To keep caught fish fresh and ready for consumption, certain knowledge and skills are required. First of all, the captive should be placed in a cage, preferably not a metal one, but a fabric one, where she will live longer. Place the cage in the water near the shore, at a depth of at least one meter; the temperature at this depth is most comfortable for fish. Choose a quiet place to place the cage, located in the shade of trees or bushes; under no circumstances place the cage near the surf shore to avoid injury and damage to the fish.

It is worth remembering that white bream and pike perch up to one kilogram in size will not live long in a cage. To store large fish, they usually use kukan - a soft cord made of nylon. It is passed carefully between the gills of the fish.

Where and how to store fish on the shore?

If a caught fish floats up with its belly up, it should be taken out of the cage and killed, otherwise it will spoil very quickly in the water. The fish can be killed by cutting the gill vein or making a puncture in the back of the head. After this, it is advisable to gut the fish and wipe it inside and on top with nettle or tansy leaves; you can also use sedge shoots or alder twigs for this.

It is not recommended to wash the fish. Next, you need to separate the gills and dry the catch in the shade in order to kill the microorganisms contained in the fish mucus. Dig a hole near a spring, or in the absence of one, somewhere close to the shore and place the processed fish in this storage. To protect your prey from flies, cover the top of the pit with tree branches. As a flooring for fish, you can use the same large nettle leaves or other plants.

Transportation of the catch

If your return journey approximately takes more than three hours, before setting off, remove the fish from the cages, remove them from the kukans and, if possible, process them in the manner described above. It would be useful to fill the abdominal cavity with tansy or nettle leaves.

It is best to transport the catch in a basket with good ventilation so that the fish do not wrinkle or come into contact with each other; layers of fish are covered with the same plants. The worst option for transportation would be a plastic bag; it should only be used as a last resort.

Small fish such as gudgeon, bleak and bream do not tolerate transportation well in hot weather, so it is better to pre-salt them before transportation. This will allow you to preserve the fish for a day, even in heat up to 30° C. Under the influence of salt, fish meat loses its taste, however, if you go on a multi-day hike, you will have to apply this advice in order to bring your catch home safe and sound.

Quite often when fishing, in addition to problems with the bite and activity of the fish, no less important questions arise. And often, oddly enough, the most common burning question number “1” is: what to do with and how to preserve the fish? In the spring, when spawned fish often bite like a machine gun, it can be difficult to keep them fresh, especially if fishing takes two or three days. And here there are several of the simplest, most accessible and working ways to bring fish home in decent form, when it can be fried, salted and hung out to dry.

How to save fish caught in the morning

Often you want to bring home fresh fish caught in the morning, without adding salt. It’s good if the fishing took place not far from home and you can deliver the fish to your home kitchen in literally fifteen minutes. Then she is often still alive. This is the most suitable fish for cooking fried, boiled, stewed and stuffed. But this doesn't always happen. And usually the delivery of fish takes about an hour, or even two hours. Here, ideally, you need a car refrigerator; a container with ice will also help. This is ideal.

In life, you have to settle for simpler methods to keep fish relatively fresh. First of all, the caught fish must be cleaned and gutted. Without scales, intestines and heads, carcasses will remain fresh much longer than in their original form. The prepared fish should be dried in the shade in the breeze. Having set the crust and slightly dried out, the fish will be better able to resist spoilage. Until the end of the morning fishing, it must be kept in a hole dug in a lowland in willow bushes. This is the coldest place on the shore, if we talk about places within close reach. You can also find a colder place in the forest, somewhere in a ravine or a dense spruce forest. Thick sticks should be placed at the bottom of the pit, which will serve as frames for the lattice of rods. The fish is placed on this grill. The hole is covered from above with branches. There will be both air access and a cold breeze blowing from below. The fish should be taken home in a canvas bag with nettles.

On the Volga ravines and cliffs, which usually rise on the right bank, you can preserve fish in a natural refrigerator. A niche is dug in the clay next to the spring, where the gutted fish is placed on a grid of twigs. Such springs are found quite often along the entire length of the high Volga bank. And the clay next to such a spring is usually icy to the touch even in the hottest weather.

Dry salting

Another effective way to preserve caught fish is dry salting. With this salting, the fish loses liquid and better resists putrefactive processes. If desired, lightly salted fish delivered home can be soaked for 2-4 hours and cooked like fresh fish, that is, boiled and fried. Or you can add salt to the fish and then dry it. But this is the case if the fish was initially prepared for drying and the scales were not removed.

