Has anyone tried to salt cure ballyhoo and mullet, freeze in vacuum pack after rigging them to make them tuff for early season trolling?
sodiumtripolyphosphate . Go by your nearest seafood dealer and they can get some for you. You have probably eaten plenty of it. Dealers soak seafood in a 10% solution to extend shelf life. add weight, and keep the fish from dripping out and losing weight when thawed. Soak the bait over night refrigerated and then bag it tightly & freeze. It will make the skin tough and the fish firmer.
Every industry has its dirty tricks
Natureboy;; I’ve heard of this or something similar before but never tried it. Will the sodiumtri work on pogies? they usually get so soft after freezing they are useless for anything other than chum…
George McDonald
US Navy Seabees,Retired,
MAD, Charleston Chapter
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
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YES - it will work on most any fish. There used to be a retail product on the market named “bait tough” or something like that’. Its used on scallops. It can make 10 lbs into 15 lbs over night. Read the ingredients label on a water added ham = Sodium tri is usually #3 on the list. Selling water!
Just trying to preserve and rig baits for trolling in advance. I have a vacuum sealer and looking at rigging baits and freezing them.
natureboy provided his solution.
It is up to you to accept his advice but I doubt you will find better.
I did a bunch of research on this to freeze mullet. Salt was not successful for me. Bunch of youtube videos and google searches later I had mushy mullet. In the end I gave up and relied on the castnet for fresh mullet.
Another option is buying frozen (rigged or unrigged) ballyhoo that is professionally packed for reuse as bait.
I’ve found that when freezing bait, to brime it overnight with ice then freeze them side by side on a cookie sheet over night before packaging. Have used herring that I have left over from striper fishing and had had good results. Split the tails of the mullett before freezing.
Purpose of spliting tails ??? just wondering…
George McDonald
US Navy Seabees,Retired,
MAD, Charleston Chapter
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown
More swimming action on a split tail and some say they pull better. Most people do split tails and pull the back bone out so it is a less rigid bait.
Thanks to Natureboy I did som reading. Ordered a small amount of sodium tripolyphosphate. Will post results after I give it a try.
I have a stainless tool that will remove the spine from a 6” up to a 12” mullet . I troll them split tail an they do work, more tail action
Can’ beat a properly prepaired bait! Especaly the split tail Mullett
Do any of ya’ll grind and frweeze chum? Tried a hand grinder then a garbage desposal in a 5 gal bucker then bought an electric sausage grinder, makes quick work of all my heads and intrals! freeze in gal ziplock in bait freezer.
I grind most all cleaning scraps , usually try to scale all fish under water to capture as many scales as possible and mix them into the chum , add cup of menhaden oil/milk and freeze mixture in qt freezer bags… Great chum 
George McDonald
US Navy Seabees,Retired,
MAD, Charleston Chapter
[http://www.militaryappreciationday.org
When you see “Old Glory” waving in the breeze, know that it is the dying breaths of our fallen hero’s that makes it wave.
author unknown