Yes, you can freeze casters, just make sure your wife doesn’t catch you doing it and hide them at the back of the freezer. Jokes aside, you can freeze them.
In this article, we will look at the different ways to freeze them, what happens to them when they defrost and how long they will last. More importantly, will they still be as good for fishing?
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What are the best ways to freeze casters?
Casters are expensive, so I can see why people want to keep them and just not chuck them away.
You have two options for this. Which is best for you could be dictated by the size of your freezer or just which one will be easiest for you to grab from the freezer before you go fishing.
Using a freezer bag
Put your casters into a freezer bag. Use a vacuum-sealed one if you can to get as much air out and pop them in the freezer. Try and make sure all the water is removed and that the casters have had a quick pat down with a piece of kitchen cloth before you freeze them.
Once defrosted move them to freshwater so that they won’t float.
Freeze them In A Bottle Of Water
Empty the casters into a bottle of cold water and freeze them that way. Take the bottle of water out in the morning before you go fishing and after a few hours your casters, the water would have defrosted. Empty them out into a maggot box or riddle them off.
Are they as good after freezing?
From all the research I have done its been concluded that frozen casters are nowhere near as good after freezing and fresh casters are a lot better. They turn black after freezing quite quickly and it’s likely that you will never be able to use them as hook bait. After being frozen they just don’t hold together after they thaw out and become very fragile and squash very easily.
Where is best to use frozen casters?
The best thing to do with casters that have been frozen is to add them to ground bait. It will help bulk it up and the fish will still happily eat them. This will work well in the margins or adding them in a pole pot with the ground bait holding the caster shells together.
Can you put additives in with the frozen casters?
I read about people draining off all the water and then adding pellet oil or other fish oils over the casters and putting them into an air-tight plastic bag and freezing them that way. The theory is that it stops the caster shells from breaking and it will also stop them from floating.
How long will they keep in the fridge?
If you have been put off from freezing casters then you could keep them in the cold fridge. I have a small bait fridge in the garage which is perfect for this as they can become a bit smelly (just like any fishing bait).
In the fridge, they will last a few weeks before they start to smell and this could be a better alternative but it all depends on what room you have in your fridge and freezer.
What is a good alternative to frozen casters?
Frozen maggots are a good alternative bait. Again, these are never as good as fresh ones and maggots are a bait that moved when they were fresh. I just think its handy to have some frozen maggots in the freezer.
Stops People Throwing Bait In After Matches
If you can, don’t throw all the casters into the fisheries at the end. I’ve seen some fishermen chuck pints of perfectly good bait straight into the lake. It’s good that some fisheries stop anglers from doing this as all it does is ruin the quality of the water, which in turn, will ruin the fishery.
As an alternative, you could take them home and liquidise them which could, in turn, be added to ground bait along with your old corn, meat, and even maggots. One massive blend of old fishing bait that could be defrosted and added to ground bait. Skimmers and carp will love this.
As a last alternative, you could put them in your bird feeder as birds love casters!
