Toledo water intake and west ( perch)

[Fishious Rumors]

Spreaders, no bling, 2cranks off bottom, key is bait. Shiners rule..... Have been getting about half shiners to chubs at bait shop. Sat was last one to get minnows at B and Ds, she gave me alot of dead ones, but they were shiners. And caught fish, actually I got my limit on sat with them forgot to post it. I freeze my extra shiners from July when their abundant, freezer bag no water, put in ice with fish till I need them. Which I did on sat, ran out of bait with 5 to go. Was cutting them in 3s, frozen larger shiners. Last fish caught I said what the hell put 2 large ones on and caught a12incher to make my limit.

Good to know i can freeze my shiners! Thanks for the tip!

[wkndwarrior63]

Frozen only good for one bite, usually lose bait faster than fresh. Throw away after thaw, they get mushy. I use sandwich bags or quart bags if alot. Frozen doesn't seem to bother fish though.

[wkndwarrior63]

What a day, went east 22ft of water off wards canal. Nonstop action from first line in water . Biggest fish was 11inches, handful of farm animals, 60 perch in 3 1/2 hours. Son and I both lost a jumbo at boat side..... why,why, oh well. Great shiners today from B and Ds, no chubs all emeralds. Good fishing guys

[Ted33]

Frozen only good for one bite, usually lose bait faster than fresh. Throw away after thaw, they get mushy. I use sandwich bags or quart bags if alot. Frozen doesn't seem to bother fish though.

For what it's worth, I soak my unused emeralds in cheap vodka overnight then drain and freeze them in ziplock sandwich bags. I used a bag of them yesterday. The perch love them and they don't get mushy at all, even after being thawed out.

[wkndwarrior63]

Mine when I use are still semi frozen, (keep in cooler with ice for fish till I need them) ,if their bitting good more like a shiner popsicle, cools them down in that warm water. Yesterday the perch were very warm too. Your idea sounds like it would be good for those perch looking to have a good time and get rowdy. Lol

[badboards]

Vodka doesn't freeze so wouldn't that defeat the purpose of putting them in the freezer. Just a thought 🤔

[Ted33]

Correct, they don't freeze solid and that's the reason they don't get mushy. If you freeze them in water they will freeze solid, and the expanding ice crystals ruin the flesh (ice expands - that's why ice floats). The vodka preserves them and yet keeps them from freezing solid. They maintain their texture and stay on the hook just fine.

The key is to soak them in the vodka overnight. The vodka displaces most of the water from the minnow. Drain them well before you bag and freeze them. Putting them in the freezer keeps them from rotting until the next perch season.

[badboards]

I'll keep a container with vodka in it and as they die I'll toss them in. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[wkndwarrior63]

My frozen shiners are alive when I put in bag, no water. Fully thawed I'll throw away. Have 3 bags in freezer now, sat had almost 2scoops leftover and alive. When I go out by myself I'll get one scoop, and take a bag with me. With the price of shiners it's worth it to me. When it's my son and me , we get 3dzn and if we run out we're done. But we also cut are shiners.

[badboards]

That's a good idea. At least you won't run out of Emeralds doing that. I'll give it a try.