What do you guys do with all your fish guts? I don't have garbage pick up, and although I keep telling myself what great crab bait it is, I could never use as much as I get, and I don't go to the dump but about once every four to six weeks, so the stuff can become quite rank.

So my solution is to freeze it in a garbage bag and take it back to the river. The block of guts floats down the river(s) in a big block and as it thaws it deposits the pieces along the way. The bag has then been used to tie to a tree at some public areas with a few "seed" pieces of local garbage tossed in. In other cases, it makes for a fish bag for that day's fishing.

95% of all my entrails are put back in the river the fish came from because I clean all my fish on the boat before going in to the ramp. However if I fish some local rivers which have walk in access only, I'll clean my fish at home and return the entrails into the bay by my house, I feel by doing this that at least they end up back in the eco system.

Sort of on the subject. Its a good thing to throw the guts into the river but please don't do it at the boat ramp. A lot of people who don't understand that its a good thing for the fish in the long run view it as trash. How many times have you gotten to a take out and the river out side the ramp has guts all over ?? it does not bother me but you know how folks can be

I just throw them in the ravine behind the house and the bobcats and mountain lions come in and clean them up. (Quite aways away from the house!)

I ALWAYS clean the fish at the river and toss the entrails out into the current. No point in leaving them in shallow water where the racoons can pull them out at night.

IF it presents a major hassle to get them into the river (entrails are entrails and any river will do; you're not introducing genetic material), you can bury them in your garden, or under a tree or shrub. Finest fishmeal around!

Diana: You can bury them, but it better be DEEP. I have had my garden shredded by dogs digging up the fish. I used to use dogfish for fertilizer until it got to be too big a hassle with animals trying to dig them up.

That was a cakewalk though compared to the time I tried to make my own fish fertilizer from carp and horse manure. Do not attempt this at home!!!

It would just make good sense to put the guts and entrails back into the same river that you caught your fish from. Many fish diseases are carried in these body parts, and one should not pass them into other river systems if at all possible. I always clean, and gut my fish in the same river it was caught in.

When we used to "pump" fish from our rearing ponds into the Cowlitz, we always had to first disinfect the pumps before we could use them. Fish carry lots of bad "stuff" that don't bother humans, but can be disastrous to other fish. Maybe one of our local biologist will jump in and name a few like C-Shasta or IHN, etc.

Cowlitzfisherman

FYI with regards to B- steely's concern. Back in the 70's there was a legislator in Oregon who after a summer vacation in the Santiam pass area came back to Salem and introduced a bill making it illegal to discard fish guts in the water because he found it disgusting It actually made it to commitee where someone finally set him straight on how ridiculous his bill was.

O.S.P will write us up if they catch us gutting at a boat ramp on the Rogue.

Earlier this summer, I made a call to WDFW Enforcement at Olympia, to enquire about filetting fish on the river. I was told it was ok, as long as identification was intact, such as fins or lack of, etc. Also the person told me that it was not legal to place the entrails into the river, and the health dept could issue citations for doing so.

I did mention that I doubt they would do so, even if they could. Not sure if this was just a personal opinion of the person I was talking to, or if it was for real. Maybe someone on the board knows more about it.
Catarafter

I would hope to God that filleting a fish on the river where there is no retention of wild stocks allowed... Please say its not so. Talk about a loop hole for poachers. They went through that this year in Idaho, several people wanted top know if it was leagle and the answer was.
"You have to be kidding"... not no but hell no.

Just a brief note for clarity......I don't fillet fish at the river. I will sometimes gut and gill the fish, but as often, I wait until I get home. Then the entire package of head, guts, gills, and skeleton are frozen. They remain in the freezer until the next trip or possibly a couple of trips to the river.

Don't I see often where WDFW freezes and deposits carcasses (both whole and spawned) in tributaries for feed? Are these carcasses only deposited in the same river system from which they came?

Where's the bio's on these questions? Help, guys!

Hears your answer to several of these questions about cleaning or filleting a fish in the field!

WAC 220-56-145 Possession of gamefish, food fish or shellfish in unlawful condition -- Possession aboard a vessel. (1) Fish and shellfish may be cleaned and portioned in the field except sturgeon when sturgeon eggs are in possession. It is unlawful for a fisher to fail to retain proof of compliance with number, species, size, weight, sex, or wild or hatchery origin restrictions, if such restrictions apply, until the fisher is ashore and has finished fishing for the day. This subsection does not apply if the catch is in the process of being prepared for immediate consumption.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, it is unlawful to possess Dolly Varden/bull trout in the field in such condition that the species and total length cannot be determined.

(3) In Marine Areas 1 through 6 it is unlawful for any person to possess more than one daily limit of fish or shellfish in fresh form while aboard a vessel.


This means if you intend on filleting your fish and it's a salmon or steelhead, you must save that adipose fin to show that it was a "hatchery" fish!

Cowlitzfisherman

Chuck it in a neighbors yard that you dont like..

--but then again you might get woken up by shotgun fire cause the coons are invading.

Thanks for the research and response, CFM!
Perhaps I read it wrong, but I see no mention of restrictions outside of being aboard a vessel.
I have no interest in filleting on the river, but the adipose fin could be left intact on at least half of the fillets without a problem. I'm surprised that the only apparent roadblock to filleting on site is that you be finished fishing for the day. (Dolley Varden excepted...who keeps these, anyway?)

Am I missing something?

Fun5
Look at it this way;

"may be cleaned and portioned in the field"