The salting method is that the fish is cleaned, gutted and rubbed with salt. Then they are laid on a grid of twigs in a hole dug in the shade. The top is covered with branches. Everything is the same as in the case of storing fresh fish without salting. In this case, the carcasses will be salted and dried at the same time, which will keep them in the best possible shape.

Salting in brine

Salting in brine requires a strong salt solution. But even in this case, such a brine will not save the fish unless a cold place is found to store it. In addition, the role of a heavy load - oppression - is very important here. Typically a flat stone is used for this purpose. Oppression is needed to prevent putrefactive gases from accumulating in the fish. The gutted fish is placed in a container and filled with brine. Then oppression is placed on top. It is desirable that the shape of the oppression coincides with the shape of the container, and there is as little free space as possible left that is not covered by the oppression.

Salting with a syringe

Sometimes a large, fleshy fish does not want to be salted in the thickest places of its “figure”, namely in the “neck” and back. Usually the chub, which has a slab-like body, is poorly salted. Ide, pike perch and large bream are also difficult to salt in the back. To better salt these parts of the carcasses, you can use a medical syringe with a strong salt solution pumped into it. The carcasses are simply “injected” into these places.

Fishing brings a lot of positive emotions, especially when you can boast of a rich catch. The desire to get a lot of trophies poses an important task for the fisherman: how to keep the fish warm before arriving home. Stale carcasses are unlikely to please the household, and it will be risky to eat them.

Probably every fisherman will agree that catching fish is sometimes easier than keeping it alive and fresh. In winter, this problem disappears on its own. In the summer, when the air temperature exceeds 30 0 C, you begin to think about what to do so that the fish you catch does not die.

First you need to figure out how to distinguish fresh fish from spoiled fish. Naturally, as long as she flutters and floats in the bucket, you don’t have to worry. If the movements stopped, then, most likely, bacteria and enzymes began their activity. The former attack from the environment, the latter destroy the insides of the fish. The main signs that the fish is rotten are as follows:

• a swollen belly in a large individual. If it is small, it may tear;
• the gills have lost their brightness of color. In spoiled fish they take on a whitish or pinkish tint. May become covered with mucus;
• the carcass does not restore its shape if you press it with your finger;
• the meat comes away from the bone;
• eyes dull and sunken;
• there is an ammonia smell;
• the skin tears easily.

When at least one symptom is present, this indicates that the fish is not suitable for food. What speaks about the freshness of the catch, which you won’t be afraid to enjoy:

• the scales are shiny and do not peel off;
• the eyes are bulging and transparent;
• the smell from the carcass is slightly cucumber-like;
• gills bright red;
• the body is elastic.

If you managed to save the fish, when you arrive home, you need to take action immediately. Review your catch again and sort according to need. Next, either cook it or gut it and freeze it.

Effective ways to preserve fish in the heat

An ideal option for summer fishing is a car refrigerator. But not many can afford such luxury and not everyone comes fishing by car. A simpler and more effective invention is a fish tank. Use it if you fish with a feeder, donk or float rod. It is a mesh made of synthetic thread or metal wire.

Don't let the fish sleep

It is very important not to let the fish fall asleep. If at least one individual has lost its vitality, it is isolated from the general mass. Without doing this, you can lose your entire catch. The fallen fish is removed, cleaned and gutted. The main thing is not to wash the belly; the remains are simply cleaned with a cloth. To preserve live fish, you need to choose one of the following places:

• in the shadow. It is advisable that the sun's rays do not fall there throughout the day. If you plan to fish for more than one day, build a small shelter from available materials;
• in changing water. But you need to make sure that the current is not strong;
• in cold water. A spring flows into any river, and if you are lucky enough to fish not far from it, the spring water will become an excellent refrigerator.

In the coastal zone, you can dig a small hole, the water below will be colder than on the surface. Such methods of maintaining life are suitable for predators, and crucian carp can stay in a cage for a long time just next to the fishing site.

Another important point lies in the cage itself. Iron products are not the most suitable option, because... a fish can damage itself on rough metal and then its survival period will be significantly reduced.

For small things, a cage with small cells would be suitable. A small roach will stick its head into large holes in an attempt to escape and suffocate.

How to preserve caught fish in hot weather by cooling

Cold is the best way to save fish, preventing it from rotting in the heat. You can use special thermal bags or containers with cold accumulators inside. A linen or cotton cloth soaked in cold water works well. The carcasses are wrapped in it and left in a dark place. You need to check the fabric from time to time. The dried one is moistened again.

