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I can tell a huge difference in the quality of meat that I get from properly handling any deer or elk meat that I get, so I took this philosophy and applied it to fishing. Any fish I plan to keep gets whacked in the head right away and gutted as soon as possible after that. I will filet it later but I like to get the guts out right away.
Well, thats what I am curious about. Some say they've survived this long and that long but it has always been in a clean water enviroment with well or tap water in an aquarium or barrel of some sort. What is it like in the real world though....... in a lake? Or is it that we like to think they survive because they "swim" away when we let them go after being out of the water for hours and exposed to freezing temps? Does a rap to the head really kill the fish or does it just stun it? Kind of like a person being unconcious and suffocating at the same time.