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I caught a mess of small chubs. looked around on the internet. all I can find is salted and borax. Now Tubedude has given me some of his minnows and they didnt seem to be salted. Hopefully Pat will read this and give me his formula. The ones I got today I just put them in the freezer hope they don't turn to mush. May try the salted way if I can find more they say that they keep for a year. so if anyone saves their minnows let me know what works best for you.
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Me and Hogstalker caught a bunch of Carp minnows last August, we just put them in the freezer and they seemed ok through the Ice fishing season. We used a few a couple weeks ago and they were a little mushy but not too bad. But if there's a better way to keep them, I'd also love to hear about it.
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I will fill the bag of minnows with water untill they are covered. The ice helps protect from freezer burn.
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I vacuum seal them and then freeze them. It’s a little pricey, but it’s worth it in my opinion. They keep really well.
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[quote TrickyFish]I vacuum seal them and then freeze them. It’s a little pricey, but it’s worth it in my opinion. They keep really well.[/quote]
I also do this, but soaking in very high concentration of icy salt water for about an hour then vacuum seal and freeze and you can actually get more than a year.
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well might invest in a vacuum sealer. The wife has been bugging me to get one for meat she always buys the family packs and breaks them down for 3 then puts them in freezer bags. if we dont get them ate soon enough they get freezer burn.
Thanks guys
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[#0000FF]I am attaching my PDF file. This should help. The pics are for carp minnows but it is the same for chubs or suckers or whatever.
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[#0000FF]The key is to either vacuum seal them or add a bit of water and squeeze all the air out to prevent freezer burn. I have used minnows two years after freezing and they are still firm and the fish eat them.[/#0000FF]
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Thank you Pat. the step by step instructions really help
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TD's methods seem great, but in addition to regular salt you CAN buy and actual meat cure at any supermarket called "Morton Tender-Quick" It's for stuff like making corned beef and sausage, etc. I use it for venison jerky and sausage making.
It contains regular salt, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, and some sugar. The nitrate/nitrites are what turns cured meats that pink color and gives jerky a chewy, rather than dry, crunchy texture.
Preserving little perch pieces, WB bellies and whole small chubs in this stuff has given me good results. I salt em with it, then freeze them. It probably changes the flavor a bit for the target fish, but toughens them up and counteracts some of the softening and degradation that happens so fast after they die (in the case of minnows.)
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