Salting and Flavouring frozen Minnows?

[sparkster]

I know there are some who salt their frozen minnows. If so, do you think its worth it for Walley and Burbot?

But even further, has anyone ever salted and flavored their minnows and then freeze again? A buddy through a another guy told him he has had success with adding things like garlic, curry and other strong spices.
Has anyone tried this? Do you have a recipe you like?

[Coiloil37]

In my opinion bait makes or breaks the trip and there is nothing worse then mushy bait.
The bait gets mushy from the water in its cells expanding when it’s frozen and rupturing the cell. You thaw the bait out and it’s soft. The solution is to brine the bait BEFORE it’s frozen to dehydrate it’s cells prior to freezing the first time.

I catch all my own bait. It goes straight into a brine of saltwater and sodium bicarb (baking soda) and ice. I freeze my ice in 4 liter jugs so the melting ice doesn’t water down my brine. The brine is made with saltwater, a few handfuls of sea salt and a small handful of bicarb. Bait gets soaked about six to eight hours then I vac seal it and put it into my bait freezer. The bicarb sets the scales, prevents bacterial growth and preserves the bait fishes colour. The salt dehydrates the fish to toughen it up and prevent the cellular damage when it freezes. When I thaw my baitfish out to troll them they look as good as the minute I pulled them out of the water and they don’t stink. They’ll also troll around at 6-7 knots without washing out until they get hit.
When I’m in a pinch I’ll buy bait but the quality is always poor, they smell fishy and their soft. I also don’t catch as much with it. I’ve tried brining and salting after thawing it out but the damage is already done and it’s not very effective. I’ve gone as far as putting them in salt and covering them for hours and it still doesn’t repair the damage that’s already done.

I’ve never flavoured them with anything else so no opinion on that.

When I bought the minnows your talking about the trick was to find a brand and store that sold “quality” bait. The Cambodian tire in red deer always had mushy bait, the sportsmens den didn’t and neither did the gas station in Sylvan lake but they still weren’t anything like the quality you can achieve by doing it yourself.

[akn]

I cover them in kosher salt for 5 hours. Definitely a lot firmer than store bought.

[pikergolf]

I always salt minnows I catch. Mix fresh minnows with lots of coarse salt, put in a colander, place colander in or over a pot to catch drippings and refrigerate overnight. Then vacuum seal and freeze. Keeps for a couple of years.

[Wes_G]

Why would you "flavor" them?

The only reason for salting is to toughen them so they don't fall off your hook as easy. Spices do not naturally occur in a lake so I can see no reason why it would improve your success with them. I guess if you ever get hungry from not catching anything with your flavored bait it may make it taste better as a snack though.

[Elchinodiablo]

Sorry if this is a little off the topic but do you think that the temperature of a minnow or smelt make the fish bite differently. Often I put a frozen or mostly frozen minnow on during ice season and may get short hits or lippers. But in the summer the minnow is usually quite thawed out amd I seem to get more aggressive and commited takes.

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[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Elchinodiablo

Sorry if this is a little off the topic but do you think that the temperature of a minnow or smelt make the fish bite differently. Often I put a frozen or mostly frozen minnow on during ice season and may get short hits or lippers. But in the summer the minnow is usually quite thawed out amd I seem to get more aggressive and commited takes.

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Has a lot more to do with the water temp than the state of your bait. Cold water makes for lethargic fish.

[Canadamanada]

Salt and garlic. Or, alternatively salt and garlic infused oil.

[walleye guy]

since you guys are on the topic of minnows, has anyone had luck with buying decent minnows in Edmonton lately? Not those mushy Evergreen emerald shiners.
Does anyone use and had luck with the preserved ones you can get at Crappy tire?

[Red Bullets]

Au natural flavor is probably the best. If I was going to ad flavor I would use anise seed oil sparingly. It is sort of a universal animal and fish attractant. Smells like licorice. Been used for salmon and lake trout fishing for a long time. I used to use it at different sets when I was trapping fur too.

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by walleye guy

since you guys are on the topic of minnows, has anyone had luck with buying decent minnows in Edmonton lately? Not those mushy Evergreen emerald shiners.
Does anyone use and had luck with the preserved ones you can get at Crappy tire?

Stopped by the Fishin Hole the other day. They had minnows, but they looked terrible. Freezer burned junk.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Wes_G

Why would you "flavor" them?

