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Home > Learn to Fish & Boat > How To Fish > How to Catch Fish > Keeping Fish Fresh
Keeping fish fresh to eat is essential if you want to save your catch for a tasty meal. Even if you are focused instead on how to fish responsibly and plan to return your catch to the water to practice sustainable fishing, there are key ways to preserve your fish while still fishing.
Catch and release is a conservation technique used by anglers who enjoy fishing, yet don’t want to eat their catch. It is also often a policy in many private fishing spots to maintain their stocks.
The practice of catch and release is simple: reel the fish in, unhook it, take a quick pic (preferably in water) and return the fish to the water, resuscitate and release. Here are tips to maximize your catch’s chances of survival after release.
If you plan to eat your fish, you may opt to kill and dress your catch immediately. However, since this step can interrupt your fishing experience, you may want to try one of several methods for how to keep fish while fishing:
Once you know how to keep fish fresh while fishing, if you plan to bring your catch home to enjoy, you’ll also want to make sure you know how to preserve it for the journey because fish can decompose quickly once they die. Whether you have a short boat ride or a long walk from the pier, temperature is critical.
Since the only way to keep fish fresh is to chill, put it on ice. Once you get home, store the fish in the refrigerator or freezer.
The largemouth bass is the most popular freshwater game fish in the U.S. Learn more about how you can identify a largemouth bass, where to catch it and what bait and lures to use.
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