, dont drive, cant stand the sound the ice makes as people drive past, even if its 20+” thick. Like today, the pike I caught scales froze just walking back 60 yards, 10 mins later all fins froze solid jaws froze shut. Kind of harsh reality of freezing to death outside.

We drill one hole and don’t go all the way through and then drill one about 6 inches away and then chizel a channel so your hole fills up and you have a live well. The hole will freeze up later so no one will step in a partilly drilled hole.

Thats pretty nifty.

what i do is i go to a grocery store and by one of them big isolated bags they use for frozen food. I think they are like 1$ They work great.

If you decide to fill a bucket half way with lake water, make sure you keep the fish and leave the water, or you might be bringin home a ticket too!

Any bag will usually work. Plastic that is that won’t tear easy. Throw some snow/slush in and pack the snow around the bag where it sits. If you have a decent drive home, throw the bag in a bucket and set it in the cab of the truck instead of leaving it in the bed of the truck.