Help! Stop Peelers Dying

vac packed or cling film wrapped should never get your bait freezer burnt, but as Tom said, what do tackle shops know.. as long as they get money for it they don't care(i'm not saying all tackle shops are like this).. I'm not naming anywhere but there are tackle shops that somehow manage to freezer burn baits, but what's worse is there are some that refreeze baits or store them very badly and you can tell especially with sandeel (you shouldn't see any blood in the packet) but this occurs on a regular basis in some places..


its a very hit and miss process in storing baits regardless of what bait it is, some require care and attention, others you can just chuck in the freezer and forget about them,

with live baits a fresh supply of sea water is constantly needed, but beware.. if you put them in a tank with filter and aerator and the water level goes low due to evaporation... don't add more sea water.. your adding more salt that way (salt doesn't evaporate)(seen a few tropical fish killed this way :cry: )

if baits need to be kept cool, bottom of a fridge or in a cupboard in a north facing room(with the radiator turned off) will also bee cool enough(hidden from her sight is best)

its taken me various ways to get some baits to stay fresh for a few days, over the years. nothing is guaranteed to work except trial and error

well iv had very good reports from boat anglers and shore anglers iv even had martin kennedy who buys his crab of me says it out fishes fresh or normal frozen on the boat and he is one of the best boat match anglers if not the best in ireland so i only go by wat the big boys tell me,,,,,, even graham hill has used my crab and he gave me good comments on it,,,, so im not just sayin it in me own experince,,, and in my book there good comments to hav

Good for you! but dont knock my method, if it come down to mentioning names, I can mention angler who are well known all around Europe who use the rinse under a tap and cling-film method.

I stand by what I said regarding vac-packing crab....I know a few who tried it and went back to cling-film.

Tom.

Hi lads,

All the replies are a good read but I am still in trouble. Someday when I'm no longer a young fella and not in rented accommodation I'll set up some tank system but for now it's back to the poxy old fridge in the utility room.

My problem remains, I'm house sharing so leaving them around the house at room temp wasn't an option. Instead I adjusted the thermostat on the fridge so that the crabs are kept at ~14 - 16C. They all get put into a bucket of sea water every day with an aerator for an hour then back into the fridge and kept damp.

They are coming on faster alright but I'm still getting as many casualties and just as many are still refusing to pop and just sitting there until they die? (they were peelers when I picked em) any suggestions?

Liam

Hi Liam,

Looks like u will have to get your own gaff for the sake of the peelers :) .

I definately have experience alot of similar issues as you have mentioned above.

One thing that I have noticed is that if you keep your crab in a poly box covered with a damp cloth in the fridge, the causualty levels drop rapidly compared to any other sort of container in the fridge. As for temperature, I keep mine between setting 4 and 5. This should hopefully keep alot more of your crab alive.

As for trying to get them to peel ! An hour every day and back into the fridge never really works that well for me either. If you can't leave them in trays around the garage or set up your own filtered tank then I think you will struggle alright. Maybe try putting your fridge at its hottest setting and put more water in with your crabs. Instead of 1 hour try 2.

John,

Thanks for the reply - at least I'm not the only one! Makes me feel a bit better! I'll try your suggestions and see I get on, think this might be a bit more trial and error than I hoped...

Will need 'em for Sunday god knows

Liam

Liamo,

What John says is spot on.....the only thing I would add is to have some newspaper thats been soaked in sea water in the bottom of the box, it lets the crabs dig their legs in and stops them moving around so much, some say if they're settled down happy enough they may relax ready to pop easier.

Tom.