The safety of the fish depends on the size of the cage. Choose a spacious and long one in which the fish will swim freely without touching each other too much. The length will allow it to sink to the very bottom, into colder water.

Large specimens are sorted, placed on a kukan and lowered to depth. This is especially true for predators, so that they don’t feast on the little things before you. The device is a metal cable with several separate fasteners. Catfish, pike, carp and other large fish are suspended from them by the lower lip. In this position, the fish stays fresh for up to 3 days, even in summer.

A proven way to achieve temporary cooling is to dig a narrow hole, at least 1 meter deep. Its bottom is covered with reeds, the carcass wrapped in grass is placed on top and the weight is covered with dry grass and covered with soil. This simple old-fashioned method will keep the fish fresh for 2-3 days.

How to preserve fish while fishing in the heat by drying and chapping

If you want to preserve the real taste of fish in hot weather, you can use the method of drying in the sun. Freshly caught fish is covered with mucus, which, under the influence of UV rays, dries and turns into a kind of shell that protects the carcasses from penetration of bacteria inside. Thus, the catch can be delivered home in almost fresh condition.

The drying process begins with the removal of the gills. Sometimes you have to remove the insides too. They do this without cutting open the belly, but pulling everything out through the mouth. There is no need to achieve perfect cleanliness or touch the scales. This will help the product stay fresh longer. Tightly attached gill wings prevent the penetration of bacteria. The fish is kept away from dampness and is not even washed. Moisture accelerates rotting and decomposition of fat and proteins.

To ensure that the fish is dried completely and evenly, it is laid out in a row in a brightly sunny place. After a few minutes, each carcass is turned over to the other side. For large individuals, the back and belly are dried separately. The turning procedure continues until all the fish are completely dry. It is important to ensure that the carcasses do not overheat and are kept at some distance from each other.

After drying is completed, the fish is placed in the shade and covered with gauze to protect it from insects. At home, place it in a container of cold water and leave for 5 minutes. This is enough for the scales to become wet and the fish to return to its original appearance.

Another method of preserving your catch is weathering. Suitable for cloudy weather when drying fish in the sun is impossible. To do this, fresh carcasses are laid out in an open area and covered with nettles, bird cherry branches or sedge. The ideal option would be a special dryer made from a closed mesh. The fish laid out in it will air out in a few hours and become less wet. When placing fish in the dryer, make sure that flies do not fly inside. The eggs they lay will make the catch unsuitable for further consumption.

Rules for gutting fish

Unfortunately, even with all attempts to protect the fish from death, some specimens, for example, silver bream, sabrefish, and blue bream, manage to float upside down. If there is still life in the fish, then it is killed with a sharp blow to the head or a puncture. A fish can also “fall asleep” due to damage. This happens if she has swallowed the hook too deeply and it is not possible to remove it without damaging the insides. Perch has such abilities. In this case, they must be immediately removed from the general mass and cut up, observing the following rules:

• Specimens larger than 1 kg must be bled. To do this, a deep incision is made along the spine near the tail from below. Hold the carcass with the tail down so that most of the blood drains;
• For large fish, the gills are removed immediately so that they do not begin to deteriorate and poison the rest of the meat. In the case of small fish and predators, the head is cut off;
• the entrails are removed, but the belly is not washed, but only wiped with a damp cloth;
• the prepared fish is wrapped in grass with a low moisture content. Sedge or mature nettle is suitable for this.

If there is no grass nearby, burlap is suitable, in which the fish is wrapped and left in a shaded place.

How to preserve caught fish in the heat in summer using preservatives

Freshly caught live fish should not be cleaned. The scales are a natural defense against bacteria and help prolong freshness. After gutting, the fish can be preserved. Natural preservatives are salt, vinegar, liquid smoke, marinade, nettle. When salting a large specimen, do not forget to remove its gills. If the carcass does not gut, then use a syringe to inject a saline solution into it. Rub the top generously with salt and place in a container. Each layer of fish should be completely immersed in salt. Afterwards the fish is covered and placed under pressure.

If nettle is used, the gutted fish is stuffed with grass inside and placed on top. There should be twice as many plants as the catch. Place it all in a hole or container that is placed in the shade.

