freezing live fish for food

[tyjo1334]

I have a AWESOME deal on LBS. of fathead minnows but I don't have a spare tank to house them. How do I kill and freeze these fish to feed to my peacock bass without them putting out their protective slime coat when they start getting cold. This will be a very cheap way for me to feed my fish and may be able to sell these to other MFKers for real cheap as well.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I have not tried to freeze whole minnows as you describe. I have frozen chunks of salmon and catfish filets with good results.

When a filet is too big for my meal, I will cut the raw excess into chunks the size of a typical feeding. I wrapped the chunks individually in a bit of foil and placed the foil packets in a plastic bag. The small chunks thaw quickly and are then cut, minced or mashed into bite sized bits.

I have done this many times. The biggest issue is to not allow the chunks to stay in the freezer too long.

 

[krichardson]

I'm unclear on what you mean by putting out their slime coat but I've frozen my feeders after they've died for later use.

 

[tyjo1334]

When a fish goes from their normal temp water which these minnows are around 55-58 degrees and then over a hour or so the water starts dropping dramatically in temp the fish will put off a slime coat as a protective layer which seems to be bitter to taste for my fish and becomes messy in my tank as well when being fed so how do I kill and freeze 20-25 dozen fish and be able to prevent them from releasing their slime coat?

 

[edsfish]

what s the awesome deal?

 

[tyjo1334]

I cant say but I have been buying lbs of live fish for about a year now and have found an incredible deal that could help other mfkers out as well.

 

[Chizzle]

I've froze shad netted from my local lake and fed them to my arowanas without any problems.

 

[MonsterMinis]

chop the heads off. or if you want to keep the heads intact only cut threw the spinal column. Usually what I do when I fillet fish. sever the spinal cord, haven't found a more humane way or faster way of killing fish I intend to eat. take a real sharp but sturdy knife and just behind the gill plates slice threw about 1/3 -1/2 the body depth. a solid straight edged steak knife should do the trick for minnows.

 

[Kaosu]

chop the heads off. or if you want to keep the heads intact only cut threw the spinal column. Usually what I do when I fillet fish. sever the spinal cord, haven't found a more humane way or faster way of killing fish I intend to eat. take a real sharp but sturdy knife and just behind the gill plates slice threw about 1/3 -1/2 the body depth. a solid straight edged steak knife should do the trick for minnows.

+1,,i do this to my feeder cons at about 1 inch mark....
I love watching peoples faces when they open my freezer to see a few dozen little fish on wax paper and cookie sheets.(so they don't freeze together ...than i dump then im bags after they freeze solid)

 

[skjl47]

Hello; After reading more posts of this thread, I understand the problem. Sounds like you need to flash freeze the minnows. Not sure if a typical home freezer can get cold enough for this, perhaps some dry ice (frozen CO2).

You might freeze a layer of water in a metal pan, place a layer of foil or wax paper on top of the ice, then toss a few feeder minnows on top of that and stick it back into the freezer quickly. Not sure, but you may be able to later wrap them individually after they are frozen to prevent freezer burn.

A layer of dry ice will sublimate directly into gas and may do so in a home freezer over time leaving the frozen minnows. Still not sure how you might get them wrapped individually and, as a previous post stated, you likely do not want a big frozen clump of them.

Let us know if you get it worked out.