How long do your fish stay alive?

[sparky]

Went out this morning an got a nice bunch of panfish (crappie,perch,bluegill).  Caught my last fish around 9 Am.  There was 20+ fish on the ice-snow, they stayed there until I left at 1 PM.  Had them in my bucket until I cleaned them at 6 PM, out side it was 34 degrees.  So they were out of the water around 9 hours.

While I was cleaning them the wife ran the water in the sink and they started to flop around and try to swim.  No problem for me but the old lady freaked out and gave my the what for for cleaning them while they wee still flopping around. 

What's the longest you've had fish out of water and still have them flop around in the sink when you were cleaning them?

[pisces_paul]

I was just thinking of that the other day . Dad & i used to fish up in erie for perch , would start catching them @ 8:00 & would stay untill dark , pack the fish in snow & drive back to pittsburgh......(took 3-3.5 hours to drive back then since Interstate 79 was not there. Came home on old route 19 ) Would dump them in the laundry tubs in the basement, add some water to melt the snow & sure enough they would start trying to swim around, Some of those fish were out of the water for 12 hours at least ! 

[A- bomb]

My wife did the same thing and let me tell you!!!!!!

[snaggerr]

Dont know ,but mine are always alive when I get home .I put snow in bottom of 5gal. bucket and throw fish on top.I have minnows that been alive 5 weeks in some water.

[Pail Rider]

I'm sure it has something to do with the frigid temps slowing their metabolism down to nothing...

It is now illegal here in NH to take a live fish off (or out of) any lake, you gotta kill it before you get off the lake.  Guess they don't want me stocking my brook

[SPARKYICE]

i've had carcases minus the filets moving their gill plates.
but, hey, they ate the  minnow while it was alive.
what goes around comes around-guess i'll have to keep an eye out for the carnivorous aliens!

[Scientist]

Perch are notoriously hardy fish especially in snow and ice conditions. If you catch panfish and pack them in snow directly it will slow their metabolism down but not kill them. There have also been instances when a shallow pond froze completely solid and the perch were able to survive until spring. I  also caught a 4 lb walleye in the fall time and threw it in a cooler full of ice got home to clean it, six hours later, and it was still alive. So from then on if I plan to keep the fish I always give a good swift hit right between the eyes with a thick solid piece of metal. Pipe used for gas lines works OK.  The hit and vibration paralyzes the fish and eliminates any unpleasantness of cleaning them while they are alive. 

[Fish_Tko]

Not long for me either. I wack em' with my ice dipper.

[BigZee44]

I woiuld say htat 99% of he pan fish i fillet are usually still alive, espically perch.  As far as trout go they die fairly quick as i bleed them as soon as they get on the ice.  Im not sure if that helps with trout but growing up in washington bleeding salmon is just what you do if you are keeping them.  It helps with the quality of the meat and eggs.
Zack

[nepa old man]

Mine usually are still alive most of the time, we always keep a little snow or ice on them, especially when it's sunny.

[woodyvt]

It is also now illegal to transport live fish from waters in VT too.

Not sure the reason why, but I bet it has something to do with fish getting into non native waters.

Too bad.....I used to put a few in the private pond out back for the kids to fish for fun.  Still have a few good size rainbows left.