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Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:54 pm
by KgWhiting
Hi all how does everyone storing bait when wanting to keep it fresh. I do a lot of gummy fishing and will catch fish like pike and wrap them in glad wrap or vac seal after capture and keep them in the fridge till I use them. Will keep them in the fridge for a week some times as I don’t like freezing as I find the meat goes mushy. Keen to hear how others store bait like salmon, pike, slimies when wanting to keep it fresh and how long u think these would last in the fridge.
Cheers kg
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 4:52 am
by denis barden
Ting Bait
I catch squid clean them spotless cut into large strips put in bait freezer for 2 days.Get them out then bash it to make it soggy while it is still frozen.
Then cut into small strips for bait.Put into plastic containers and place into freezer .
Get it out and put it into fridge the night before Fushin'.
They last a few weks in the freezer till they turn yellow-Then I throw them out or feed the Fush
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:18 am
by Sebb
I'm terrible at keeping bait. I just put them in plastic bag and freeze it. Defrost the day before.
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:08 pm
by Andrews
I mainly freeze squid wings, heads, tentacles and other smaller mixed species for bait, working towards zero waste. Anything that's not bait becomes burley. Squid I find you can re-freeze a few times without a loss in quality, while fish will become mushy. Water in the cells expand when frozen break apart the tissue structure resulting in the mushy texture. Vacuum sealing will help prevent freeze burn caused by water exposure to cold air.
I freeze my bait whole, squid with membrane on and fish with skin on. Fish you will get a split gut due to the expanding, but that hasn't seemed to affect the quality or performance. I use small Tupperware containers as they're reusable and food safe. I separate my bait into portions and allow thawing on the pier. My Esky keeps the bait cool, and squid I like to firm up by drying out a little. Mackerel I like to use as bait and burley, sometimes you need something oily.
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:57 pm
by cobby
Just fish for longer. Head out earlier, target the bait first, catch a couple and then go to preferred Gummy mark over the preferred tide range if you're concerned about freshness. Sitting in a fridge whether vac sealed or not for days on end still doesn't preserve a fish and prevent the decay that gets to work not long after rigor mortis.
If you're concerned about soft fish like Pike or Slimeys turning to mushy **** when filleting after freezing just cut the fish into cutlets and pin once as that helps avoid the mush
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:41 am
by cheaterparts
My go to bait for most species is banana prawn and in fact not many species in Westernport don’t take it. I freeze it and refreeze it 5 or 6 times with no real drop of in bite rate . It gets softer as it get older and refrozen a lot of times but still catches fish. It normally out fishes any other bait in the shallow areas for gummies Cut up smaller about 8 to 10 baits out of 1 prawn for whiting and other smaller species Snapper takes it in both bays so do Flatties. As for squid I just freeze it down and if I’m keeping it longer add some salt water to a zip lock bag and put the squid it that sealing it with the air removed the salt water stops freezer burn
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 2:04 pm
by DougieK
cobby wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:57 pm
Just fish for longer. Head out earlier, target the bait first,
This is solid advice.
Also, if you cna't do that, aldi vac sealer is your friend. Best $30 ever.
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:07 am
by Robbie1950
cheaterparts wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:41 am
My go to bait for most species is banana prawn and in fact not many species in Westernport don’t take it. I freeze it and refreeze it 5 or 6 times with no real drop of in bite rate . It gets softer as it get older and refrozen a lot of times but still catches fish. It normally out fishes any other bait in the shallow areas for gummies Cut up smaller about 8 to 10 baits out of 1 prawn for whiting and other smaller species Snapper takes it in both bays so do Flatties. As for squid I just freeze it down and if I’m keeping it longer add some salt water to a zip lock bag and put the squid it that sealing it with the air removed the salt water stops freezer burn
Very interesting... It's not often you hear anyone fishing with prawns for bait down south. I have half a bag of Banana prawns in my freezer that I was meant to eat months ago, might give them a crack on my next trip!
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:14 am
by davek
Re: Storing bait in fridge
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2020 3:48 pm
by cheaterparts
Robbie1950 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:07 am
cheaterparts wrote: ↑Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:41 am
My go to bait for most species is banana prawn and in fact not many species in Westernport don’t take it.
Very interesting... It's not often you hear anyone fishing with prawns for bait down south. I have half a bag of Banana prawns in my freezer that I was meant to eat months ago, might give them a crack on my next trip!
Robbie - most of the guys i fish with use them when you get 8 to 10 baits per prawn for whiting thats a lot of baits per KG and at about $ 17 per Kg it's probably cheaper than the fuel used to catch squid for free
I even get 2 baits per prawn for gummies and it's so easy to catch theres a Coles just down the street