# Can you freeze Bass/Catfish without cleaning them?



## adesoto (Jun 15, 2009)

Hello, 
I'm trying to see if there is any danger with freeze fish without cleaning them.
Thanks,
Aaron


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## gtparts (Jun 15, 2009)

Do you plan to eat them later?

You really need to gut them and as long as you got them that far ...go ahead and do it right. Whoever eats them would appreciate it and they are much easier to clean when they are fresh caught.


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## Nicodemus (Jun 15, 2009)

I don`t freeze anything with the innards still in there, not if I plan on eatin` it.


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## Twenty five ought six (Jun 15, 2009)

No danger.  Actually freezing will help kill any nasties they have.

Palatibitity is a whole nother question.  I wouldn't do it.


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## Darkhorse (Jun 16, 2009)

Late in life my father mastered the art of catching mullet with poles and rod/reel. We caught unbelievable amounts for a number of years.
After I had left home to be an adult (ha) on one of my trips home Dad asked if I wanted him to fix some smoked mullet. Of course I said "Yes". Imagine my surprise when he took a paper sack out of the freezer (it was filled with those sacks) that looked like it had firewood stacked inside of it. It wasn't firewood, it was whole frozen mullet.
My first reaction was "This can't be good" as in all my years growing up with a major fishing family I had always seen and cleaned our catch. Dad said "Just wait. They taste like they were just caught."
Well, he was right. They tasted like we had just caught them. For several years this is the way he stored all those hundreds and hundreds of mullet he, Mom, and us boys would catch.
Personally I don't do it. My wife will only eat fillets and I don't keep enough fish anymore that I can't just clean them when I get home. I like to catch them now more than I like to eat them.
All I can say is freeze a few and try it. You might be surprised.


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## kbswear (Jun 16, 2009)

Practice fileting with a cheap Black & Decker electric knife and never have to clean fish again. It only takes minutes.


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## specialk (Jun 16, 2009)

i've done it before in a pinch for time, but when i pulled them out of the freezer i filleted them,.....


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## jatkin99 (Jun 17, 2009)

*Tried it once*

When I was a kid I tried freezing them and cleaning them after thawing them out.  I'd rather clean a gut shot deer!  The smell will make you not want to eat them.


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## jettman96 (Jun 17, 2009)

I know my grandparents SWEAR by freezing Bream and shellcracker whole.  They say they keep their freshness  that way.  He still does it that .  But, he does freeze them in cut milk jugs filled with water.


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