How to deliver fish home fresh

The fishing is over and now we have to bring the catch home. To do this, the bottom of a bag or backpack is covered with any young grass and several fish are placed. They are covered with another layer of grass on top and fish again. All caught carcasses are packaged in this way.

You cannot transport caught fish in a bag. Firstly, it can leak and the bag will leak. Secondly, in extreme heat, the fish can simply suffocate. Roach and perch do not take well to moving, so it is better to salt them immediately after catching.

When going fishing, remember that greed never brought anyone any good. Do not take more fish than you can carry. If the bite is good, you can release half of it rather than let it die pointlessly.

Storing fish while fishing

We caught a fish!

Usually the fishing spot is located at some distance from home and the refrigerator, so the task of many fishermen is not only to catch a lot of large and tasty fish, but also to keep the catch fresh and edible.

By the time you get home with freshly caught fish, it is advisable that it is alive. Fish that lands in a frying pan or in your ear alive (or was just alive until you got ready to cook it) is considered the best and tastiest. But delivering fish alive is not always possible for various reasons: because of the weather, the duration of fishing, the properties of the fish and the long journey home. Therefore, there are different ways and techniques for preserving caught fish.

How to keep caught fish fresh

Why you need to quickly remove the fish from the hook

Once you have caught your fish, you must carefully remove the hook so as not to further injure the fish. It will tremble and squirm in your hands, and you will hold it tightly so as not to drop it. The longer you apply pressure to the fish, the greater the likelihood of internal organ damage from the pressure. And we need live and healthy fish. Therefore, the hook must be removed quickly and deftly.

Some types of fish - pike perch, roach, perch, chub - are still seriously injured by hooks and leashes and can quickly die. Therefore, do not throw a badly wounded fish into a bucket of water and wait until it dies. It is better to immediately kill it, gut it and store it in a cool place (for example, in a temporary refrigerator in the ground, stream and other cold, damp places), salted and topped with nettles (for better preservation).

Where to put the caught fish

Simple methods of storing fish in buckets with wet grass or in cages lowered into reservoirs are suitable for quick fishing of the “come, catch, go” type. More complex methods are necessary for highly perishable fish and for long multi-day fishing.

How to make improvised refrigerators for fish while fishing

If the day is very hot (t above +20 C) or you plan to be fishing until the evening, then your catch may spoil faster. To keep your catch fresh as long as possible, you need to keep your fish cool.

To do this, you can dig a hole (in a shaded place) in the ground or in damp sand near the water and place containers with caught fish there. There is also a way to briefly store the catch in a cold spring, where the bag of fish will be constantly cooled by spring water. To do this, the fish must be wrapped in nettles, placed in a plastic bag and tied tightly so that water does not penetrate inside. Place the bag of fish below the spring, digging a small hole (depression) for it and pressing it with a stone so that the bag does not float away.

If you don’t have a shovel and nothing to dig a hole with, but you find a shaded, damp place and the fish starts to fall asleep, you need to gut it (remove the entrails and gills, but leave the scales!), lightly salt the inside and stuff it with nettles. Wrap each fish with nettles on top. Remember that each carcass should be well wrapped and isolated from other fish carcasses so as not to exchange germs. When all the fish are packaged, they can be wrapped in newspaper and stored in this shady place.

What to do if the fish falls asleep

It is important to regularly check the cage and other containers containing live fish. If you find dead or fallen fish there, you must immediately remove it from the bucket or cage. Otherwise, all the other fish will quickly spoil too.

How to process fish for storage during summer fishing

If you have a big catch, but you are not going home yet, or you notice that the fish is weak or has just fallen asleep (but is still quite edible), the fish needs to be processed.

Before fish can be processed, it must be killed. There are different ways to kill fish caught while fishing. They depend on the size of the fish and your circumstances.

Remember the main thing - we need to take the life of our prey (food) as quickly and as least painfully as possible.

How to kill a fish

I know that the problem of working with live fish torments not only fishermen, but also their wives, who get their hands on this live catch. Cook fresh fish. which came to you while still alive is not for the faint of heart or sentimental, and for some it is a real test.

If you are still fishing, then it is customary to immediately stun a large fish taken out of the water with a sharp and quick blow to the head (on the upper part) of an oar or stick. Measure the force applied; if the fish is small, then hitting it with a large oar is unreasonable and not good.

If the fish is small, then they either quickly twist its head (bending it upward, back until it crunches), or cut the abdominal aorta (it passes under the gills below, between the mouth and the fin).

