frozen cut bait

[cubicleboy]

So I hit the Mississippi from shore last night and my cut bait was still frozen in the cooler. 3 hours later, I had a 27" skinny channel, a 28 inch northern off a half frozen sucker head, and a 20" dogfish. Of course I didn't bring my scale with me or my camera. Have pics on my phone though.

Who knew that they would love frozen bait!

[DTro]

I use frozen creek chubs 75% of the time when I'm fishing for channels.

The key is to freeze them fresh if possible.

[HuskerBen]

Also, don't refreeze it. It becomes a little too soft to keep on a hook.

[JimBuck]

Do you guys usually cut them up before or after freezing? I've been freezing all of my floaters from the bait tank daily and haven't had the time to cut them before freezing. I'd imagine it gets pretty tough to cut at that point unless you bring the bandsaw?

[Shack]

All my cut (unless fresh) is frozen when it hits the water. I have froze who minnows and cut up minnows. I like the cut up ones and portioned cut bags I have.

The whole minnow or cutting up the chunks frozen can be done very easy with a Ginsu knife:

[mplspug]

Ziploc makes a simple vacuum sealed freezer bag. It is like a tire pump. A cheap way to seal the cut bait and prevent freezer burn. Put just a little water in to help seal the fish by surrounding it with a thin layer of ice. Before this thing I would put a lot more water in with the fish making them hard to separate when I went to use them, usually requiring some thawing. Even a little thawing takes away a little of the freshness. Like SB, I like it to go in the water frozen. Lets me keep the bait out there a few extra minutes before having to rebait.

[Shack]

mplspug do you have that Ziploc vacumm sealer? I have seen it and thought about it but wanted to get some feed back if it is good or not.

Price is sure right.

Thanks

[Surreal Deal]

Ziploc makes a simple vacuum sealed freezer bag. It is like a tire pump. A cheap way to seal the cut bait and prevent freezer burn.

Are catfish so picky as to snub a freezer-burned piece of cutbait?

[Surreal Deal]

Do you guys usually cut them up before or after freezing? I've been freezing all of my floaters from the bait tank daily and haven't had the time to cut them before freezing. I'd imagine it gets pretty tough to cut at that point unless you bring the bandsaw?

I cut last weekend's survivors up before freezing. They are in a Quart size Ziplock storage bag (Not vacuum sealed ) tucked inside a brown paper lunch bag on the very bottom compartment in the freezer (My fridge is a side by side).

Written in sharpie on the brown bag is a warning to my wife:

"DO NOT OPEN - GROSS STUFF INSIDE!"

[mplspug]

mplspug do you have that Ziploc vacumm sealer? I have seen it and thought about it but wanted to get some feed back if it is good or not.

Price is sure right.

Thanks

It works awesome, even for people food! My girlfriend laughed at me at first because I was looking for stuff constantly to seal and freeze. I'd get giddy thinking about using it. I always wanted those expensive machines, but well, they are spendy. This works as well as it needs to.