Cleaning Stations
 

Recent stomach virus got me thinking about the c Pernt fish cleaning station and its cleanliness. For the last three weekends I have cleaned fish there and fought pelicans. There is usually bird crap on the cutting boards and table that we wash off with water. I am thinking about bleaching prior to cleaning fish from now on as a precaution. Maybe Sauté can enlighten us on bacteria present on these cutting areas and if they pose a serious health concern.

That place is nasty during the winter with all the pelicans..... Cal Pt. needs to do something about the issue I think.

Cleaning tables are nasty year round, pelicans and Gimmedats leave $hit errywhere.

yep, sorry to say but that stuff is on what your eatin even though you think you washed it off the bacteria is all over your fish. cooking "should" kill it but who knows what kind of septic stew is brewing there. if you cook your fish well I wouldn't think the table is why you got sick but it could be adding strange flavors to em. pelican poop flavored trout anyone? lol.

I make a habit of cleaning my fish at home where I know my cleaning station gets cleaned and disinfected each time I use it. I put the fish heads and guts in a 5 gallon bucket in the chest freezer and next time I go fishing I pop the frozen guts out of the bucket and stick it in the ice chest, when I get to the water I return it to feed the crabs and it doesn't defrost at all so its not messy. for those who go with ice chests filled with ice, just leave it in the bucket and put it in back of the truck till you get to the launch.

I suggest to anyone if they use a cleaning station "somewhere" to keep a piece of scrap plywood in the back of your truck and put it on the cleaning station and don't let the fish you are cleaning or the fillets touch the table, just use it as a bench and not a counter.

just my two cents

yum, maybe start bringing bleach in a squirt bottle

Spicers is worse
Will start using a bleach cleaner, way to convienent to clean at home IMO but will take precautions none the less.

Good advice guys, I think that I will bring my own piece of plywood and a spray bottle of bleach. I'm glad that pelican are no longer endangered but they are nasty critters.

Pelicans are gross. Wish they weren't our state bird.

I never caught enough fish to use them but I always planned on bleach. As far as using plywood, I believe it will be as bad or worse. The wood will allow stuff to get in between the fibers. I think that's why wooden cutting boards are discouraged.

How about one of those cleaning tables you can buy at academy? It's small enough to keep in the bed of your truck, and the surface should be safer.

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/cold...tion/pid-14347

Pointe aux chene marina has a cleaning station that is screened in. That would work at calcasieu point to keep the birds away.

screening in the area would be a great idea!

This is the reason I just clean my fish at home...Also I like to be able to go home and chill out for a few, and take my time cleaning the fish while having a few cool pops.

I don't have anywhere to clean my fish at home tho.... and I usually keep mine on ice the rest of the day and clean them the next day.

Drop it in 325° grease it's all good

I recommend you be real carefull to wash it all off, you don't want the bleach to get into the meat and change the taste of the fish.

there are other options too like an old glass top from an end table or scrap aluminum plate from a fab shop or plexiglass etc etc just give it some thought.

as for those who say they don't have a place at home to clean fish, use your truck tailgate. that's what I use right there in the driveway then I hose everything down when im done. it doesn't get any easier or simpler then that and I bring my cleaning station with me everywhere I am so if im on the side of hwy 1 I just pull out the 12v fillet knife and have at it. I always have a bucket in the truck to rinse things off or for a bathroom emergency lol.

Walmart sells a very large white plastic cutting board for under $15. I wouldn't not use plywood as you are not going to be able to keep it clean.

Shhh,.. that is my secret sauce I use when cooking fish!!

An old peice of countertop with the laminate surface works great. I keep a piece that's about 3ft wide. You could buy some laminate material to glue to a piece of plywood for cheap.

I'm just going to build a cleaning station in my back yard with stainless sink and cutting boards. Only problem is getting rid of scraps when you're done

well if you don't mind the price these tables are nice: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_saca...rt=nc&LH_BIN=1

they work good for an outside table for gardening and whatever too

I usually bag up all the scraps and stick them in the outside freezer and will take em out the day the trash comes and throw em in the dumpster. They don't get nasty and stink up everything that way





also with bleach its one of those few times where less is more, you don't want to use pure bleach, needs to be diluted down. Pure bleach doesn't do much for killing all bacteria. you need some water in there so it can get into the cell. Many labratories use a 10% bleach concentration to kill 'germs'.