When the aorta is cut, the fish quickly bleeds, which gives the fish fillet greater density, whiteness, better taste and aesthetic appearance. And I think this method of killing fish is most suitable for brave housewives.

How not to kill fish

It is forbidden remove scales and skin from live fish.

It is forbidden throw the fish in the air and slowly suffocate without water.

And if the fish’s suffering does not affect you, then keep in mind that the fish after such suffering will not be tasty and will not bring you any benefit.

How to prepare fish for processing and storage in the wild

Whole, uneviscerated fish must be shaken off or washed to remove dirt, sand, mud and other debris. Small fish (up to 200 g) in cool weather can be salt ungutted, bigger fish are still needed gut. In extreme heat, any fish must be freed from its entrails. And specimens weighing from 500 g (especially wide-backed ones) also need layer.

How to properly gut a fish (remove the entrails)

To gut fish, you need to slightly cut the head of the fish from below (as if separating it from the body) so that the tip of the knife can penetrate into the abdominal cavity.

Insert a knife into the resulting hole and cut the fish along the belly, that is, open it with a longitudinal cut to the anus.

Gut the fish should be carefully so as not to touch the thin film covering the layer of fat on the abdomen.

Cleaning the fish not from the head, but from the tail is dangerous because you can touch the intestines and contaminate the insides of the fish with its contents.

Is it possible to wash gutted fish while fishing?

Gutted fish should not be washed, this way you will only spread bacteria. You just need to shake off the excess from the gutted fish and blot it dry with a clean cloth or thick paper towels (have you seen those on the shelves in stores, next to the rolls of toilet paper?).

Fresh gutted fish is ready for further processing!

Technology of fish plating for salting

After gutting, cut the fish along the spine and cut off both the left and right sides of the fish right along with the ribs from the spine. You will have 2 fish halves on the ribs and a backbone (which you will discard).

How to repel flies and wasps from fish

A basket, bucket or box with fish can be covered with stinging nettles or bird cherry branches. The smell of bird cherry will help drive away flies and wasps from fish, which love to flock to the fishy smell.

How to store your fish catch for quick fishing

If you come fishing for a few hours or for a day and the fishing spot is close to home, saving your catch will not be difficult. In a short time, with proper storage, your fish will be fresh and alive until it reaches the kitchen. To properly preserve fish, it must be sorted by type and size.

How to store small fish in cages

Every little thing is usually put into ordinary wire or thread cages and lowered into the water somewhere under a bush or next to thickets of grass that cast a shadow on the water. It is cooler there and the fish are not so hot.

How to store large fish when fishing

Large fish (such as bream or ide) should be placed in larger wicker cages or other traps (they are made of wire, thread, vine) and immersed in the bottom, where the current is good. The fish will not get out of the cage, but will be able to stay in the water, because this fish prison is full of holes and the water circulates freely in it.

How to keep predatory fish alive while fishing

To store active fish and aggressive predators, there is a special fishing device - kukan.

What is kukan

Kukan is a device for storing fish in water, when the fish is strung on a fishing line or string in such a way that it cannot float away, and the end of the kukan is fixed on the shore.

How to make kukan from scrap materials with your own hands

For kukan you will need a long, very strong fishing line and 1 or 2 sticks. One end of the fishing line must be tied to a coastal tree or any peg, and the second end of the fishing line must be tied to a solid stick (to the middle). For medium-sized fish, you need a stick 6-8 cm long.

The stick at the end of the kukan must be passed under the fish gills. In this way, the fish is strung on a fishing line, and after threading, the stick stands across and prevents the fish from swimming away.

If you bought a kukan at a fishing store. then, as a rule, a purchased kukan is a carabiner for fish, attached to a leash (thick fishing line or other rope), the reverse side of which clings to something stable on the shore (to then easily remove the strung fish from the water). And a bunch of fish on a loop are also immersed to a depth where there is a current, so that the fish can move and stay alive longer.

The operating principle of a store-bought kukan loop is similar to an earring clasp or keychain. The edge of the kukan's loop is threaded under the gills or clings to the lower lip of a predatory fish (but this is not very reliable, the fish can escape). Then the loop snaps onto the lock. A successful fisherman gradually collects a whole bunch of such fish on his kukan.

How to store live carp, crucian carp, rotan or tench

These types of fish are stored well without water, in damp grass. Place an armful of wet (very wet) grass in a bucket or basket and throw the fish onto it. In such conditions, these types of fish can live for 2-3 days.

