Let's talk about fish cleaning stations!

[skywaypa]

Sitting here at work resetting password for all the dumb people, thinking about fishing.  So let's have some fun.  Describe your current fish cleaning station/area/situation.  Then describe how you'd set yourself up if money and time were no barrier.  Stop short of "I'd have bikini clad models fillet my fish for me while I drink beer in a hot tub."  

My current situation:  I have a plastic folding table set up in my garage.  No running water; I'm using fish towels/rags and paper towels to keep the mess down.  Fish carcasses get bagged up and go out with the Wednesday morning trash.  I like to fillet sitting down, so I have an old (but very nice) rolling office chair that I sit on.  Oh, and I have a receiver set up with Sonos so there are tunes.  Plenty of light from a 4' fluorescent fixture overhead and my garage stays in the high 60s most of the year.  

My dream setup:  attached or semi-attached fish cleaning room.  Floor drain(s) for wash down.  Large stainless tables; one seat high and one standing high.  Hose hookup for each station.  Here's the kicker... an industrial shredder installed with a chute for a 5 gallon bucket.  Carcasses go in the shredder after filleting and get ground into instant chum!  Upright or big chest freezer and some boxes/bags/totes to make chum blocks.  Shelves for bags and towels and other supplies.  Knife magnet, knife sharpeners.  Various Lucite cutting boards.  

Bonus items: rubber floor mats with the holes so they can be washed down, bug zapper to kill off misc insects, beer fridge, outdoor speakers with tunes, vacuum sealer station.  

Did I forget anything?  

[armiman]

Um, maybe a bikini clad waitress to bring you your beer?

[detroitd]

I'd say you got it covered, skywaypa! Only think missing is some employees to operate for you while you sip your beer!

D

[SkyJay]

heres mine 😎
there's a cutting board that fits in the hole
where the cooler lid is.
Now where is that beer girl ? 🤠

[aussieguy]

have to learn to catch fish first

but why not clean your fish at the boat ramp ,  pier  or river?

seen a lot of cleaning stations at ramps.... etc
as long as you clean em then leave (go to pub to brag about the big one you put back )
  

[KingSalmon]

Does SSFP have any fish cleaning stations?

[gnome]

The tail gate of the truck is my cleaning station.



If money was no object........ I would have the charter captain (The one that I would have on permanent retainer ) do the cleaning.



Now,.... back to reality. Growing up we had an old cast iron farm sink in the back yard, the kind with the big built in drain boards on both sides of a double sink. It was in a 4x4 frame with a lean to roof, and a garden hose for running water. Would love to have one again. Those old sinks used to be junk. Now they are high priced, hard to find, and in demand, as the retro look has become popular.

[skywaypa]

Jun 21, 2017 18:10:00 GMT -5 aussieguy said:

but why not clean your fish at the boat ramp ,  pier  or river? 

In my neck of the woods (western PA) there are no facilities at any of the ramps.  Fish cleaning just isn't a thing.  Last saltwater I fished was DE Bay at a very nice public launch and there wasn't a fish cutting station there either.  Most piers have something set up, but marinas seem to be hit and miss.  

I wonder if the reason there aren't cleaning stations at the Skyway is because they don't want to deal with the mess.  Pretty sure there are already water lines run so that would be pretty simple to set up.  And maybe also the "fish must remain whole" thing.  Pretty hard to enforce limits on a cooler full of fillets.  Though that would be the same anywhere I guess.  

[SkyJay]

there used to be.
but theyre gone now.
I guess the maintenance on a faucet
and hose were more than the management
could bear.
that plus the riff raff was constantly playing
in the hose , leaving it running ect

[gnome]

Landed in whole condition, means until you are off the pier. FWC can't measure a fillet.

[KingSalmon]

Jun 22, 2017 8:23:18 GMT -5 gnome said:

Landed in whole condition, means until you are off the pier. FWC can't measure a fillet.

That makes sense...in B.C. Canada, for example,  they fileted, vacuum packed, and froze the salmon you caught, but the heads had to stay on.          

[SkyJay]

you are allowed, or at least you used to be allowed
to clean your fish on a pier after your gear is stowed
and you are no longer fishing.
get caught fishing after youve cut your fish
and you have a problem though.
But whi knows, maybe that changed?
maybe thats why they took the cleaning
tables out.
Ive alway cut my fish there on the way out the
door and never gad a problem.

[Mackerelman]

I think that the FWC may have Made the Piers take out the Cleaning Stations.
If the FWC is out there at the Gate or Just Walking Around or Driving Around, They want to See Your Fish in Whole Condition.
It's like last Year. I am in My Usual Spot Fishing for Grouper at the SS Pier by the Baithouse.
I see this Guy catch an Undersize Grouper & He went directly outside the Baithouse to Clean it.
He then Puts it in a Cooler in the Back of His Pickup & goes back & Fishes for another one.
Then He caught another one(His 2nd one) & did the same thing again.
Then this Guy does the same thing again & catches his 3rd one. Same old Story over again.
When I was ready to leave, I told someone in the Baithouse & they told Me that there was nothing that they could do about it & they had No Control over it.
           

[havetofish]

When there was a cleaning station there, the water source had a heavy sulphur smell and wouldn't use it on the fillets anyway. Don't know what well they must use, but I believe you can still smell it in the bathroom water.

[SkyJay]

i asked the state park guy once, and mind you he wasnt fwc, but he said as long as you didnt continue
fishing, and you left immediatly after cutting
your fish it was ok but idk

[tolentino]

Jun 22, 2017 11:07:48 GMT -5 havetofish said:

When there was a cleaning station there, the water source had a heavy sulphur smell and wouldn't use it on the fillets anyway. Don't know what well they must use, but I believe you can still smell it in the bathroom water.

I believed that the very bad smell on your hand after washing with the bathroom water is from the cheap soap they put there. I always try to take handsoap from home when I am going to fish at the piers.

[seabird]

I got one of those small folding picnic tables for Skyway use. Got one for $20 at the flea market. They (skyway) do not make it convenient for the anglers to clean their catch, that's part of the reason I am fishing more elsewhere: Ft.DeSoto, Clearwater, Belleair and other places often have tables and even water to help you clean. I can understand the rule about not cleaning your catch until you are done, to try to cut down on poaching.