Part Two - Processing and preserving your freshly caught bait:
This section will describe ways of taking better care of bait that have been collected for later use. Although this article is aimed particularly at fish that have been collected as bait, the principles should fork for many other marine organisms destined to become bait. You will see that I mostly give guidelines, and have left a lot of leeway for experimentation, and it would be great to hear of alternate processing methods and additives that are not mentioned here.
The two most important steps that needs to be taken to preserve the best properties in a baitfish is to kill it as soon as possible, and then to get the body temperature as close to 0°C as soon as possible. Killing a fish intended for use as bait may not always be straight forward. The ideal is to keep the baitfish intact and as naturally looking as possible. Spiking (inserting a sharp object into the brain) is not advised for baitfish. Another option for rapid termination is a sharp blow to the head of the fish. This may be useful for larger baitfish species, but will also leave visible scarring, and if over-done will also lead to the loss of blood and fluids. Luckily the third option is “cold stunning†of the fish by immersing the fish into ice cold water. Although this does not instantaneously kill the fish, it is the method which results in the least amount of damage to the baitfish, and it fits in really well with the next step which is to get the body temperature down.
To chill the fish as soon as possible is probably the most important processing step in preserving bait. Chilling the fish will slow down the onset and duration of rigor; it will slow down the enzymatic processes responsible for autolysis (self-breakdown) of tissues, and will inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria responsible for the rapid degradation of fish tissues. The freezing and thawing stability of a fish that have been chilled is also much higher than that of a fish that have been frozen “warmâ€.
There are a variety of ways for chilling freshly caught fish, but the only practical way for most rock and surf and recreational boat anglers is using ice. Again, there different ways of using ice for the preservation of the fish qualities. The first is to use layers of ice, packing the fish onto a layer of ice and then covering it with another layer of ice etc. This works well to bring down the body temperature, but it is prone to damaging and bruising the fish, especially those at the bottom layers. Any bruising, especially on smaller species, will result in a reduction of quality during freezing and thawing of the bait, and should be minimized. Probably the best way to chill fish is to immerse them into a slurry of ice water. Ice slurry can be made with either crushed or cubed ice (crushed is better) mixed with seawater. The temperature of this slurry will be around 0°C, and will chill the baitfish without freezing it. The slurry will also help to loosen and remove the excess slime on the fish, and generally do less damage to the fish than packing in ice.
The baitfish should be kept in this slurry up to the point that it can be frozen. Before freezing, the fish must be removed from the slurry, and laid out on a rack so that most of the slurry water can run off (this should be done for a minute or two tops!). They should then preferably be packed individually into bags that can be tightly sealed. The absolute ideal here is to have a vacuum sealer to seal the fish before placing it in the freezer. An alternative for “vacuum packing†is to put the bait in a Ziploc bag, and then slowly drop the bag into a bucket of water so that the water forces out all air around the fish before sealing the bag (do not allow water to seep into the bag!).
Another way to protect the fish for freezing is to use the process of glazing, whereby you freeze the fish in a bag, after which you remove the fish from the bag and dip it into a glazing solution before freezing it again. This can be repeated four or five times to provide a relatively thick protective layer of ice around the fish. A simple glazing solution is to make a 2% salt solution (20g table salt in 1L of water), that have been refrigerated to near freezing point. The glaze will completely seal the fish, and will prevent freezer burn. If the fish is kept in the freezer for longer than 3 months, the glazing process may need to be repeated. The glazed fish should be wrapped in plastic and stored in the freezer. The last option, preferably for very short term storage is to tightly wrap the baitfish individually in cling-wrap and store it in the freezer.
Additives and Preservatives
Apart from chilling and freezing, some common household additives and preservatives can be used to preserve or even improve the qualities of your bait. Preservatives are generally substances that have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Antimicrobials prevents the growth of bacteria and other microbes (molds and yeasts) while antioxidants prevents the reaction of tissues with oxygen that often leads to discoloration etc. Additives may be any substance that introduces a desired trait to the fish tissue for instance colorants and scents. Although there are a variety of fancy chemicals available for the preservation and improvement of bait, one can go a long way with ordinary household products.
