Salted/Frozen Shiners

[Hoytman86]

Sorry I didn't see your post sooner, but yes I use the frozen shiners from Rickards bait whenever we go for perch and we always do just as good with them as we did with live shiners that always seem to die anyway. Like you said, we buy some in case we want to go perchin after we catch some eyes too! Much more convenient!

I'm not real sure about 70 in a cup.....never really tried to get a count but that seems high.

Let us know how you do today!

Thanks for the info. I'll post reports if we even make it. Of all the days, today is the day that some power trim fluid decides to start leaking from the OptiMax. That 70 per package was what it said on Bass Pro's website for the small minnows. I'm going to stop at Field & Stream and see what they have if we do end up going. Plus they're the only place I know of that almost always has .22 ammo so I need to stop anyways.

[Zwis]

I use frozen minnows when the live ones are hard to find during full moons. If I have a decent supply left after fishing, I store them in quart zip locks, dust them with Borax soap, and freeze them for future use. They have caught well many times.

[fishin2]

Richards has frozen shiners by the cup.q

[rodnut]

Are you using any salt with the Borax soap? Does the Borax do better than just salt?

[imrsmk]

Sorry for the delayed response, but took the family on vacation for a couple days.

I take the leftover minnows and drain the water off first. Then lay them single layer on a sheet of foil or waxpaper. Spinkle salt over them and let them set for a day. (don't try to roll them around in the salt, or they will break apart.) Next day, gently turn them over and salt again. Allow them to dry until they just start to get a little hard/leathery. Gather them up and place in a freezer ziplock bag and place in the freezer.

As far as smell, if you just freeze them, without drying them, then they will smell more when they start to thaw, but when dried first, they don't get very strong, IMO.

John