So I was prepping my live bait storage this weekend for a season that "shall not be named" yet and I was thinking about my bait situation given I will now have to travel a lot farther to get it (sigh...). My lack of any luck fishing on the Rideau this weekend prompted my efforts.
I have frozen minnows in the past and they turn to mush when used. I searched online on tricks for dealing with this and all I could find were elaborate salting techniques. Given that I would rather pickle cucumbers than minnows, does anyone have any quick tricks to preserve or firm up a thawed minnow?
Forgive my early thoughts of hard water but it was pretty desolate out there this weekend for me at least.
Rod
Frozen minnows tricks?
Re: Frozen minnows tricks?
It certainly doesn't take much time to salt minnows, nor does it need be elaborate. First, the main criteria is that the minnow must never freeze solid, or it will be mushy. The trick is to use just enough salt to keep them from freezing, but not so much that they get dried out and shriveled with no bellies left. Unless maybe you're using small ones on spreaders for Whities , or just need heads for your trebles on jigs. So in the freezer you want them to feel a little "rubbery" or flexible, not hard. I like them with nice and flat with a good tail preferable.
A season switch here lol. A good gang of us used to fish Kipawa for a week every year. Maybe Pemiche on weekends too. We all pulled Big Hammers and a threaded minnow for Greys, even off the riggers with mono. Ever since Quebec banned transporting live bait we had no choice but to either buy minnows on the Ontario side and kill them before going across, or salt our favorite bait anyway, Emerald Shiners. Real hard to get in the summer around here anyway, so I would get up to 20 dozen from Serge in late winter or when he had his best batch. I would put the fresh minnows in a ziplock with lots of coarse salt for a few hours, then take them out, wipe them off, and lay them flat with some, not tons, of fresh salt mostly in my case between layers of heavy paper to keep their profile good for trolling. Then each boat would get their order for the week, usually 4 doz.
Hope this helps. I know you're freezing for winter use, but not much diff really. You'll figure it out...
One last tip for ice fishing for Lakers in shallower water and if things are slow and there is no current. Use salted minnow pieces of any type that you harvest in the summer/fall. Chum with pieces of your seconds and then drop a nicer minnow to bottom on a light light with a slip sinker or even a split shot.
Cheers
A season switch here lol. A good gang of us used to fish Kipawa for a week every year. Maybe Pemiche on weekends too. We all pulled Big Hammers and a threaded minnow for Greys, even off the riggers with mono. Ever since Quebec banned transporting live bait we had no choice but to either buy minnows on the Ontario side and kill them before going across, or salt our favorite bait anyway, Emerald Shiners. Real hard to get in the summer around here anyway, so I would get up to 20 dozen from Serge in late winter or when he had his best batch. I would put the fresh minnows in a ziplock with lots of coarse salt for a few hours, then take them out, wipe them off, and lay them flat with some, not tons, of fresh salt mostly in my case between layers of heavy paper to keep their profile good for trolling. Then each boat would get their order for the week, usually 4 doz.
Hope this helps. I know you're freezing for winter use, but not much diff really. You'll figure it out...
One last tip for ice fishing for Lakers in shallower water and if things are slow and there is no current. Use salted minnow pieces of any type that you harvest in the summer/fall. Chum with pieces of your seconds and then drop a nicer minnow to bottom on a light light with a slip sinker or even a split shot.
Cheers
Smitty
Straight shooter
Straight shooter
Re: Frozen minnows tricks?
I heard windshield washer works, anybody try it.