It all depends on how you want the fish to taste.

2 hours ago, WRB said:

You don't want to refrigerate whole dead fish over night with gills and guts, clean them 1st.

Tom

Most refrigerators are not set low enough to properly keep fish, plus every time you open the door you are letting heat in. Ice is your friend. 

My wife and I just caught 2 perch and a bass right before the bottom fell out of the sky....now its dark and still raining.....Im guessing I can ice them down and clean them in the morning......I've never eaten a perch and really want to cook and eat one.

At least gut and gill them before putting them in the fridge/freezer. Don't want anything from the intestines/liver leaking into the flesh.

10 hours ago, Richard Young said:

My wife and I just caught 2 perch and a bass right before the bottom fell out of the sky....now its dark and still raining.....Im guessing I can ice them down and clean them in the morning......I've never eaten a perch and really want to cook and eat one.

That's a bass and 2 drum. 

 

 

I throw whole fish in my fridge overnight all the time and clean them the next day. It coagulates the blood and makes for much easier cleaning process.