freezing mackerel

[Danshane]

Sorry if it's a silly question but I want to freeze a few mackerel to use as bait in the future.
Should I freeze the whole fish, or fillet the fish and freeze the fillets only or does it matter?

[corbyeire]

its up to yourself really

this question usually starts off a debate - personally i freeze them whole if i can get them to a freezer relatively quickly - if not or you have space limitations then gut them

there is plenty of opinion that the guts degrade the fish in the freezer over time so gut them - but then others say the oil maintains the flesh if you dont fillet

one way or the other id say these things only matter if you are planning to freeze them over 6 months etc.

good luck

[donal domeney]

I gut them first and wrap them one at a time in a sheet of newspaper.

[THE BROW]

make sure wrap them one at a time or u get a ball of mack

[doggie3131]

you mean you caught mackerel??where cant seem to catch any down this side of the country

[crazyfish1983]

I agree with corbieeire. People have their own preferences and also I think it depends on what you want to catch. Sometimes the head of the fish can be the most productive i.e. when fishing for conger. Believe me or not I have taken a 3.5 lb sea trout from the beach on a pennel rigged bluey head.

But I would avail of the advice every one has left on freezing the fish seperate. I froze all mine last year in pairs. Pain in the bum on short trips you find yourself loosing a lot of fish over a course of months

[paul mason]

The secret here is getting the mackerel to the freezer in good condition i think you are better off just dedication a mackerel session for just getting bait and transporting them in a freezer box filled with ice, fillets or whole no difference i have found but i would prefer them whole for the simple reason you can do more with them.
I wash mine in fresh water to get rid of the salt (i think this burns the flesh when in the freezer for a long time) and i wrap mine in clingfilm and freeze as quickly as possable.

[EricH]

Would agree with Paul, set aside a dedicated Mackerel trip for bait and concentrate on caring for them and get them to the freezer asap - this will pay dividends when you have nice bait in the freezer.
Leave them in a cool box with some ice/cold packs while you bag up on the mark you are fishing from. When home wach them off in cold fresh water. Wrap one at a time, I use clingfilm.
I don't fillet them but thats just habit not for a specific reason.

[Danshane]

Thanks for the replies, in the end I just washed them off, wrapped them in cling film and put them in the freezer.

Doggie - I caught them off the rocks at Greenore, Co Louth.
I caught 5 yesterday, they weren't being caught in great quantity.

Come high tide there was about 20 people fishing a short stretch of rocks/sand. Madness, no room at all.

The fella beside me managed to hook his rain coat with a cast and it landed about 20ft in front of him in the water.

Next time I go up there I am going to Macky bash for an hour or two from the rocks , and then move down the beach and try some real fishing for the fist time since I've bought the rod/reel.