bait longevity question

[rcbbracing]

I went and thrownetted some suckers yesterday and scaled, filleted and chunked them. I went to vacuum seal them to freeze them and the sealer broke after the first bag. So i did the only thing I could and dipped the bags in water to force out as much air as possible and zipped them shut but obviously kept all water out...i prefer fresh bait but short notice trips its helpful to have on hand...they didn't look bad and I've done this in the past but was curious how long I should expect them to last in those bags?

[mmagis]

That’s tough to answer. Another thing you can do is to fill the bags with water and freeze them that way. I do that with fillets I intend to eat.

[Skyline1506]

yea we have done this with bait as well keeps everything more intact i feel

[rcbbracing]

So I would've been better off filling them with water you think?

[rockbass]

I started putting some water in with shad when I freeze it. It has seemed to help with the bait being better after I thaw it.

[katfish]

I don't use cut baits but I have seen similar threads about keeping baits on blue cat forums.

The big river boyz spend big bucks in winter to go catch and keep skipjacks for blue cat tournaments and fishing, They have experimented and the consensus is that bait keeps best with the following method.

Keep skipjack/shad cool after catching them. Wipe dry with paper towels and seal in vaccuum sealer. Baits will be firmer for fishing.

Don't run vaccuum till auto stop because this will pull juices from baits. Just run till bags form around baits save room between baits to be able to cut just the baits you need for each trip.

Cast netting shad in the Fall is more effective because you can net larger shad in bigger concentrations. Skipjack are caught near powerplant discharges in winter.

[Seanstone]

I have seen, too many times, fresh bait out fish frozen cut bait. So we rarely keep frozen bait. It may take a few extra hours and a little gas money, but its worth it to catch fish rather than meeting the skunk.

I believe this years catfish insider mentions using a salt brine (using canning salt/ salt without iodine) to keep frozen bait. I think that they also scale the skip-jack or shad. Some of the blue cat guides favored the frozen bait over fresh. You might look into that.

[Catfishrollo]

I prefer fresh over frozen also. But, to answer your question.... I freeze shad also, so I have bait always on hand if I get alittle time here or there to sneak out, and don't have extra time to spend chasing fresh bait. I throw em on ice till I get home, then use 1 gal. Ziplock freezer bags. I don't add water, nor rinse them off! I leave the slime on them to help preserve the scent. Bag 10 or so, depending on the size of them, push the air out and seal. I then place em in a second bag and do the same to make sure if the first bag leaks before frozen, it don't stink the freezer up... Causing another reason for my wife to give me an ass chewing! It isn't fresh bait , but I have still had sucess on em this way... Goodluck.... rollo

[gotmehooked]

anybody try to keep gizzard shad a couple days? I had them and a few blue gill in my bait tank and the shad died and the gills remained alive. Don't know if it has something to do with their slime coat but I did de-chlorinate the water.

[Seanstone]

Shad are nearly impossible to keep alive. It takes a round tank to keep them from beating their heads against the walls. Then you'll need a good filter because they put off crazy amounts of ammonia and scales. Even then its hard to keep them for longer than a few hours.

[gotmehooked]

thanks, the tank is round but they still didn't last. Guess I'll just stick to gills and suckers.