How to dry fish

It is necessary to dry fish during fast fishing in hot and dry weather. You will get a semi-finished fish product, which at home should be soaked in cool water for a few minutes. That is, let the food absorb moisture again and then cook according to the recipe.

To dry the fish, remove the entrails and gills. There is no need to remove the scales; they remain on the fish as a package that protects against hostile microorganisms.

The fish is dried in the sun until it stops sweating and its surface is dry to the touch. Dried fish should be placed in some kind of rag bag, paper or basket, preferably with ventilation. In a plastic bag, the semi-finished fish product will be like in a thermos and the greenhouse effect will turn it from dried to rotten fish.

What fish spoils quickly and what to do

Fish is a perishable product and most types of fish are difficult to keep alive until cooked. How to tell if a fish is rotten by its appearance:

Signs of rotten fish

The eyes are cloudy, dull and spoiled.

The gills are slimy, dirty gray or brown (fresh bira has dark red gills, without mucus).

The fish carcass is slimy (there is cloudy mucus on the scales and the fish smells bad).

When pressing on rotten fish, dents remain (the body does not regain its shape).

When fishing, it is poorly stored and quickly deteriorates. bleak, roach podust(black-bellied, black-bellied), dace and some other types of fish. The shelf life of such perishable river and lake fish depends on many conditions (weather, storage conditions, size of fish) and is several hours. Therefore, keep a close eye on the fish. If the fish begins to fall asleep, process it immediately. Otherwise it will go rotten.

Where does fish spoil the fastest?

If the falling asleep fish lies in water (in the water of a reservoir or in a bucket of water, it doesn’t matter) or in cellophane (that is, in any container without access to air or ventilation), the catch will deteriorate even faster than just leaving wet grass in the air. Nettle is best at keeping fish edible.

Delicious fresh fish

Storing fish on a big fishing trip

If you went fishing for the weekend or summer fishing lasted for a week or longer, you need to save your catch until you go home.

Bury the catch for preservation

To store the catch (until the end of fishing on the weekend), the fish must be generously sprinkled with salt and placed in a plastic bag, tied tightly and buried in a deep hole dug in a shady and damp place in the ground or in damp sand on the shore. It is advisable to make the fish refrigerator closer to the water.

Fill the hole with earth or sand and mark the storage location with a stick or other sign, so that later you don’t have to look for where you buried your fish.

Right before leaving from fishing, remove the bag with fish from the hole, shake it off and put it, without untying it, in your backpack. This method of delivering fish home is suitable for those who, from the moment the fish is removed from the earthen refrigerator, have to travel no more than 2 hours to get home.

Those who have a long journey ahead should remove the fish from the bag and place it in a basket or wooden box (in a ventilated container), the bottom of which is lined with nettles, reeds, sedge or alder leaves. You can also sprinkle the grass with pieces of garlic, which releases phytoncides and prevents bacteria from multiplying.

And cover the fish with bird cherry branches on top. to repel flies and wasps.

Dry salting of fish for fishing

Dry salting can be used to salt fish outdoors only in cool weather, when the air temperature is below +20 degrees C. If it is cold now and you will be fishing for 5 days or a week, then you can preserve the fish by dry salting in a large container.

Large fish You can salt it with dry salting: wrap each fish in a natural cotton rag and tie it with twine so that it does not unfold (not tightly). And store in a cool place. Before salting, large fish must be cut (gutted) and rubbed with salt inside and out (rubbing salt under the scales and under the gills). Such a large fish, salted in a cloth, can be salted for 3-5 days.

Drying fish after dry salting

If you have a lot small fish(rudd, roach, bream, white-eye), it is salted all together, in containers. The period for salting small fish in small boxes or baskets under pressure will be 1.5-2 days, if you want to dry it later (then after 1.5-2 days, the fish must be washed in clean water and hung by the tail; drying until it becomes a roach will take another 4-5 days).

Salted fish is usually hung to dry in the sun and, if possible, near a fire, the smoke from which envelops the fish and drives away flies from it and has antiseptic properties. Experienced fishermen advise you to add green willow branches with leaves to the fire so that there is more smoke and this smoke, in addition to its disinfecting properties, gives the fish a golden color, a pleasant aroma of fire and smoked meat.

If you dry the fish not just in the sun, but by the fire, you can keep it in salt for a shorter amount of time (a day or even several hours), without oppression, just generously salt the entire fish - outside and inside.

