All store bought ice has chlorine in it. I try to use ice from a shaved ice place or one of the road side twice the ice machines for my bait. If your salt water fish sits in fresh water or an ice slurry you will ruin it. Doesnt matter what the ice has in it at that point.

 

I try to use ice from a shaved ice place or one of the road side twice the ice machines for my bait.

Never heard of a road side ice machine? Where do you find those?

 

Never had this happen to me with ice but have had a chemically taste in my fountain soda before and I thought the same thing, that it was cleaned then not flushed out properly. Definetly seems plausible

 

Ive never had this happen to me and i fish all the time and leave fish in the melted ice water. It actually keeps them colder so they dont go bad or get mushy. Sounds like the ice could be the problem or last time you cleaned your cooler did you rinse it good? Just a thought

 

I personally use old soda bottles that I freeze, throw a couple in the cooler keeps fish nice and cold, when you get home just rinse the bottles off and throw back in the freezer, been doing that for years and it works for me...........geo

 

X2 on that cowboy, I use frozen 2 liters and fill the cracks with ice

 

Hey that soda bottle thing sounds like a pretty sweet idea. I may try that.

 

During the summer months I have done the soda bottle with ice setup. I also made my own blocks of ice by taking old tupperware containers and using them to make ice bricks. Does pretty well if you keep the cooler in the shade and the drain open. I've used the roadside ice houses and have been lucky with not having funny ice.

 

love the soda bottle idea gonna have to try that

 

Two good things about using soda bottles or milk cartons etc., no melted ice water to soak everything and as the ice melts you have cold drinking water

 

×3 on the bottle trick.I use the bottled water that you can get a case of for about5 bucks.the smaller pint sizes fit in my coolers better that's all.another trick is to NOT open yer bagged ice.just lay it in the bottom of the cooler and stack yer drinks.fish.etc on top this will keep much longer and. Stop the slurry effect if the drain hole is left open

 

Pretty much everywhere on the coast near where fishermen congregate.

 

the roadside ice machines are called "twice the ice" usually 16 or 20 lbs for around $2. I like to buy it and take it home and put it in the freezer overnight. makes it colder.
frank

 

Anyways one of my uncle's friend told him that the ice we bought must of been bad. Apparently the guys who make the ice are suppose to clean they're ice makers every 3 months. Then they're suppose to run it and toss the first couple sets of ice, because they're tainted with the cleaning chemicals. So he said that's probably what happened to us.. they didn't toss all they're tainted ice and instead packed and sold it.

Your Uncles friend is correct.

I have seen many ice machines and will not have ice out of any of them in a drink unless I am the one that has serviced it and I stopped doing that years ago.

 

Been using the coke bottle trick for a while. I tell my wife I spent all the money on ice at the local stores on the coast but buy beer instead.

 

I personally have never had that happen but I know guys that has happened to from getting ice from some of the local marinas around me.

 

Instead of having the fish sit directly on ice, I usually bag them. Keeps cold without soaking the fish in stanky water/ice. Also helps it from becoming mushy.

 

Fresh fish in the skin isn't going to absorb a whole lot from the ice. Could your frying oil have been starting to turn?

 

Probably up to 5x on the Frozen Water Bottle deal. Mine are the 16.9oz puppies. My newest fishing bud always laughs at me. He likes to freeze the lower half of a 5 gal bucket and carry that with him....that chunk of ice weighs 25lbs - LOL. I have to give it to him...it doesn't melt for a few days, but I don't own a giant freezer.

Soo.....In my big cooler, I'll ziplock one 6 pack of frozen water that I can also use for drinking. The 2nd 6pack is a repeat offender....it gets rinsed off after fishing trips and goes right back in the fridge for the next outing. In the small cooler, which I normally take, I only carry the one 6pack. It sits right in the middle of the cooler...fish caught on one side in a heavy plastic bag and bagged bait on the other side...with my snacks/food, also, in a bag.

My 6 packs came in a case, but each 6 have a plastic wrapper on them. I used to (and still do) carry frozen individuals, but the wrapper has been really holding up and it's more manageable in my small fridge (EZ to move to get stuff...no frozen bottles rollin' around or fallin' out on my feet).

 

I've used Gatorade bottles 20 oz 6-8 in cooler works Great!

 

Nah, the oil was fresh. This funny smell and flavor also occurred with some fish we gave to a family member. I slit the throat on all the fish so they could bleed out, the initial bleeding is over the ocean water and then it's thrown into the cooler. By the the time we got back home the ice did turn into a slurry... so I'm guessing that's where things went south.

The only thing that explains this is that the ice was just filled with cleaning chemicals : /