salt minnows
 

So OK call me cheap.
I just couldn't see all those minnows going to waste.
So ok here's the story.
We haven't had a lot of rain here in SE Iowa.
The creeks are barely flowing if at all.
That leaves a concentration of minnows.
A couple of minnow traps have left me with a surplus of the lil critters.
So some of them die.
I scooped some up and salted them.---Just layered them between layers of pickling salt.
So now I have a couple dozen shrunk up skinny dried up minnows. Many more on the way.
So now what?
How do I keep them?

My grandfather, who made salted minnows the same way, used to keep his surplus ones in the freezer. Seemed to work just fine.

The top layers will dry out as the salt draws the moisture out of the minnows. The bottom layers wiil be soaking in liquid. Keep container covered and flip daily for one week & than separate into smaller one use groups, drain & freeze in freezer bags.

I just checked the minnows which I put into a freezer container in july.
They are a little freezer burnt. Next year I'll try to freeze some in liquid.
I did notice that there was a definite fish smell which makes me think "mink bait".I might just throw a mink set together in the creek behind the house and see if they work .
thanks for the reply.