For the night need to remove the fish, which you dry, in a clothes bag or in a newspaper and a backpack so that the night dew does not settle on the fish and soak it.

Readiness dried fish is determined by complete drying and the appearance of salt crystals on the fish. If the fish is not completely dry (dry) in nature, dry it at home until it becomes a ram.

Dry salting without drying

When preparing fish by dry salting, you can complete the salting process, then the fish will be salted in 5-10 days.

The timing of salting fish in the wild may vary, depending on the size of the fish, the weather and the salting technology you use. In any case, you can watch and try the fish. That way you will know if she is ready.

Requirements for containers for salting fish outdoors

Dry salting fish in nature should be done in containers that allow water to pass through, allowing it to flow out and evaporate. That is, containers for salting fish while fishing should be wooden or wicker - boxes (regular or small) and baskets. Plastic buckets and containers for dry salting are not suitable.

How to lay fish for dry salting

Line the bottom of a basket or wooden box with a clean cotton rag or burlap. Place the prepared fish in a container in dense rows with the jack (head to tail), back down and belly up. Sprinkle each row of fish thickly with salt. Place large carcasses on the bottom, and the smallest ones on top. Cover the last row of fish generously with salt.

The approximate consumption of salt for salting fish is 2.5 kg (2 and a half packs) per 10 kg of fish.

Place a wooden or plywood lid on top of the fish, on which place a heavy load (that is, the fish should be under pressure, with a load of 4-5 kg). The salting press is used to remove air pockets and squeeze out excess moisture from the fish. After salting under pressure, fish meat becomes denser and more tasty.

Here's a cool video for you - how fish are cleaned using a Karcher car wash.

What else can you do with fish?

Dry salting can also be used to salt delicious commercial fish such as pink salmon, salmon, chum salmon and others).

In addition, if you have containers for salting fish when fishing, you can

If you are already at home, then tips on how to...

And also, dear friends, you can smoke river fish or cook a very tasty fish soup, or fry fish (even in a frying pan, if you have a Primus stove with you).

The fish can be rolled in flour or left without it and fried in oil on both sides.

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  How to save your catch

  It is not enough to catch a fish, you must also be able to preserve it, and the preservation of fish begins from the moment it is caught. Everyone knows that fish is a delicate and perishable product. On hot summer days, caught fish spoils much faster than in cool weather. And it is advisable to deliver the catch home, if not alive, then at least in fresh form.

  Therefore, the fisherman needs to know the signs indicating that the fish is beginning to deteriorate. And the characteristic signs of the beginning of fish spoilage are the following:

  * The eyes become cloudy and turn white.

  * The gills turn pink and then turn white and covered with mucus.

  * The abdomen is swollen.

  * The meat softens and separates from the ribs.

  Eating fish with such signs is dangerous - poisoning is possible. Of course, if your catch includes fish that will be used to prepare fish soup or a second fish dish directly at the fishing spot, then there is no need to worry about the fate of the catch, but if the catch needs to be delivered home, then you need to worry about the safety of the caught fish as soon as as soon as you let her off the hook. Most often, removing the hook does not seriously injure the fish and does not interfere with its short-term storage in a live state. It can be somewhat more difficult to release the hook from the mouth of, for example, a perch, which often swallows the bait deeply. If you have to release the hook from the mouth of such large predators (with powerful jaws!), like pike or pike perch, then you need to open the mouth with the help of a gaper, and then, using an extractor, carefully remove the hook, trying to injure the fish as little as possible. Then the fish still remain alive for a long time if they are placed in water.

  There are several ways to preserve fish in the warm season. The most common method is to place the caught fish in a cage. Factory-made metal cages are completely unsuitable for long-term storage of live fish, since the fish in them knock off their scales, damage the soft tissue of the lips and die quite quickly. And, of course, you cannot keep fish in plastic bags, especially tightly closed ones, which can often be observed among inexperienced fishermen. In such bags, fish most likely spoils.

  Most often, fishermen use cages woven from nylon threads. In order for the fish in such a cage to remain alive for as long as possible, it must be spacious enough - the fish in it will fight and rub against each other less. And one more, important note: the mesh of the cage (as opposed to a landing net) must be small enough so that the fish cannot stick its head into it, otherwise it will quickly fall asleep. It is advisable to keep the cage in the shade, protected from direct sunlight. And under no circumstances should you keep a fish tank near the surf shore: the fish cannot withstand the “uncomfortable” conditions in such a place and quickly die. Fish falling asleep in a cage, even if it is in water, can also result from suffocation caused by excessive accumulation of metabolic products as a result of too energetic movements of the fish trying to free itself from captivity. Falling asleep occurs much faster if the fish is injured. Over time, the caught fish becomes covered with mucus, the secretion of which is not a sign of poor quality fish - it is a peculiar reaction of a dying organism to unfavorable external conditions. Fish that have fallen asleep must be immediately removed from the cage, since the safety of the entire catch depends on this.

