I'm heading down to B10 on Thursday and want to bring fresh herring. I plan on fishing all weekend and have never tried to keep herring firm that long. Is it necessary to actually brine the herring or can I just coat it in rocksalt? I plan on bringing at least 10 Doz. and don't want them to go bad. What's the best way to keep these things good all weekend?

Thanks in advance for any info........

...about one cup rock salt per quart of water... keep the bait chilled... Believe it or not, this will last roughly 2 months!

Downriggin'

I like a cup of rock salt to a gallon of saltwater, I only put the rock salt directly on the bait if I'm going to use it within 6-12 hours, otherwise the bait turns leathery.
I am not a big fan of salted baits but when I do salt I also like to use scents (squid or herring) to make them as appealing as possible. Just my .02 worth

Forgot to mention this... add a little powered milk to the mixture to keep the scales intact.

If you want, add a little green food coloring to the concoction...comes out a beautiful olive color.

Downriggin'

I'm a firm believer in the rock salt theory (no pun intended). I use 1 cup per quart of water, usually the quart is half ice/half water. Add 1 tsp of alum and one bottle of anise oil extract.

I usually do about 12 dozen at a time and put them in freezer bags 2 doz/bag. Then put these in the freezer. The rock salt doesn't allow it to freeze and keeping it very cold keeps it real firm.

Between me and my wife we put 46 fish in the boat last year and that's all we used the entire season. I think it works.

And like Downriggin mentioned, this will last for 2 months or more. I brined some up in early July last year and was using it in Sept. for silvers in Sekiu.

I like to plug cut fresh bait asap and cover them with borax put them in a bag and place them on ice. But dont let them get wet,they will last a long time.

I think you guys are confusing frozen bait with fresh bait... trailrat is talking about FRESH bait... the difference being that fresh bait is almost never starved before being killed, like frozen bait is... and even when you salt fresh bait, many times the bellies will blow out, even though the salted rest of the fish is nice and firm...

The most important thing to remember with fresh bait is to KEEP IT COOL... bring a cooler with ICE IN IT to the place you buy your bait. Get them immediately on ice, and keep them iced down.

I'd probably salt them like these guys say, use them for maybe two days, and if the bellies blow out on, cut them into herring teaser strips and use them in a plastic rig, like a Scotty Rotary Salmon Killer (also known as a Scotty Bait Biter).

Good luck,

-N.

I have Rubbermade containers with lids that fit in my bait wells and leave room for ice around the container. I mix sea water with a handful of rock salt. If I am not lazy I cut plug the herring first but it doesn't matter. If you keep some ice around the container until it cools at night they will last many days.

Plug cut them -----left spin for upriver, right spin for downriver trolling. :p
Seriously, do cut, then do the rock salt, water, and powdered milk (1 C per qt) add some herring scent.
They will be firm, bright, and smell good.......
I have some in my 'beer' fridge, 9 months old, still look good ------probably some Norskys out there who would love to eat them for lunch.