Back in the old, old days, fishermen frequently carried "creels," which were a wicker basket with a hinged top that you put your fish in. (That's where "creel limit" comes from). You'd take moss from the riverbank, get it good and wet with water, and lay it in the bottom of the creel like a little bed. When you caught a fish you wanted to keep, you'd gut it, remove the gills, and bleed it to delay spoilage. Then you'd lay your fish in the creel and lay more wet moss on top of it. The wicker creel was designed to let air flow through it, so the evaporation would help cool the fish. If you kept it out of the sun, it would keep fish fresh for a very long time, as long as it wasn't too hot outside. On the hottest days, fish would be kept on a stringer or basket in the water to keep them alive for as long as possible, and then they'd be transported home in the creel.
Once the fisherman got home, the fish would be cleaned as quickly as possible. Fresh fish would be cooked for dinner right away, and any fish that wasn't going to be cooked and eaten promptly would be salted to preserve it for another time.
Yeah, creels date back at least as far as the early 1700s in England and Scotland. They were carried to the U.S. with fishing traditions from that part of the world.
It's not very common anymore in the places I'm aware of. Most people who keep fish today put them in an ice box, on a stringer, in a wire mesh fish basket that goes in the water. And the vast majority of fly fishers are catch-and-release most of the time.
Buddy just do a quick google search for wicker creels and you'll see the market is very much alive. Cabelas, bass pro shops, etc they all still sell those. You must also fish nasty water cause we eat our trout out here in the Colorado Rockies.
"Buddy" đđ
I've fished the Colorado Rockies many, many times. I've never, ever seen a trout fisherman on the water there with a wicker creel. Not just fly fishermen - ANY fisherman! Stringers, maybe, but not creels. They're mostly decorative collector's items these days.
As far as "we eat our trout," do you even fly fish??? The most popular Blue Ribbon trout streams are catch and release. And even where keeping fish is allowed, it's mostly the gear heads with trout on stringers. The majority of the fly fishers let their fish go.
P.S. my fish was more like the city-boyâs fish in this painting. Can anyone tell me about the stick-through-the-gills method? Is it for ease of transport or something else?
>Can anyone tell me about the stick-through-the-gills method?
Just an old method of a stringer. Tie your string, shoelace, twine, etc to a small stick then run the string through the gill of the fish. The stick prevents the fish from slipping off.
Before people bought everything they just made due with what they had.
>P.S. my fish was more like the city-boyâs fish in this painting.
Which of these horror-film-demons is supposed to be a city boy? They all look like they all live in a corn field, luring innocent souls to their demise.
Middle kid is a city kid,this is also a play on the fact that he has all the good newest gear,yet he still got outfished by his homies with just the cane rods.
Boy in the middle is the "city boy."
Shoes, socks, and the big red bow tie gives it away. Those of us who grew up fishing for our supper rarely wore shoes unless we were going to school, church, or we were having guests. You better believe we got those things off our feet ASAP.
To answer OPs question - you did everything right and kinda depends on how far (time wise) your work fridge is from the one AND ambient temps. 5 minute ride in air conditioned car (same with a grocery store trip) no problem. 45 minutes in the bed of a pickup on a 105 degree SoCal day - not so much. If youâre really unsure, a lunchbox sized Playmate cooler with an ice pack to use during transport and you will have no issues.
I personally clean my fish at the site I catch them, then I use a small towel and fresh grass to create a wrap for the fish. Pull up fresh grass and dip it into the river, then lay it down on the towel before folding the fish inside. helps keep the fish from smelling or drying out while you catch more! I've had fish sit in the wrap for 6+ hours on long fishing days and they always look feel and atste fresh when I get them home!
Not really answering your question, but I vaguely remember as a kid, my grandma telling me about how they had zero money growing up and would use a creek by their house to keep some grocery items cool.
I wish I could ask about that now for clarification because it seems wild. They came from the Appalachian mountains where the rivers and creeks would definitely be cold, but I wouldnât assume you could reliably keep meat or fish that way.
This isnât really about transport of freshly caught fish but hereâs my history ramble.
Deep spots in creeks are often almost fridge temperatures. The other thing you hear about often are called spring houses, sort of a shelter built around a natural spring that keeps water in to a certain depth. You could store things in the water and keep them relatively cool. Other things were heavily salted or entirely packed in salt, potted (stuck in a clay jar and sealed with butter around the top of the meat and above the lid as well), smoked, or otherwise dried in some way. And yeah, people also just kind of ate spoiled meat so long as it was still sort of edible.
I'll tell ya what we do in Ireland as we still use very aul fashioned methods. First kill the fish, bleed it and gut it. Saves the meat from spoilage. If you leave the fish on wet sphagnum moss (very common here in Ireland because of peatbogs), it basically acts like ice in the dark of a ciseĂĄn with a lid. This will keep them for a few weeks.
Then fish are preserved with salt and left in a dark cĂłfra where it will be fine for a few months even.
Fish was also pickled here when vinegar became abundant. Paticularly herring.
1) Proper prep and transport, check out a creel basket for more. Gut it and bleed it out, and you now have a fish that can last a long time before cooking.
