Fishing

I have never used salted minnows but well tonight I was going to go fishing but my plans changed so I took all of the bait I caught and salted it. I found directions. I am taking them fishing as soon as I can. I salted 37 of them. They are dripping right now. I let them drip for an hour and now I am letting them drip after salting them. Adding salt sure makes the water come out of the minnows. I am hoping I can still catch fish on them.

Yea I tried that once and the directions told me to salt them for 12 hours so I did when I came back to them they were flat and very dry. It was like their insides were gone and all that was left was a flat dead minnow. I will and never have done that again.

Good luck Fishing and pass fishing on.
Jason McMillin
jason@bigfishtackle.com

yeah, adding salt to something for an extended period of time will always toughen and dry things out. it's exactly why better cooks won't add salt to their marinades. always add it right before you go to cook it.

having said that, for minnows I prefer to premake this dip I use. it's especially nice for walleye and striper/wiper.

1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground fresh parsley or even dried parsley if you want the easy way
1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

just mix that up real good and throw it in the fridge...it lasts forever. by the time you get out to the water it'll be unfrozen even if you keep your fridge very cold. dip your live minnow in it and cast away. I prefer to dip the minnow in and out, wait 10 seconds and then dip it in again for about 10 seconds. if that's too extreme just dip it in and cast out. works fine.

even as good as this works I hate the maintenance of trying to keep minnows alive...so I now use gulp alive minnows.

well I made them and well they are not dried out completely and they have been it for a long time now. I can get the directions if you like as well they do not dry out completely it is a good bit of work to do it right but they seem to be good. I changed it a small bit.

Step 1 Take live minnows and put in bag with holes in it and hang the bag out to dry for 20 mins
Step 2 Take the minnows and put them in bag with kosher salt and shake the bag to coat them.
Step 3 poke holes in the bag and drip them for a few hours until the bag stops dripping
Step 4 take minnows and coat them in more kosher salt
Step 5 take minnows and lay them out on newspaper and role them up and let them sit over night
Step 6 in the morning bag them up in Kosher salt and shake to coat them.
Step 7 go fishing.

Mine are still flexible now. Just like they were when they were alive but they do not flop around and they are not supposed to rot. I was expecting a flat dead and dry minnow but they are dead but not flat and only just dry enough but still are flexible after 2 days.

Any word on this, did you test them out?
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Capt. Jim Sabella
Plan 9 Charters
http://topsailfishingcharters.com
http://fishcarolinabeach.com/charters/