View Full Version : Question Shipping Fresh Fish Home
USN8303
04-01-2011, 05:26 PM
Should I be fortunate enough to catch some good tasting fish during my visit to Key West next week, are there businesses that will pack and ship the fish back to my home state at reasonable cost?
Perchguy
04-04-2011, 08:51 AM
When I went last year, I just brought the fish home with me on the plane. I froze the fish in vacuum bags. Then I waited until near the end of the trip to see how much fish I had to bring back and bought a cooler the appropriate size and packed it with dry ice. If I recall correctly, the airlines allow you to check a cooler with up to 5 lbs of dry ice. You just have to put a tag on the cooler that says it contains dry ice. Fish were frozen rock solid when I got home and this included an overnight stay at a hotel prior to our departure. I looked into the cost of having UPS ship them overnight for my upcoming trip but it was something like $100 for a 25 lb cooler so I am just going to bring them back with me on the plane like last year. If all goes well, my back will be sore when I get home from lugging a huge cooler full of fish!
guanacay
04-04-2011, 11:40 AM
Any time we have flown we have packed them in a cooler and checked the cooler as checked luggage. Coming home from Miami, I didn't even bother with the dry ice. I just used a bunch of freezer packs. The fish were still frozen when we got home 7 or 8 hours later. I do this for the 23 hour drive as well.
As far as a place that ships them, I thought I heard that Keys Fishery in Marathon does this. If you're driving from KW to Miami or Ft Lauderdale, you'll pass them on your way.
USN8303
04-09-2011, 08:12 PM
Thanks for the info. We ended up with a few really big tarpon, a nice barrucuda and a bunch of non-keeper smaller snapper and grouper, etc. So....no food....but we had a blast.
Perchguy
04-11-2011, 09:25 AM
Glad to hear you had a great time. I head to Marathon on Saturday for a week. Can't wait to get there!
uncljohn
04-11-2011, 04:05 PM
I used frozen boxes of spinach to pack my fish fillets a few years back, worked great. Just got back myself from a week of back-country camping/fishing but we fished for dinner so nothing came home.
Perchguy
04-11-2011, 04:24 PM
I have to ask the obvious question. Why spinach?
uncljohn
04-12-2011, 08:14 AM
b/c it freezes into solid blocks while something like beans has lots of air pockets...plus I like spinach.
I have to ask the obvious question. Why spinach?
:hysterical: Because he couldn't find any frozen Collards....Duh..:hysterical:
b/c it freezes into solid blocks while something like beans has lots of air pockets...plus I like spinach.
So funny uncljohn, I'm heading down next month and will keep your tip in mind.
I'll need a big cooler cause I like Watermelon,so maybe I'll just use ice.:D