Could somone tell me what I need to preserve shad that I gather now to be used for bait later. I have tried freezing and that does not work out for me at all. I have some commercially prepared baits that I want to duplicate. Any input from your experience would be greatly appreciated.
All I do is let them flop around in a pile of salt (it doesn’t seem to matter what type of salt) until coated and them freeze them.
coarse salt,anise and garlic. put the shad in a plastic bag and seal it air tight.(food saver works great)Tight Lines and Good Health
What are you fishing for with the shad? I know Dirk W. froze a bunch of shad for catfishing last winter and he said they didn’t work very good this past summer……I think the method you’re using is a good way to preserve them.
Ya…they really didn’t work that great. I got some fish on them but they didn’t produce well.. I have no idea why though…you’d think they would be a great channel cat bait. Cut sucker and chub produced much better. I’ll try the shad again this year again but if don’t do well I wont spend much more time with them..Any one else have good luck with cut shad??
I’ve had real good success with shad. But I don’t use it as cut bait. There too soft of a fish for that. I usually wrap them in cheese cloth and put it on a circle hook. I only use them after ice out. The rest of the year I use creek chubs and skip jacks.
I read Borax and Salt works well for preserving minnows for fly-in fishing trips. (maybe it keeps the color brighter, too – haha) The Borax is supposed to make the minnow hold together while the salt dries it out. No idea how Borax would taste/smell, so it might not be so good for Catfish.
There is a product out there called “Pro-Cure”. It is used for curing spawn sacks. I have used it in Alaska, and here. It works really well! I have used it to cure minnows for use in Canada. Just don’t get the red product if you can avoid it! It stains like mad! Otherwise, I have had similar luck with borax like another post mentioned. But Pro-Cure seemed not to dry them out as much. I dont know where to find it. Maybe a Google search would turn something up???
Tuck
Awe, you beat me to it!
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