Sea Fishing - Keeping it fresh

How long will bait keep in the freezer (crab, mackerel and sandeel) ? I haven't been able to get out for a while due to family illness and work (2 jobs, bummer!) hence bait in freezer.

[Ben]

if it stays froozen i dont see any reason why it shouldnt stay there for a long time

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Basicaily if you look at a frozen food package you will see on the back - best buy notice - 3 months i think

I would only give it 6 months in a freazer - but thats me , would be fine for a year

Thanks for that. Hopefully it shouldn't be in the freezer for too long!

[steve devon]

i had some mackeral in mine for about 2 years and it was fine when i used it

[Ben]

if they are properly froozen i cant see why you cant leave them in there indefinatly

[Fishing Forum Admin]

You can , but freezing only slows down the processes and does not totally stop it - ok we I mean slow down I mean almost to a dead stop

When you freeze something millions of ice crystals are formed which expand the tissue and thus the longer the time the quality drops

[Ben]

but wont the amount of crystels stay the same if it stays frozen??
once all of the water in it is frozen then no more can get frozen can it?

I find that simply wrapping frozen baits in newspaper prolongs their frozen-ness out on the beach in summer. Not anywhere near as good as a thermos or coolbag though

[Ben]

now i always take mine in a cool bag in newspaper with a cool pack, 2 main reason, keeps the bait fresh and also if you catch a fish you wanna keep it keeps that fresh as well