Do any of you vacum seal your crappie?

[hotmod]

I vacuum pack mine. First I wash them then pat them dry & put them on a cookie sheet & put them in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes to freeze the moisture on the outside,( this makes for a moisture free seal ) then vacuum pack with a food saver. They keep very well.

[dedawg1149]

i use a vacuum i got from cabelos i never have freezer burn but let me add to that i also dont like fish after it has been frozen more than two weeks

[skeetbum]

I have frozen mine in water for years with good results. Don't own a vac sealer yet, but just ate some of last years venison that was vac sealed. Works great.

[i-catch-cartags]

Thanks guys i knew i could count on you, We keep several bags of fish in the freezer we eat lots of fish but i give away most of mine to the elderly who are unable to get out & fish anymore, I think this vacum seal may be the way to go for me. My wife told me that the freezer was get,n full that i might have to quit fishing I try to buy everything in bulk when it,s on sale like butts, turkeys, hams... it,s nice when someone says i,d like to have this for dinner & all you do is just go to the freezer.:D Thanks again your a great bunch of guys & gals....

[luvin.fishin]

Thanks guys i knew i could count on you, We keep several bags of fish in the freezer we eat lots of fish but i give away most of mine to the elderly who are unable to get out & fish anymore, I think this vacum seal may be the way to go for me. My wife told me that the freezer was get,n full that i might have to quit fishing I try to buy everything in bulk when it,s on sale like butts, turkeys, hams... it,s nice when someone says i,d like to have this for dinner & all you do is just go to the freezer.:D Thanks again your a great bunch of guys & gals....

Tell the wife we can buy more freezers before I quit fishin'!!!

[Countryboy N.C.]

Thanks guys i knew i could count on you, We keep several bags of fish in the freezer we eat lots of fish but i give away most of mine to the elderly who are unable to get out & fish anymore, I think this vacum seal may be the way to go for me. My wife told me that the freezer was get,n full that i might have to quit fishing I try to buy everything in bulk when it,s on sale like butts, turkeys, hams... it,s nice when someone says i,d like to have this for dinner & all you do is just go to the freezer.:D Thanks again your a great bunch of guys & gals....

You can do what I do, Release them. No one said you had to keep your limit every time out, No one will get mad. I ain't going to quit fishing and I can't eat all the fish I catch, although we eat crappie at least once a week, Had over 400 fillets in freezer last year for a big fish fry and it quit, almost lost them, but I saved the day by going and buying a new freezer.
I want keep that many again, If I need fish to cook, I will go and catch them.:D

[Eager Beaver]

I have been vac sealing my fish for several years and won't go back to ziplock bags and water again. I end up with 20 to a bag and it is about 2 inches thick when I am done. I put the fish in the fridge over night after I fillet them. Then I rinse then off in cold water and then pat dry and seal. I put 20 to a bag and vac seal them. I have at least one big fish fry every year so my fish usually don't make it past a year. They will keep for several years doing this with the vac sealer. The best part is when we want fish we just take how ever many bags out of the freezer and put them in warm water and they are thawed out in 15 minutes and then I rinse them off and pat dry and throw them in the deep fryer. Quick and easy way to store your catch. I only got to go about 5 times this year but still had about 300 fillets for the fish fry. With big fillets you don't need all that many to feed a lot of people. EB

[Ken Jones]

I vacuum seal all my salmon and steelhead. The crappie I use a zip lock bag with water.

[majflyboy]

I vacuum seal all my salmon and steelhead. The crappie I use a zip lock bag with water.

Ken, why do you use different method for the crappie?

[Arkie John]

When I was a kid, daddy would stuff a cardboard quart milk carton (that was a long time ago) full of fillets and fill the carton with water. I ate good for 19 years 'til I went into the Navy.

But now I use the Zip-loc vaccuum system. It's simple and it works great from crappie to venison jerky. I have kept fish for 18 months and with perfect results. As someone said earlier in the thread, the bags are not easy to find right now for some reason, but it's a lot better than dropping a hundred dollars PLUS for a Food Saver.