Storing your catch? A throwdown!

[StuartHunts]

When you catch more than you know what to do with, what's your go to method to store it? What keeps it fresh as the day you caught it?

I got a vacuum sealer. I also like to smoke my fish, but that certainly isn't the way I pulled it out of the water so doesn't count lol

[Bobberdoggin]

For fresh salmon, I like to vacuum seal the whole fish fillets, meat side touching each other in a large vacuum sealed bag. I'll put them in my large chest freezer that is rarely opened. This seems to last the longest. If it looks like I won't get to them for a while, I'll take 4 fish out at a time and, fillet the skin off then can them with jalapenos in 8oz jars after they have been brined in salt/apple juice then lightly smoked. The jar's make an easy quick snack so I tend to go through them quick.

For my deer this year, I just took it to a butcher and got back Jerky, summer sausage, steaks, and ground venison all packaged by the butcher. Much easier then doing it myself.

[StuartHunts]

What reason do you do meat sides touching one another for salmon?

[Bobberdoggin]

My experience is that it freezer burns from the outside in. I don't eat the skin so I use the skin as a extra layer of protection to ward off the fish from getting freezer burn. Plus I don't like the outside of the skin touching parts of the meat I eat. This is more important to me when the fish is from a river. When your catching silvers in October on an odd year, the banks are lined with rotting humpies and the river starts to get pretty nasty. Last thing I want is a crome silver to taste like a rotting humpy or whatever was last in the fish box.

[StuartHunts]

Ok, that makes sense. I wouldn't want it tasting of rotting gross fish either. It is a simple and easy precaution to take.

Though vacuum sealing prevents freezer burn. Is it also in case the bag is punctured?