Salted-Preserved minnows?

[Wisconeye]

A couple of years ago I took some commercially preserved minnows I bought at Cabelas to Canada. Just threw the bags in my tackle box and boy did they bail me out. We were miles from camp when we ran out of minnows and these worked great. The last two years I have taken others that are preserved, but have Anise scent (black licorice smell) and they haven't worked nearly as well- if at all. I also took some Uncle Josh bottled ones and they didn't do much either. I can't find the same type I took that one year.
Anyway- I've read about a lot of guys taking salted minnows and frozen ones. Last year I tried to salt a bunch of minnows and ended up with a mess. The minnows smelled terrible, turned black and overall it was a disaster. I simply took a bunch of minnows alive in a bucket, added salt until they floated up dead and their hide fell off, looked terrible, etc. As I said- total failure.
So can anyone tell me how they are preserving/salting their minnows for Canada themselves? I find they are very convenient and considerably less expensive. I would really like to take some larger ones that we have trouble getting where we are staying.
Any ideas- tips- how to- advice would be greatly appreciated.

[lomdunor]

Get a box of borax from your supermarkets laundry soap section. The get a few minnows to try them on now in preparation for your trip. Just throw a covering of 1/3 salt and 2/3 borax. Let set for a few hours and then freeze until needed. If you experiment now you will be ready and satisfied by trip time.
Salt alone dries the minnows and make them stiff, brittle and dull. The borax keeps then pliable and looking life like and tough.

[JimW]

I just finished salting a bunch for my trip to Lake Temagami next weekend.

I use a mixture of half pickling salt and half sugar mixed together.

Take an icecream container and put a layer of the mixture in the bottom.

Place a layer of minnows, making sure they do not touch

Add more of the salt/sugar mixture until the minnows are buried.

Add another layer of minnows, then cover with the salt/sugar mix, then another layer of minnows ans so on. The final layer being a salt/sugar layer.

Put the top on the container.

Place in a cold place (some people put them in the fridge, but I find it works better in a cool place in my basement).

Let for 48 hours.

Open container up and dig through and remove the minnows, put them in a plastic bag and put in the freezer.

DONE!!

JimW
Ontario, Canada

[chrism]

I do almost the same - borax / salt at 50-50 or 2/3-1/3, put the fresh minnows in a ziploc, throw some borax/salt mix on them, shake, and then put into an leakproof container (old minnow containers work good), sprinkle a bit more of the mix on top, and throw in the freezer immediately.
Salt will pull out water from the minnows, and they always seem to keep better during the day if you keep the liquid in the container to a minimum.
This has given me good minnows that will last - I have not tried letting then sit for a bit before freezing, but I will next time -

[Jim]

You can try adding sawdust to the bags, keeps the minnows from sticking together when frozen.

[phishfearme]

guy - thanks for the great tips!! i'm gonna use them for our trip next year. do these techniques "harden" the minnow such that they'll stay on a jig? i've simply frozen minnows and they seem to stay on the jug for only seconds before falling apart.

thanks, phish

[Thumper]

Hi, 'sconyeye

Are you saying that the preserved minnows that Cabela's is currently selling contain Anise flavoring/scent? Is that both the regular and chartreuse?

I'm getting ready for my first fly-in and was planning on picking up a few dozen - but if they suck, I'll save the $5/dozen and try making my own!!

[Wisconeye]

I don't know what Cabelas is currently selling so I can't say but if they are in a yellow bag they probably contain Anise. Some guys say that the Anise scent helps, but my experience with them was terrible.

I bought good ones at Cabelas once- they were in a clear bag stapled to a backing card and yes they had the plain and chartreause (sp?) colors- Those were great. I didn't buy the chartreause just the plain ones.

You can easily tell if they have Anise by smelling them. Buy one bag, open them up and smell 'em- if they smell like black licorice- that's anise.

I can't stand black licorice or even the smell, so I'm somewhat turned off by them anyway. But hey, I'm not planning on eating them!

Again, I bought some real good ones from Cabela's and I would take those to Canada in a heartbeat.

[Thumper]

Well, I had a bucket full of minnows left over on Sunday, so I figured "what the heck"? and made me a batch of bait. I had use of a digital camera, and took a couple of shots that turned out poorly but will do, and set up a website that makes it sound like I'm an expert.

I think I did OK, but would appreciate any feedback anyone has.

http://www.torgerud.com/Fishing/SaltedMinnows.asp

I haven't used them yet, I may take a few out and try them this weekend, see how well they last on the hook. My only other time of using frozen minnows, they fell apart soon after thawing out.

I've been asked a couple times - won't the walleye taste the borax? or even the (too much) salt?

- Rick "Thumper" Torgerud