The only reason for salting is to toughen them so they don't fall off your hook as easy. Spices do not naturally occur in a lake so I can see no reason why it would improve your success with them. I guess if you ever get hungry from not catching anything with your flavored bait it may make it taste better as a snack though.

Not sure what a fish wants nor when but frozen bait falls apart fast, if I could buy it not frozen I would then add salt and then freeze now about the flavour thing man a store bought pepperoni on a hook sitting on the bottom has produced results with many game fish.
If I didn’t see it I would not believe it!


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[akn]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Not sure what a fish wants nor when but frozen bait falls apart fast, if I could buy it not frozen I would then add salt and then freeze now about the flavour thing man a store bought pepperoni on a hook sitting on the bottom has produced results with many game fish.
If I didn’t see it I would not believe it!


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Funny you should mention that. I tried the pepperoni thing and got no hits. I know there were fish in the area because I saw a lot on cam, got them on other lures.

[LKP.80cal]

Had good luck using salted minnows for burbs on Sylvan the other weekend. Caught on automatic jaw jackers in 20-22 fow. As already mentioned unsalted usually results in squishy mushy bait that just falls apart.

[stubblejumper01]

Originally Posted by LKP.80cal

Had good luck using salted minnows for burbs on Sylvan the other weekend. Caught on automatic jaw jackers in 20-22 fow. As already mentioned unsalted usually results in squishy mushy bait that just falls apart.

Yeah some are so bad you should ram a toothpick through it to give it shape

[trigger7mm]

When I get frozen minnows, I let then thaw out, then lay them individually on a paper towel. I leave them for a couple of hours so they dry out a bit. Then I cover them with coarse salt and leave them for about 3 more hours. I then shake off as much of the salt as I can. Vacuum pack and freeze. This is the best way I have come up with, and there are days when I think they work better than the frozen and thawed ones. I’ve caught a lot of fish on them, especially walleyes.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

When I get frozen minnows, I let then thaw out, then lay them individually on a paper towel. I leave them for a couple of hours so they dry out a bit. Then I cover them with coarse salt and leave them for about 3 more hours. I then shake off as much of the salt as I can. Vacuum pack and freeze. This is the best way I have come up with, and there are days when I think they work better than the frozen and thawed ones. I’ve caught a lot of fish on them, especially walleyes.

Good call. Gonna try this. I’ve taken the tubs, poured at the juice. Mix it with tomato and it is a helluva stand in for Clamato. Then I pack em in the tub with pickling salt. Your method will work better. Thanks.

[PerchBuster]

Originally Posted by walleye guy

since you guys are on the topic of minnows, has anyone had luck with buying decent minnows in Edmonton lately? Not those mushy Evergreen emerald shiners.
Does anyone use and had luck with the preserved ones you can get at Crappy tire?

Last winter when there was no bait except smelts I used some of those preserved Shiners from CTire up at Slave and they worked ok in a pinch. I took them out of the package and salted them too. Used them on a jigging spoon with a stinger hook in the tail. It was a light bite and you had to make it appear it was trying to get away when you saw a fish come in on your flasher. As long as you slowly reeled it up while twitching you could get them to follow it and nip at the tail. Most were hooked on the stinger. Hope it helps, tightlines!

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by PerchBuster

Last winter when there was no bait except smelts I used some of those preserved Shiners from CTire up at Slave and they worked ok in a pinch. I took them out of the package and salted them too. Used them on a jigging spoon with a stinger hook in the tail. It was a light bite and you had to make it appear it was trying to get away when you saw a fish come in on your flasher. As long as you slowly reeled it up while twitching you could get them to follow it and nip at the tail. Most were hooked on the stinger. Hope it helps, tightlines!

Thx for this tip.

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Au natural flavor is probably the best. If I was going to ad flavor I would use anise seed oil sparingly. It is sort of a universal animal and fish attractant. Smells like licorice. Been used for salmon and lake trout fishing for a long time. I used to use it at different sets when I was trapping fur too.

OP ..If you send me your address, I'll send you a few Baitfish to try. They are from my old Baitfish Company that has been sold.. www.baitrix.com. If you want a scent or a mask to try, there is a guy down east that sells pure Herring Oil called. ..K9 Shine. Anise Oil is good as well. Google is your friend.