freezing shinners

[wayne johnson]

I just started freezing shinners this year, and want some options on best way everyone has, so far I try drying and put on cookie sheet put in freeze for day, cut up big ones and keep small one whole and put in small plastic container,second way I try is same as above but salted them and put in plastic bags,
What is best way to do?? with full moons in aug, sept and oct coming up don"t want to be short handed.

[maul35]

I freeze mine in corn meal. Seems to work real well.

[LEfriend]

As I posted on another report I have been salting mine in a brine solution. Salt them down good, put in jar with tight lid and put in fridge. Every day pour off liquid till you get no more. Just keep in fridge till ready to use and on ice when you take them out. You can store a whole bunch in a plastic Jiff peanut butter jar and they keep well. May not be any better than freezing, but this avoids the problem of freezing and thawing and refreezing them if you take them out on lake, but don't use them. Dave Kelch of Sea Grant has a good post on how to brine them on the OGF site.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/commu...d.php?t=155184

I have found key to keeping them from getting soft is to never let them get hot. I ice them down live in plastic bag till I get them home and salted and put them right in the fridge.

Last week was out trolling worm harnesses. It was slow. Thought, well wonder if 'eye would hit harness with a shiner? What the heck, put one of these on each hook on a two hook harness, and trolled quite a while. Didn't get an 'eye hit, but did catch two keeper perch! The shiners held up fine, even trolling with them.

[LEfriend]

I freeze mine in corn meal. Seems to work real well.

Curious...elaborate a little on how you do that and how it works?

[troy1976]

as long as they stay cold I have had good luck just throwing them in the freezer in a plastic bag.

[rather be casting]

the odnr or the fishieres dept. did a test last year perch fishing with live , frozen, brine & artificial shiners. live were the best(big surprise), frozen was 2nd, brine third & nothing on the artificial. can't remember the number difference but frozen beat brine by a decent amount. just something to ponder.

[LtDan]

After a day on the water the shinners always die. Even with a arerator they seem to look soft and white. Would it be better to put in a plastic zip lock keep on ice and only take out what you need. Then at the end of the day maybe they will look better and then freeze.

[finnadict]

Here is a recipe I have used. Seems to work better than frozen shiners. At least for me. It can be completed in one day.http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/ti...ed_minnows.htm

[mazhiwei85st]

Curious...elaborate a little on how you do that and how it works?