Hey just wondering if I go out and catch some kahawai and crabs for bait, how far in advance can I do this, keep them in the freezer, and they still be good bait?
Depends on if you keep it out of the sun if it is a chilly bin or cooler bag with ice packs it should stay reasonably fresh for the day. What I have started to do if it is to be frozen at the end of the day when i get home is vaccum pack it before freezing to prevent freezer burn and air getting to it the vaccum packing machine is the best bit of money I have ever spent originally got it to pack left overs from dinner if there is large amounts left, fish fillets and making boil in bag smoked fish with parsley sauce. But then it escalated to vaccum packing bait so I can actually break down a big bag of pillies or bonito left overs and chuck into freezer to hopefully avoid deterioration from refreezing
I find crabs don't freeze well, they tend to go black and are useless as bait once they've been frozen. However frozen prawns from the supermarket seem to work fine.. Go figure http://www.paniasurfcasting.org http://www.surfcaster.co.nz
I think it is the juice/blood? of the crabs that goes black in the freezer.
I used to freeze whole crabs but they took up a lot of space (and tended to go black after a few weeks). Then I started cutting all the legs and shaking out the "water" inside - they were easier to pack together (less air in the container) and they kept better.
Now, because I bait up without using the legs or any of the shell, after I catch crabs I remove the legs, shell, lungs and guts so I am left with just the meaty bit which I cut in two lengthwise if big enough. I flick all the "water" off (sometimes use a paper towel) and pack them tightly in icecream containers. These WONT go black even after months. But ice will form in the container indicating freezer burn.
I have even gone to the trouble of freezing the meaty bits individually on trays then sprayed them with water and refreezing to put a protective layer of ice over the top. This did help a bit more - but its a bit obsessive.
Having live crabs on the beach for bait is best. I have proved that to my own satisfaction by fishing next to others. Like most frozen bait some of the "flavor" is lost. But I reckon there is another reason. If you regularly extract meat to eat by squeezing it out using a rollingpin or a bottle you know its only possible by leaving it until the crabs have been dead a day - then its easy. And easier for the lemon leaving less time for it to find my hook. Probably easing for the lice to strip the bait too.
on 16/9/2013, 9:24 pm