preserving minnows

[D.D.E.]

Has any one tried using borax and kosher salt for preserving minnows ? if so how did it work.
I watched some videos on it and it looked like the minnows were pretty dried up. maybe that is fine?
Thanks, Dennis

[captain tacky]

works well with salt , let them dry out on wife's cookie grates!! for a short time before freezing, than only put enough in baggie that you are planning on using put them in and shake them up well to mix!, can only freeze once! we always bring home the ones we bought the day we fish and freeze. .

[wakina]

I use 91% isopropyl alcohol, Just drain them and put them in a plastic zip lock bag and cover them with the alcohol squeeze out the air and zip it shut. They will cure out fast and you can keep them in the refrigerator. They toughen up and become a little leathery and they stay on the hook really well. The isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient in the dry gas that you buy to take moisture out of your gas tank, it pulls the moisture out of the minnows and that is how it preserves them. Give it a try with a few and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Keep them on ice while fishing and put what's left back in the freezer or refrigerator and save for your next trip.

[D.D.E.]

i use 91% isopropyl alcohol, just drain them and put them in a plastic zip lock bag and cover them with the alcohol squeeze out the air and zip it shut. They will cure out fast and you can keep them in the refrigerator. They toughen up and become a little leathery and they stay on the hook really well. The isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient in the dry gas that you buy to take moisture out of your gas tank, it pulls the moisture out of the minnows and that is how it preserves them. Give it a try with a few and i think you will be pleasantly surprised. Keep them on ice while fishing and put what's left back in the freezer or refrigerator and save for your next trip.

plus it makes the fish easier to catch when they get soused

[Moldman]

We also use the alcohol method but buy wintergreen scent. If you have some old cheap vodka around it works just as well. We also preserve leeches this way, they work GREAT and catch fish just like the live ones do...

[sloch24]

We've been salting them for years now. We just keep them in a zip-loc bag and bring a little lunch size cooler filled with ice when we fish. We've never had a problem re-freezing because if you use enough salt, they don't really freeze solid anyway.

I'm going to try the alcohol method though. That will keep the salt off of my reels. I have one reel that has been damaged due to the salt. The chrome was eaten right off the handle!