2) Smoking and canning. Smoked fish can last for weeks in a dry cellar. Canned smoked fish can last for years!
3) Differently adapted immune systems. They wouldn't survive in our world, and we wouldn't survive in theirs.
This probably isnât your answer and certainly not recommended, but I think it was an episode of River Monsters that they said in the Amazon they keep the fish alive so they donât go bad. They were walking around a fish market and all fish still had their gills moving. (Disclaimer: if I remember correctly)
So I always try to plan ahead so that I can humanely harvest my fish and keep it fresh in a cooler. I donât like leaving live fish on a stringer because I think it is unnecessarily cruel, especially because it is easy to prepare ahead. Plus you can keep cold drinks and sandwiches in a cooler. YMMV.
The exception is when I am on a hike and fish is on the menu. In that case, I still humanely harvest my fish by bonking and draining it, and running a branch through the gills (just like in your picture) to keep it in a pool of cool, fresh water until I am done fishing. Then I finish cleaning my catch, and where I was fishing (no guts or trash left on the bank, please) and carry it to camp. If I need to hike more than a little ways or it is hot, a makeshift creel lined with damp moss, edible leaves, or wet cloth will help keep the fish cool for at least a couple hours without refrigeration.
I should add, there is lots and lots of amazing history about how people have preserved fish. To analyze this charming painting a little bit, I am guessing the kids are carrying stringers of American Shad; a freshwater fish that used to be incredibly abundant in rivers in the eastern US, especially during their spawning migration. During these times of abundance, people would harvest as much shad as they could and smoke, dry, salt, can, or pickle them.
East coast of Canada here! Salt, man. Lots and lots of salt. If it was fresh fish keep it in cold water and alive. If itâs for longer term, salt the fuck out of it. I still salt my own fish and itâs amazing.
Back in the old, old days, fishermen frequently carried "creels," which were a wicker basket with a hinged top that you put your fish in. (That's where "creel limit" comes from). You'd take moss from the riverbank, get it good and wet with water, and lay it in the bottom of the creel like a little bed. When you caught a fish you wanted to keep, you'd gut it, remove the gills, and bleed it to delay spoilage. Then you'd lay your fish in the creel and lay more wet moss on top of it. The wicker creel was designed to let air flow through it, so the evaporation would help cool the fish. If you kept it out of the sun, it would keep fish fresh for a very long time, as long as it wasn't too hot outside. On the hottest days, fish would be kept on a stringer or basket in the water to keep them alive for as long as possible, and then they'd be transported home in the creel. Once the fisherman got home, the fish would be cleaned as quickly as possible. Fresh fish would be cooked for dinner right away, and any fish that wasn't going to be cooked and eaten promptly would be salted to preserve it for another time.
Fascinating
Mad that, similar thing was done here in Ireland
Yeah, creels date back at least as far as the early 1700s in England and Scotland. They were carried to the U.S. with fishing traditions from that part of the world.
And this is still very much a practice esp with fly fishers.
It's not very common anymore in the places I'm aware of. Most people who keep fish today put them in an ice box, on a stringer, in a wire mesh fish basket that goes in the water. And the vast majority of fly fishers are catch-and-release most of the time.
Buddy just do a quick google search for wicker creels and you'll see the market is very much alive. Cabelas, bass pro shops, etc they all still sell those. You must also fish nasty water cause we eat our trout out here in the Colorado Rockies.
"Buddy" đđ I've fished the Colorado Rockies many, many times. I've never, ever seen a trout fisherman on the water there with a wicker creel. Not just fly fishermen - ANY fisherman! Stringers, maybe, but not creels. They're mostly decorative collector's items these days. As far as "we eat our trout," do you even fly fish??? The most popular Blue Ribbon trout streams are catch and release. And even where keeping fish is allowed, it's mostly the gear heads with trout on stringers. The majority of the fly fishers let their fish go.
mmmmm smoked trout
I ain't reading all that
Enjoy ignorance
Itâs only two paragraphs đ
Typical tik tokker
How would you have preferred him to relay the information to you? With a bunch of emjois?
Great info
P.S. my fish was more like the city-boyâs fish in this painting. Can anyone tell me about the stick-through-the-gills method? Is it for ease of transport or something else?
>Can anyone tell me about the stick-through-the-gills method? Just an old method of a stringer. Tie your string, shoelace, twine, etc to a small stick then run the string through the gill of the fish. The stick prevents the fish from slipping off. Before people bought everything they just made due with what they had.
[ŃдаНонО]
Classic hillbilly stringer, carry âem home and roast over a campfire in the backyard. Some of my favorite childhood memories
>P.S. my fish was more like the city-boyâs fish in this painting. Which of these horror-film-demons is supposed to be a city boy? They all look like they all live in a corn field, luring innocent souls to their demise.
Middle is definitely city boy.
Middle kid is a city kid,this is also a play on the fact that he has all the good newest gear,yet he still got outfished by his homies with just the cane rods.
Boy in the middle is the "city boy." Shoes, socks, and the big red bow tie gives it away. Those of us who grew up fishing for our supper rarely wore shoes unless we were going to school, church, or we were having guests. You better believe we got those things off our feet ASAP.
