Thread: Bait

How long will fresh dead shrimp be good for if it is kept on ice? (For bait, not human consumption.)

I would think prolly 2-3 days but thats it

As long as its kept on ice and out of the sun it should last a few days. That's considering it was actually fresh when you bought it.

After handling it, smell your fingers. A shrimp smell should be tolerable, unlike squid. Kinda like that ole finger test!

It will be OK until it starts to smell bad. That should be longer than a few days assuming it is really fresh, it could be as long as a week, but I don't know if you really want to keep it around until it starts to smell bad, the shrimp may not be the only thing to get thrown out.

Originally Posted by TUCK

How long will fresh dead shrimp be good for if it is kept on ice? (For bait, not human consumption.)

You can keep it fresh all day if you salt it.

Fresh salted shrimp work great and they stay on the hook better. If you don't believe me go to Pier&Surf.com and search salted bait.

It takes a good week or two to get them so you can take them out of the fridge but they work just like fresh.

Somebody said if you add baking soda it will make them so they don't get so tough but that is only after 2 or three months.

Ya I just buy ones that are not viened (I think it adds a little something to the bait) but devained work too. I live to far from the beach to buy live ones or fresh dead and head them and get them to cure in a week.

I caught slot puppy drum, sea mullet,weak fish, a little speck, croaker off the pier in Mexico Beach Florida in October last year.

A few people came and fished and left but I never stopped with constant hookups with croaker.

It works great on squid and clams too. But the bait shop will not like you because you won't be throwing a bunch of old stinky bait out every time you go fishing and buying new.