Salt: [/b]Salt has a variety advantages in the preservation of bait. Salt has a antimicrobial action that will eliminate bacteria on the exposed surfaces of the body. It is a natural “sedative†for many fish, and by increasing the salt concentration slightly, may improve the “stun†effect of the cold water. A high salt concentration will also result in some degree of water loss from the tissues. This will have the positive effects of firming up the muscles a bit, and will also protect the tissues from the formation of damaging ice crystals during freezing. Too much salt over a long period of time can however have a negative effect by extracting too much water from the tissues, leaving the bait tough “shriveledâ€. [/b]
Baking Soda[/b] (Sodium Bicarbonate): This is another highly useful household item for bait preservation. Baking soda retards enzymatic breakdown and thereby keeps the tissues firm, and preserves much of the coloration and natural odor of the bait.
Borax (Sodium borate): [/b]Borax can generally be found around the cleaning products in most supermarkets. It has good preservative properties and also helps to retain the firmness of he tissues and to enhance the brightness of the skin. Borax is also slightly acidic and will enhance the preservative properties if the salt and baking soda. P.S. Borax mixed with a bit of honey and water it makes a potent yet safe ant poison bait! It takes a couple of days to work, but it is fairly long-lasting)
Sugar:[/b] The preservative properties of sugar are demonstrated in most jams and preserves. It has anti-microbial properties, and will also lead to some degree of water loss from the tissues.
Honey:[/b] Honey is a natural preservative and has anti-microbial properties. A bit of honey can be used in the glazing solution to make it “Stick†better to the fish.
White vinegar: [/b]The affectivity of many preservatives can be enhanced by slightly lowering the pH (making the solution more acidic). The vinegar will also help to gently remove the slime layer on the fish.
Alcohol: [/b]another natural preservative that is has mainly anti-microbial properties, and will help to preserve natural color.
Powdered Milk: [/b]Good for toughening up soft baits.[/b]
Laundry Bluing: [/b]This is a product that has been used to make white laundry “brighter†(gave a faint blue tint). You don’t see it around much more as there have been many advances in the forms of bleaches etc. Not sure if the liquid form is still available locally, but I did see some bluing blocks in the laundry dept the other day. The bluing pigments penetrates the skin, making it brighter and more reflective
Scents:[/b] Garlic and aniseed is popular scent additives.
Adding preservatives and additives to your slurry is up to individual preferences and taste. In my opinion, it may well be worthwhile to use at least the salt and baking soda, as these will definitely retard spoilage by bacterial and enzymatic working. Adding a bluing pigment may also make a difference, by making your baitfish look slightly different to the rest of the baitfish in the water, a factor know to trigger an attack! Like with everything in life, the best would be not to over-do it with any of the additives. The idea is to keep the bait looking as fresh as possible, to slow down the deterioration of the tissue and to highlight attractive properties of the baitfish.
As a baseline for developing and experimenting I would suggest one start with absolutely basic brining slurry consisting of salt, water and ice. The salt that is generally recommended for brining of baitfish is kosher salt, or un-iodized salt. Apparently iodated salt may cause browning of the bait, although I have been using normal iodated coarse salt and did not experience this thus-far. On average sea water has a salinity of 3.5%, meaning that there is 35grams of salts dissolved in 1 Liter of sea water. To have effective brine for baitfish, it is thus advisable to increase the salinity by adding more salt to the solution. Based on research conducted mainly for the food industry, a good brining solution for baitfish would be between 15 and 20% NaCl (table salt). Thus, to change your seawater to a brining solution, you need to increase the salt concentration by at least 11.5%, and you can do this by adding 115g of salt per Liter of seawater. You will also have to take into account that the water from the melting ice will also dilute the brine, and as the salt concentration of the water from the ice is negligible (if made from tap water), you will have to add 150g salt per Liter of melted water. This is not easy to measure, and you will have to do some guesswork here. Just remember to add a little bit of salt as time passes and you see ice melting, and you should be fine. Adding salt upfront to compensate for melting ice is not a good idea as this may make the brine too strong initially. A good starting point for adding Baking soda and Borax would be at a rate of 1 part Baking soda/Borax for every 10 parts Salt.
Like I said, this is not meant to provide the “exact science†for treating your bait, but is mere guidelines that may improve the quality of the bait that you keep for future use. Like with everything in angling, you should trust your fisherman’s gut, and experiment to find what works best for you.