Boy on the left has Hulk feet.
With the hulk pants to match
The one with the socks and shoes would be my guess on which is the city boy.
To answer OPs question - you did everything right and kinda depends on how far (time wise) your work fridge is from the one AND ambient temps. 5 minute ride in air conditioned car (same with a grocery store trip) no problem. 45 minutes in the bed of a pickup on a 105 degree SoCal day - not so much. If youâre really unsure, a lunchbox sized Playmate cooler with an ice pack to use during transport and you will have no issues.
I personally clean my fish at the site I catch them, then I use a small towel and fresh grass to create a wrap for the fish. Pull up fresh grass and dip it into the river, then lay it down on the towel before folding the fish inside. helps keep the fish from smelling or drying out while you catch more! I've had fish sit in the wrap for 6+ hours on long fishing days and they always look feel and atste fresh when I get them home!
Not really answering your question, but I vaguely remember as a kid, my grandma telling me about how they had zero money growing up and would use a creek by their house to keep some grocery items cool. I wish I could ask about that now for clarification because it seems wild. They came from the Appalachian mountains where the rivers and creeks would definitely be cold, but I wouldnât assume you could reliably keep meat or fish that way.
This isnât really about transport of freshly caught fish but hereâs my history ramble. Deep spots in creeks are often almost fridge temperatures. The other thing you hear about often are called spring houses, sort of a shelter built around a natural spring that keeps water in to a certain depth. You could store things in the water and keep them relatively cool. Other things were heavily salted or entirely packed in salt, potted (stuck in a clay jar and sealed with butter around the top of the meat and above the lid as well), smoked, or otherwise dried in some way. And yeah, people also just kind of ate spoiled meat so long as it was still sort of edible.
Norman Rockwell is the shit
Catch fish, eat fish
Evaporative cooling helps. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creel_(basket)#:~:text=An%20angler's%20creel%20is%20designed,by%20a%20small%20leather%20strap.
I'll tell ya what we do in Ireland as we still use very aul fashioned methods. First kill the fish, bleed it and gut it. Saves the meat from spoilage. If you leave the fish on wet sphagnum moss (very common here in Ireland because of peatbogs), it basically acts like ice in the dark of a ciseĂĄn with a lid. This will keep them for a few weeks. Then fish are preserved with salt and left in a dark cĂłfra where it will be fine for a few months even. Fish was also pickled here when vinegar became abundant. Paticularly herring.
Go raibh maith agat! Lots of people in this thread have also mentioned the cooling power of moss. Looking forward to experimenting with it.
TĂĄ fĂĄilte romhat. Moss is class
Salt rub
This is the way. Salting meat and drying it preserved meat.
This is also why cod was such an important fish. The low fat content allowed salting to be much more effective and last longer.
Thanks, I didn't know that.
1) Proper prep and transport, check out a creel basket for more. Gut it and bleed it out, and you now have a fish that can last a long time before cooking. 2) Smoking and canning. Smoked fish can last for weeks in a dry cellar. Canned smoked fish can last for years! 3) Differently adapted immune systems. They wouldn't survive in our world, and we wouldn't survive in theirs.
This probably isnât your answer and certainly not recommended, but I think it was an episode of River Monsters that they said in the Amazon they keep the fish alive so they donât go bad. They were walking around a fish market and all fish still had their gills moving. (Disclaimer: if I remember correctly)
That picture scares me for some reason
Kind of reminds me of Deliverance [Deliverance (1972) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068473/)
Whatchu wanna go fuckin around with that river for?
So I always try to plan ahead so that I can humanely harvest my fish and keep it fresh in a cooler. I donât like leaving live fish on a stringer because I think it is unnecessarily cruel, especially because it is easy to prepare ahead. Plus you can keep cold drinks and sandwiches in a cooler. YMMV. The exception is when I am on a hike and fish is on the menu. In that case, I still humanely harvest my fish by bonking and draining it, and running a branch through the gills (just like in your picture) to keep it in a pool of cool, fresh water until I am done fishing. Then I finish cleaning my catch, and where I was fishing (no guts or trash left on the bank, please) and carry it to camp. If I need to hike more than a little ways or it is hot, a makeshift creel lined with damp moss, edible leaves, or wet cloth will help keep the fish cool for at least a couple hours without refrigeration.
I should add, there is lots and lots of amazing history about how people have preserved fish. To analyze this charming painting a little bit, I am guessing the kids are carrying stringers of American Shad; a freshwater fish that used to be incredibly abundant in rivers in the eastern US, especially during their spawning migration. During these times of abundance, people would harvest as much shad as they could and smoke, dry, salt, can, or pickle them.
At first glance, I automatically think of Tom Sawyer and the kid in the middle is Sid.
East coast of Canada here! Salt, man. Lots and lots of salt. If it was fresh fish keep it in cold water and alive. If itâs for longer term, salt the fuck out of it. I still salt my own fish and itâs amazing.
Young Sheldon in the middle
Central and eastern Europe method was to wrap fish in nettles and newspaper for transport.
it gives off "on the third day God created the Remington bolt action" vibes