  If it is not possible to keep the fish alive, then it must be pinned immediately, and large and medium-sized fish must be bled. To do this, without resorting to gutting, make an incision in the spine near the tail and, holding the fish with the tail down, let the blood drain. Cut out the gills.

  Such fish lasts longer than fallen fish. There are different ways to kill fish. For example, by injecting a needle into the brain (a puncture is made in the back of the head).

  There are other methods that are used depending on the type of fish. For example, a pike's spine is broken at the head, and the head must be bent back strongly until a crunch appears. The killed fish must be wrapped in nettles and sedges, the mouth stuffed with these plants, and the carcass dried in the shade until a protective film of dried mucus forms on the fish’s body. On cloudy days, the mucus hardens when exposed to air. During drying and chapping, the fish must be protected from flies. On a hot day, to be safe, it is better to gut the fish, remove the gills, lightly salt the inside and wrap it in plants. Gutted fish cannot be washed in water; it is quite enough to wipe it dry with grass or a clean canvas rag from above and from the inside, especially carefully removing the blood near the ridge. Having cleaned it, it should immediately be hung in the air for 5-7 minutes, and then wrapped in sedge or nettle and placed in a basket. Fish treated in this way should be stored in the shade. If fishing continues the next day, it is better to store the catch in a small hole dug in the ground. Cover the bottom of the pit with dry grass, each fish should be wrapped in dry reeds or sedge, and covered with dried these plants on top and covered with sand.

  It is best to keep the largest fish on the kukan in a quiet place, in the shade and closer to the bottom. In such conditions, fish can live even on hot summer days for a very long time - from 3 to 5 days.

  Acetic acid, mustard, garlic, and nettle increase the shelf life of fish. The volatile substances released by these products help preserve fish meat. For example, fresh fish, wrapped in a rag moistened with a solution of acetic acid (1-2 pieces of sugar per 0.5 liter of wine vinegar), and lightly sprinkled with salt, can be stored for 2-3 days.

  If, after a long fishing trip, a stock of fish has formed, then it can be salted, dried, and smoked.

  Fish brought home can be checked for freshness and good quality using the following criteria:

  * The gills of fresh fish are bright red, but if they have been bled, the color of the gills will be lighter. The gills of frozen fish are grayish with a reddish tint.
  * Fresh fish has a clean and mild odor, specific to a particular type of fish and, of course, different for sea and river (lake) fish.
  * The eyes of fresh fish are light and somewhat convex, the cornea of ​​the eyes is transparent.
  * The meat is elastic to the touch, the scales are difficult to separate, the mucus is transparent, there is no unpleasant odor. You can correctly assess the quality of raw fish based on the consistency of its meat in a very simple way: how soon will the dimple that forms on the back of the fish from light pressure on it with your finger disappear (and whether it disappears at all). The sooner and more completely the hole disappears, the more complete the fish is in the consistency of meat.
  * Fresh fish have bright colors and shiny scales. The degree of brightness of the color largely depends on how long the fish has been stored and whether it was stored raw or dry. When frozen, the color of the fish fades.
  * If the fish is fresh, then the mucus covers its entire skin in an even layer. In addition, you should check the degree of adhesion of meat to bones (ease of separation of vertebral and rib bones from fish meat). The harder the meat is to separate from the bones, the better the consistency.

  When preparing any fish dish, you must strictly and completely follow the entire technological process of its preparation - this can prevent infection with various pathogenic microbes. You should not eat raw fish, as well as lightly fried, undercooked fish or those that have not withstood a certain period of salting, drying or smoking. For example, tiny balls with Siberian fluke larvae (quite often found in the body of stale fish) die in frozen fish only after 5 days at a temperature of at least -10°C, and in large fish they live even longer. Strong salting of fish kills larvae only after 5 days in large fish and after 2-3 days in small fish. The fish is hot smoked for at least 2 hours. And, of course, after cleaning and handling raw fish, you must wash your hands thoroughly.