>>2701266Trout in specific are really bad fish for stringers. They die quickly on them and if it's warm out they can go bad. For trout, I always hit them over the head (a heavy pliers does the job, rocks work in a pinch but it can be messy) then cut the gills. I bring a scissors for it but a knife works fine too. The pic shows the proper spot, an artery runs through there. Once the blood stops gushing I give it a rinse then place it on ice. When shorefishing I bring along a small cooler bag for this.
All fish can be improved by bleeding, but it matters most in trout and salmon in my experience. Otherwise they bleed a crazy amount while cleaning them and the meat even has blood in it. For larger non-trout fish I take the time to kill and bleed them almost always, but for panfish I mostly just throw them on ice. I personally do not gut fish ever on the water, I feel like the potential contamination from cutting it open is more of a risk than leaving the guts for awhile. I used to gut trout as I kept them, but I never noticed it making a difference.
