Freeze suckers

What’s the best way to preserve some bigger suckers for a month or 2.
Have some 8 inch suckers I like like to save for cut bait.
Thanks John

Salt, water and borax. mason jar in the fridge.
Look up how to preserve trout and salmon eggs/spawn. That should give you some new ideas to try.

There’s a box of brussel sprouts that have been in the back of freezer for years now. If the FW knew it was full of dead bait it wouldn’t go over well.

Preservation is less important than concealment. You might want to try bag of frozen corn, or maybe box of vegan burritos

Just tell your wife the truth. That jar has pickled sardines in it, would you like to try some. I will have to try adding borax next time I do this.

nhamm wrote:

Preservation is less important than concealment. You might want to try bag of frozen corn, or maybe box of vegan burritos

I’m gonna have to agree with Nick on this one. I usually bury them behind the ground venison in a ziplock bag…remove as much air as possible and seal em shut.

Might be aDumb question but here goes do you freeze them whole or you take the meat off

I freeze mine whole.

EDIT: They do get relatively soft when frozen. I haven’t tried the fridge in a jar method, that might keep them a little harder, but may not last as long?

Thanks

I’ve just put suckers straight into a ziploc and froze them. It worked fine but when they thawed they had a pretty nasty slime. They were also a bit soft but, being suckers, had enough mass to hook securely hook into. I will salt them first next time to try to cut down on slime grossness.

I vacuum seal them and label. Seems to work and they stay better than leaving in a gallon bag with the air in it. No salt.

Yup. Use a vacuum sealer if you have one. I’ve used 2 year old frozen suckers -no problem. No freezer burn.

The few times I’ve preserved bait, it was creek chubs. Yes I would store them in the freezer but not before prepping them. The prepping process was to simply salt them down and dry them out a bit, while laid out over a bed of newspapers to absorb the moisture. Much the same as curing jerky.
The drier they get, the firmer they will stay when thawed. Too dry is not good as well as too wet.
I like to wrap them individually in a piece (not full sheet) of newspaper when freezing them. The newspaper absorbs some excess moisture as they thaw, when it is time to use them.
PS, I freeze then whole because I use them whole. If I want cut bait, I cut as desired and just freeze the strips.

“Freeze Suckers” Isn’t that what Christie Love used to say?

Who says the fridge and freezer are just for food? It’s better to clearly label it so it doesn’t get mistaken for food. I use caution when I rummage for snacks in my sister’s fridge. She runs a farm so you never know if it’s human food, duck food, vitamins for the cows, or bloat medicine for the goats!

I bought a vacuum sealer that was on Ido a few years back.
I prefer to not add other flavors to my suckers so just vacuum sealing them works for me.