11-13-2014, 01:55 AM
I've read most of the other posts, and thought I would chime in on a couple of things.
First, when we fish at Lake Powell and camp using a houseboat, we generally only keep panfish (crappie, bluegill) to eat. We keep them in live wells, and when we get back to the houseboat, filet the fish. We generally have enough that we transfer them to buckets and then filet. The short time in the buckets, out of water, causes them to be less active, but I'm sure they are still alive when we filet.
Secondly, when I ice fish, mostly for panfish, I put them on ice in a cooler when fishing and when I get home, I've noticed that many perch are pretty hardy and still flop around when getting filet.
I guess in both cases I am transporting live fish. At Powell I think it is ok because we aren't leaving the water they were caught at. I also, figure the perch being alive when I'm driving home isn't a problem, because they are not being "kept alive" on purpose.
Now, I've had an experience where I caught a smallmouth bass at Deer Creek, put him on ice in a cooler, fished some more, then drove to Park City. Must have been more than an hour out of the water. I took him out to filet and he was still flopping, so I filled the sink with water and he started swimming around! Honest.
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First, when we fish at Lake Powell and camp using a houseboat, we generally only keep panfish (crappie, bluegill) to eat. We keep them in live wells, and when we get back to the houseboat, filet the fish. We generally have enough that we transfer them to buckets and then filet. The short time in the buckets, out of water, causes them to be less active, but I'm sure they are still alive when we filet.
Secondly, when I ice fish, mostly for panfish, I put them on ice in a cooler when fishing and when I get home, I've noticed that many perch are pretty hardy and still flop around when getting filet.
I guess in both cases I am transporting live fish. At Powell I think it is ok because we aren't leaving the water they were caught at. I also, figure the perch being alive when I'm driving home isn't a problem, because they are not being "kept alive" on purpose.
Now, I've had an experience where I caught a smallmouth bass at Deer Creek, put him on ice in a cooler, fished some more, then drove to Park City. Must have been more than an hour out of the water. I took him out to filet and he was still flopping, so I filled the sink with water and he started swimming around! Honest.
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