How do you store your keeper fish?

The answer depends on whether you want the fish dead or alive. If dead, storing the fish on ice in a fish bag or cooler will do. If alive, a marine cooler with an aerator, or a fishing stringer are popular options. Some fishermen even allow the fish to rest on the sand for a while if the climate isn’t too hot. Read on for some considerations to keep in mind with each of the options.

Storing your Fish on Ice

When using a cooler full of ice, like this Yeti Tundra 35, make sure you bring enough ice for your cooler’s performance. You don’t want too much ice to melt if you’re fishing all day. Remember, you can always remove ice from the cooler to make room for more fish, but you can’t add ice very easily if you run out.

Using a fish bag, like this American made one, has the advantage of being very lightweight and easy to carry. Typically, the bags come with a shoulder strap to make carrying easier. You can store the ice directly in the fish bag from the start, or you may choose to bring a cooler full of food, drinks, and extra ice and plan to move some ice to the fish bag when needed. This may be advantageous if you’re planning a long day and you know your cooler will keep ice longer than your fish bag.

When my husband and I first started surf fishing, we used a cooler with ice. Then one time I reached into the cooler to get a sandwich and picked up a DEAD FISH! I was grossed out! If you or your fishing buddy is like me, you may opt to separate your food and drink from your fresh catch. We do this by bringing a cooler full of drinks and food for us, and a fish bag for the fish. We could’ve done two coolers, but a cooler and fish bag fit better on our beach cart.

A word of legal caution when storing dead fish: some fisherman will recommend cutting the head off the fish and gutting the fish prior to storing the catch on ice. Most regulated saltwater fish have a “landed in whole condition” requirement which prohibits beheading a fish. This rule likely exists because it’s very difficult to verify the size of your catch if its missing a head and difficult to verify the species if its missing scales. An example requirement is shown in Florida Rule 68B-21.003, F.A.C. for Snook:

“A person may not possess within or without Florida Waters a snook that has been beheaded, sliced, divided, filleted, ground, skinned, scaled, or deboned.”

The same rule states that is legal to remove guts and gills from a snook.

“This provision will not be construed to prohibit evisceration (gutting) of a snook or removal of gills from a snook. This provision will not be construed to prohibit preparation of snook for immediate consumption on board the vessel from which the snook was caught.”

However, be careful with gutting as a new law was put in place in 2019 regarding chumming. Per Rule 68B-2.011 Chumming, F.A.C., it is illegal to discard fish remains in the water.

Keeping your fish in a cooler with aerator

This method is essentially a portable live-well. Although this works to keep the fish alive and eliminates the dangers associated with using stringers, the store-bought options may wind up being too small for your catch. If you choose to keep your fish alive in an aeration cooler, we recommend rigging, baiting, and casting in such a way as to target an appropriate sized fish.

If you’re bringing live bait in cooler with an aerator, like this Engel one, and you end up catching an unregulated fish that you’d like to use as bait later, you can throw the fish in the cooler and cross your fingers that it won’t eat your bait! See our post on the Best Bait for Surf Fishing for more information about keeping live bait.

There are also several YouTube videos to create DIY aeration coolers using an aerator and a traditional marine cooler. These tend to be larger and can work very well if you’re willing to deal with carrying the larger load. This may be a good choice if you’re on a Florida beach that allows cars on it and you can bring it in the bed of your truck.

Keeping your fish on a stringer

Fish can also be kept in the water on a stringer attached to a wading belt. A stringer is a way to essentially keep your fish on a leash. Stringers keep the fish in alive and in the water without carrying another bulky item to the beach. Stringers work well when wading. When doing this approach during surf fishing, you should keep the stringer very long and always have a method of quickly cutting or releasing the stringer. This will give you time to react and cut the stringer if a shark or other predator gets to it. To avoid damaging the gills, the stringer should be hooked through the thin skin at the bottom of the fish’s mouth, and not threaded through the gills. Damaging the gills could cause the fish to die earlier than desired. Stringers come in metal options and lighter weight options such as nylon and rubber stringers. We recommend using the lighter weight option to limit the resistance the fish experiences when swimming. We also recommend using a rubber one, like this, because its lightweight and doesn’t develop odor as easily as nylon over time. When you’re looking for one for surf fishing, choose around a 30 foot length.

Keeping your fish on the shore

You could also keep your fish on the sand or in a water filled bucket. This is a short-term solution, especially if the sun is out and the temperature is hot. Some may choose to do this on a cold day if you’ve moved away from your cooler. Generally, this should be done for a very short period of time to prevent the fish from spoiling.

Tight lines and good times y’all!

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