Preserving Minnows for Occasional Use?

I would like to know if anyone has any tips for preserving minnows so they can be used later for minnowheads and tails?

I mostly chase bluegills, but sometimes I’d like to do a little walleye fishing around sundown when the bluegill bite tends to taper off for me.

I have been freezing or salt-curing 5-6 rainbows or shiners in ziplock bags to carry along so I can snip the heads or tails. That’s enough for an hour of fishing walleye spoons and jigging baits.

These are usually leftovers from Mille Lacs deadsticks and tip-ups. When frozen and thawed, they get all mushy and nasty and don’t stay on the hook for very long. When salt-cured, they’re as tough as leather and don’t seem to get the bites, although they’re as shiny as a new nickel.

Any tips? It’s kind of a pain to drag live bait along if I’m only going to be fishing walleye for an hour after a bluegill trip.

Thanks for the input, Joe

I’ve read IDO members talk about freezing them in Coke (the red-canned variety) but never tried it myself but want to some time.

Bass Thumb wrote:

I would like to know if anyone has any tips for preserving minnows so they can be used later for minnowheads and tails?
I have been freezing or salt-curing 5-6 rainbows or shiners in ziplock bags to carry along so I can snip the heads or tails. That’s enough for an hour of fishing <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye spoons and jigging baits.

When frozen and thawed, they get all mushy and nasty and don’t stay on the hook for very long. When salt-cured, they’re as tough as leather and don’t seem to get the bites, although they’re as shiny as a new nickel.

Thanks for the input, Joe

Well Joe, I think you more or less have figured it out on your own.

Salt preserved…there is/was an outfit in Wisconsin that sold those. Emerald shiners, fathead minnows…etc. Magic Products!

Those though like you have discovered, aren’t quite the same as busting a live minnow in half and then hooking it still partly alive. The “preserved” one’s don’t get you as many takers.

I think they were a popular option for those crossing into Canada where transporting live minnows across was not allowed. Some years ago, it was not easy to find live bait (minnows) in some remote Canadian fishing destinations.

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Good to know. Thanks for the feedback. I’ll have to try the Coke method. Otherwise, I may just continue to use frozen minnows. They seem to catch fish, but just not as well as fresh-cut live ones.

I’ll try the Coke in the next week or two and report back.

Layer them in a bucket of canning salt

Plastics instead?

Which ones would work well as a substitute for minnowheads when tipping spoons walleye fishing? ÎI haven’t had much luck with the Gulp imitation for walleyes. They’re better for crappies, it seems.

I’ve heard of people putting left over bait in a gallon jar of Vodka. It supposedly keeps them firm and you just take out what you plan on using. Never tried it personally.

Would pickle juice work?

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

I’ve heard of people putting left over bait in a gallon jar of Vodka. It supposedly keeps them firm and you just take out what you plan on using. Never tried it personally.

That would be on heck of a cocktail. lol

I think whether salt preserved, pickle juice, vodka,…will preserve them fine, but you’ll still have the issue of fewer bites than the “fresh kill”…

Still curious what freezing in coke does?

Have you ever tried just freezing the heads and tails by themselves without the body? Whenever I’ve used frozen shiners it seems like the body is the part that creates the mushy affect. They may preserve better sans the body. Just a thought

crappie55369 wrote:

Have you ever tried just freezing the heads and tails by themselves without the body? Whenever I’ve used frozen shiners it seems like the body is the part that creates the mushy affect. They may preserve better sans the body. Just a thought

That’s a good idea. I haven’t tried that. I wonder if any juice would stay in the head or tail. I’ll try it and find out.