multi-day trips

[the butcher]

planning a multiday fishing trip in the coming weeks with my boys. First overnight fishing trip we've been on...couple of questions for you season veterans:

#1) How do you keep your fish fresh when doing a multi-day trip? Crushed ice works well for a day out but wont crushed ice melt in the cooler over a 2-3 day fishing trip in summer months? I assume bleed your catch but dont gut? We will be anchoring in a bay so no access to fresh ice. Was planning on getting lots of ice packs and frozen bottles to keep catch fresh.

#2). How do you prove to DFO that you are on water for multiple days? I know you are allowed a max of 2 days limit for 2 days or more of fishing. Has anyone been checked by DFO and what did they require as evidence you were away for more than 1 day?

 

[adanac]

salt ice , bleed gut and packed in salt ice , the membrane on the interior of the fishes cavity keep it from water logging , fillet at home they will be nearly frozen even after a few days packed in good flake salt ice , we usually pick up enough to fill our large built in coffin box , and also a yeti 125 to freshen up the coffin box every day . false creek fisherman’s wharf sells totes just call ahead

 

[RevyG]

I use one of the freezers, works awesome, freeze salt water bags to keep regular cooler going while on the water, as well as chill fish and keep food safe. Super low power draw.

 

[CVmike]

Yup salt ice is the ticket.
As for the second question, I like to tag my fish at the end of the day to keep everything organized. A tag with the date caught, species, area, and fishing licence number zap strapped through the gill plate should keep DFO happy.

 

[spring fever]

You have sleeping bags on the boat if you are staying in bays and a launch receipt or gas receipt for the day you launched-that is enough -been anchoring out for over 20 years-believe me they know when you are living on the boat. Adnac has the way to pack fish-I am usually out 4 days by the time I'm home-I usually use Block ice I make myself if no salt is available-smash and top up as required.

 

[N2013]

Have a large dedicated cooler for your flaked ice. More is better. Keep cooler drains open and pointed towards the stern/bilge. Then have another couple coolers for your catch (salmon & bottomfish). Bleed and gut all fish. Flaked ice isn't available everywhere, so depending where you live/heading, you may need to adjust you plans. Downside of overnighting on a boat is dancing around coolers on the deck. I just use my phone and record what I've caught each day and where, keep them identifiable. I do heads off as they take up a lot of space but be sure to check the regs for minimum lengths of heads off. There's some good threads on this topic as well.

 

[N2013]

A yeti wold be nice, but it isn't necessary. Key is having good ice, and proper storage/handling. The less you can open the lid, the better. Have had good success with igloo coolers. I sealed up the hatch access on the lid, as rain water will leak in, and melt your ice. Add a foam gasket around the edge as well. Nice to just find a quiet bay and throw the hook out at the end of the day.

 

[Totally unexpected]

You could always take photos with time stamp to prove fish taken on said days

 

[the butcher]

thanks for the great info... I don't have lots of deck space on the boat for extra coolers etc.. Have a large cooler that I will use for the days catch. Have a smaller cooler for food and beverages. Won't have access to crushed ice. As for salt-ice, do you add salt to blocks of ice and allow it to melt? Or do you add seawater which has salt in it to blocks of ice to create a frigid water/slush for the fish? As the ice melts due to presence of salt, do you just let the water level rise in the cooler or do you drain off so that there is only a certain amount of water in the cooler? I assume the amount of water in cooler due to salt melting the ice won't water log fish when they are immersed for a 2-3 days?

 

[RevyG]

Salt ice is..... frozen salt water. Last way longer due to the lower freezing point of salt water. You can usually buy it from fish plants, well that’s where I get mine. I am sure guys will post some local spots to you
Makes a huge difference.

 

[casper5280]

Salted Ice is the only way to go for multi day trips. We pack 2 large coolers with ice and it will last up to 5 days. Melts about as fast as you are catching fish. By the time you are limited out you have 2 coolers full of iced fish. Where are you going? Someone will know the best place to get ice.

 

[Redfisher]

Don’t drain your salt ice water that melts during trip. This slush is excellent to store fish in. This was how we kept our fish commercially seining and gillnetting. I make “ id tags” out of 4 litre milk jugs and zip tie them to fish to help with any DFO checks.

 

[Rain City]

I did 12 days around the inside and I had a cooler for food, a cooler for fish and a cooler for ice. I froze 4L jugs of water and used that for drinking water as the days went on, as water is harder to find than ice sometimes. In the ice cooler I had two extra frozen jugs to replace the two in the food cooler, plus like 8 bags of ice (didn't know salt ice existed at the time). The real kicker though was the block of dry ice that I had in the ice cooler. It lasted for about 4 days and it kept all the stored ice from melting. I also took that block and sat it on top of the fish we caught to flash freeze it before covering it in more ice. I think we ended up buying more ice to top off the fish cooler when we were fueling up for the trip home. 4 days is a cake walk. But yeah you need to dedicate a cooler to ice storage like everyone has mentioned.

 

[the butcher]

great advice. thanks all.

 

[fish brain]

Where are you coming from? where will you be fishing?

 

[el.Pereh]

Belly icing is very important

 

[Drink]

When we annually hit Nootka our coolers are loaded with Sea Ice out of French Creek. With 5 days of fishing and a trip home to the mainland the fish are still in good condition for final processing. Keep the coolers shaded, leave the slush , belly iced as mentioned showed our best results. Bait for the week was a bigger issue as we found Dry Ice from Praxair out of Nanaimo or Vancouver was the ticket. Pricey at $50 but with the price of anchovies split between the group it was well worth the expense.

 

[Rain City]

When we annually hit Nootka our coolers are loaded with Sea Ice out of French Creek. With 5 days of fishing and a trip home to the mainland the fish are still in good condition for final processing. Keep the coolers shaded, leave the slush , belly iced as mentioned showed our best results. Bait for the week was a bigger issue as we found Dry Ice from Praxair out of Nanaimo or Vancouver was the ticket. Pricey at $50 but with the price of anchovies split between the group it was well worth the expense.

I found the dry ice kept for way longer when we sealed the cooler. I literally taped it shut to keep all air out. Left that cooler down below in the aft birth in the bayliner with all our other junk. Man I don't miss that juggle on long trips. Especially when the engine hatch had to be opened

 

[tubber]

Are there or were there ever any rules about having two days possession on board?
In my mind there was something about if you had a proper head and built in stove or fridge ( a live aboard vessel), you were okay. I couldn't find anything about it after a brief search of the regs.
I agree it should be okay with time stamped pics and proper use of the paper license and labelling catch, but I don't know what an officer would say.

 

[searun]

I think you guys are over-thinking the 2 day possession thing. Its a 24 pack, bottle of rum and some mix.