Not all will agree with me, but my choice would be to release the fish rather than portage them -- unless you are carrying ice with you.

If you're trolling Batch, you're more likely to catch lakers, than waldos.

Here is what we do. Filet the fish ASAP on an open reef or rock point. Wash fillets completely. Pat dry. Put them in a 1 gallon zip. Put zip in a canvas bag, wet it, and place under seat of canoe. Before arriving at portage, rewet if needed, then at portage, put it in the top of a pack. At end of portage, repeat rewetting & place under seat again, until ready for use. At camp, tie a piece of rope 25' or so to bag, and drop in deep water offshore, tying other end to a tree or rock until ready to cook.

I find myself resonating most with PJ and Preacher, namely throw em back for all the reasons stated not the least of which is if I'm going to the trouble to catch em fresh out of the lake then I ought to eat em fresh too, otherwise what's the point (eating wise.)  I guess I'm used to fishing in more pressurized lakes where the one I catch in the morning may well be the only one I catch all day.  Appreciate the input, thanks.

D
I've never portaged fish from lake to lake.  There is enough stuff to carry without worrying about dying fish.
I thought everyone always brings enough food for some meals without fish, so it's not worth the hassle to me.
But if it's been a horrible trip fishing wise, and I've only had fish to eat once and it is getting toward the end of the trip, it might be tempting to fillet them up prior to portaging.

pretty much exactly what old_salt said. batch trolling leads to lakers or pike way more than walleyes.

jesse is a guaranteed bet to get walleye and in great numbers with minimal effort. portaging a walleye meal into jesse isnt worth the effort. bringing in a laker though is worth it because jesse doesnt have trout. go with the fillet and keep them in a plastic bag surrounded by a wet towel. we tend to favor a lemon juice + salt marinade instead of dry, but its a taste based preference.

Wow! All these responses for something so simple. And all good answers too!

Last year I overnighted a breakfast walleye on cord 'n stringer for morning but got up and found it was a better day to travel. What to do with the fish is what I wondered while packing up. Letting it go would be cruel and illegal. I ended up filleting and bagged it with just enough water to keep it wet and kept it cooled in with the cheese and sausage. This was after a week in august so the cheese was rather oily by then. The water aspect was simply what I was taught.

That fish was fine 12 hours later and on Jesse no less. I don't usually paddle that far in a day but being a day ahead I poked around not having any real plan and eventually wondered how I'd dispose of it if my nose said no way.

Jesse was empty but I took the last viable site so I was tired and hungry. Setting up I wondered ... I didn't really trust it. My nose said it smelled like water. I wasn't a believer. It didn't wiggle as I breaded it. My mouth said MMMMM, buttered crunches, different texture ... tummy was silent beyond thanks. I don't remember any fish meals after that one but none were better and I was kinda worried about that one.

My mouth is watering now - damnit.

I've never considered traveling type legalities within the park. I'd assume any fish kept wouldn't exceed the possession limit on any one species anyway but I personally wouldn't take any fish out of Pickerel and put it in another lake anymore. I don't even know what Spiny Water Fleas do but I know their presence has been confirmed in Pickerel.

I vote for D, throw it back, especially if you are going to Jesse, plenty of meat holes there.

I think I misspoke. We actually tie or carabiner the fish-laden canvas bag to the top or outside of the pack. We have also hand-carried it. Since the fish is actually sealed inside a zip bag, there is little chance of the pack becoming contaminated.

While salt would also work, we don't do it (have never tried it, actually) because of what it would do to the fish and my low salt diet.