If you fish, you probably know there’s nothing like eating fresh fish that has never seen a freezer. Of course, frozen fish is better than none at all, and if properly frozen, it’s not bad. But it will never compare to fish that is fresh-caught, or even better, cooked right on the river or lakeshore before it has cooled down. The same goes for shrimp, crabs, lobsters, clams, mussels, and crawfish—all taste better when fresh-caught.
While I extol the virtues of fresh aquatic cuisine, it’s essential to emphasize that this depends on handling your catch correctly until it reaches your plate. There’s nothing on the planet that spoils (decomposes) faster than fish and seafood. Here are several reasons why:
Fish and seafood are primitive animals, having evolved as some of the earliest complex organisms on Earth. The protein in these creatures is considered “high-quality,” meaning it breaks down rapidly and is easily utilized by the body. Proteins are formed by 20 amino acids that create peptide chains; the sequence of these amino acids gives different animal tissues their characteristics. Fish tissue is basic, as fish do not have to work hard to offset gravity or maintain body temperature. Most fish tissues are not very efficient at storing energy, as they usually need only short bursts of speed to catch food or escape predators. Exceptions include fish like tuna and salmon, which travel great distances quickly; their flesh is red due to increased hemoglobin efficiency.
When other animals like birds and mammals die, they have large stores of glycogen in their muscles (glycogen is the fuel that muscles burn for energy). This glycogen acts as a preservative for a time. However, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks do not store much glycogen, so their protein bonds break down much more rapidly. This is why fish is easily broken down and used by the organisms that eat them. Cool temperatures and freezing can significantly slow down glycogen depletion.
Fish contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are excellent for your health but also oxidize readily, making them prone to rancidity once the fish is dead. Again, cool temperatures and freezing can slow this process or even halt it temporarily.
Fish also have more active enzymes in their digestive systems because most fish, crustaceans, and mollusks cannot chew their food. Their teeth, if they have them, are designed to damage tissue or hold something still while it’s swallowed. Therefore, their digestive systems must break down whole food or large chunks. When a fish dies, these enzymes quickly work through the tissues, breaking them down and starting to digest the fish itself. This is why it’s important to gut a fish or clean out the abdominal cavity and remove the gills as quickly as possible after it has died.
With these facts in mind, how you handle your fish from the water to the table is crucial. There are several ways to keep fish in top condition until cooking time. The best method is to keep them alive until you’re ready to dress them. This can be done using a floating fish basket, which allows for ample water circulation, so they can breathe easily without bruising themselves against hard surfaces (which can affect the meat). The next best option is a “live box,” which can be as simple as a cooler filled with water or a built-in well on your boat, complete with a water circulation system. These boxes are okay but usually small, causing fish to bump against each other while trying to escape. Lastly, stringers can keep fish alive, but species with tender mouths, like crappie, can twist off them. Additionally, local diners such as turtles, crabs, sharks, barracudas, and even cottonmouths (a very venomous and aggressive water snake in the southern U.S.) may help themselves to your catch. Never eat a fish bitten by a cottonmouth, even if it is still alive. This is why it’s a bad idea to have a stringer attached to you while wade fishing, especially in saltwater or areas with alligators.
If you plan to be out for a while, the next best option is to chill the fish immediately after catching them. This is easily done by keeping a cooler full of ice nearby. Just toss them in the cooler, and they will go dormant within seconds. For crabs, clams, conchs, oysters, scallops, crayfish, shrimp, and mussels, never throw them directly on the ice. Instead, place a moist towel over the ice before adding them.
If you are wading in remote streams (like where I live) and plan to cook a few trout or other fish almost immediately after catching them, it’s okay to use a creel, as long as you dress the fish within 15 minutes. You can throw them in the creel and let them suffocate (though I think this is a bit inhumane), but I usually break their necks, clean out the body cavity and gills, and place them in the creel. When I get to the bank, I start a fire, poke a stick through their mouths and bodies, stick the other end into the ground near the fire, and let them hang until cooked, turning them once or twice throughout the process. It’s caveman cooking at its best!
For shellfish, I make a fire on the beach, place a large pot (or 55-gallon oil drum) over the fire filled with a gallon of local water, and let it boil. Then, I drop in a layer of local seaweed or moss, followed by a layer of mollusks, then another layer of moss, and so on until I run out of animals. I cover the pot, grab my guitar, and play some Jimmy Buffett music for about 20-30 minutes. If the shells have popped open, they are done. It’s time to chow down—by this point, I usually attract some bystanders who are eager to help ensure I have no leftovers!
If you’ve taken your catch home, do not freeze them without dressing them properly. Just throw the crustaceans and mollusks into a large pot of boiling water. Be cautious with crabs and lobsters; they will sometimes grab the edge of the pot and try to flip it over. These tough little guys will fight to the end, as will octopi and squids. The best way to kill them quickly is to insert a knife blade between their eyes. This kills them instantly; otherwise, the boiling water does the trick in seconds. If you’re squeamish, just remember that this is nothing compared to what they do to each other—they give no quarter and expect none in return.
For fish, how you dress them often depends on how you plan to cook them. You can kill them by inserting a knife right between their eyes, which destroys their brain and is relatively painless and quick. Again, it’s much more humane than their natural behavior.
I usually prefer to fillet fish, which is best for frying and also suitable for broiling and baking, provided the fish is fatty enough or you add sufficient fat (like butter or olive oil). Depending on the species, you can leave the skin on (scaled) or off. Leaving the skin on can help hold the fish together while baking or broiling and can easily be removed before serving. Catfish can be filleted, but are also great pan-dressed. Just clean out the abdomen, remove the gills and skin, and the head. Leave the fins on to help keep the fish moist. Other fish are great market-dressed, which is the same as pan-dressed, but with the head left on to prevent drying out. They can be skinned or just scaled, depending on the species. Large fish can be “steaked” by market dressing them and cutting them into sections between the vertebrae. If you plan to use any fish for sushi or ceviche, make sure to keep it very cold at all times.
There are a few extra considerations for certain species. Striped bass and carp have a red “blood line” running the length of their bodies. Be sure to remove this when cleaning, as it can make you very sick. I love carp—they have a very undeserved bad reputation in the U.S. People have been eating them for thousands of years in Europe and Asia. Carp meat is firm, sweet, and slightly oily, like mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines, and similar fish. They are delicious, plentiful, and usually have no limits on how many you can catch. Most states are happy for you to keep as many as you want. They are a blast to catch on a fly rod, fighting like a bonefish on steroids. U.S. carp are an underutilized resource that simply require two extra preparation steps, taking only about five more minutes. They are very bony, so filleting is best. Once you have filleted the carp and removed the “blood line,” feel along the side of the fillet for a line of “Y”-shaped bones near the lateral line. Run your knife along the top of this line until that piece comes free, then run your blade under the bones to free another fillet. Discard the small strip with the bones
