bait freezing

[Surfcastinglife]

do u guys just pack the bait in a plastic bag? would me using my mom's vacum save keep it fresher not sure if she'd like that but oh well she'll deal also where do u guys reccomend i buy a bait freezer from? anythin in the $100-$300 price range

[Notaro]

check out the thefishingfreak's post on brining baits and use it and then apply the vaccum sealer. it would save a lot of money.

[CANAL RAT]

i take my mack,herring,pogie and put them in a zip lock bag and take a thick thick!! freezer zip lock bag and double bag them squize the air out of the bags

[fishweewee]

use plugs

[Surfcastinglife]

u know ive never ever in my life used a plug/lure :P always bait

[Westport Jeff]

Try the Sears outlet in Fall River for a freezer. The have scratched and damaged units.

I just bought one for the garage and it still had a warranty.

[Surfcastinglife]

fall river's a bit of a hike from medford ;P ill see thx though

[Westport Jeff]

There is also a sears outlet in Shrewsbury.

As for storing bait, I use zip lock bags. This year I covered them in Koser salt before freezing, but I did not see any difference.

I feel the key to having good bait is taking care of them when they are caught. Mine go into the cooloer on ice, into sip lock bags and into the freezer.

I frequent a bait shop in Berkley that gets fresh pogies from RI. Same deal, on ice and into the freezer.

If you don't take care of them they get mushy and will fall off the hooks. Further, stripers don't like old mushy bait.

Hope to get a vacuum sealer next year.

[ThrowingTimber]

sorry wrong thread

[STEVE IN MASS]

Short of the vacuum sealer.........fill your sink with water....put your bait in zip-lock bags, and seal all but the corner.....then carefully submerge the bags into the water, keeping the unsealed corner out of it. This forces out all the air. Seal the bag the rest of the way, remove, dry the bag, and freeze.

Works almost as well as the vacuum thing, and for bait, it is just as good.

I also freeze eating fillets this way...........

[KLMulder]

I buoght a scratch and dent freez from sears last year, sh!t the bed on me this spring after I packed way all my herring. They said sorry you will have to buy another one I went to BJ'S and got one for about $80 less than sears and its great. I vac packed all my bait this year and so far it is much better than it has ever been doing it any other way.

[Surfcastinglife]

steve great idea! ill be doin that thx