Best ways to keep yabbies

[greenbeest]

Anyone here got tips on the best way to keep yabbies alive for 2-3 days.

[Horse]

I can keep them alive in a shallow container with just enough water to cover most of their backs then put into an esky or fridge. Change the water at least once a day but let them come up to room temp before you do it. Remove dead ones

[Freeeedom]

As Horse says, but they also freeze very well if you want to have a supply of top bait that is available instantly without having to put the effort in before starting fishing. Use only whole, live yabbies and put them in a freezer bag well spread out so that they form only a single layer without too much contact with the others in the bag. Freeze them in a flat sheet like this - you can stack the bags on top of each other to save freezer room.
When you want to use them tip them straight into a container of water from your fishing site and give them a couple of minutes to thaw and absorb some water. They inflate with the absorbed water and become a firm, plump little bait that works almost as well as the live ones. I always have a supply of them in the freezer for a quick 'emergency' estuary session
Cheers Freeeedom

[fish2death]

I like to preserve the yabbies 1st, mix a handfull of brown sugar with boiling fresh water, 2nd add yabbies for 30 to 40 seconds, 3rd drain yabbies and place into ice water then drain when chilled, next freeze on a tray separately, when frozen place in a container use when you need them, they seperate easy, hang on better and all species love them, and you make good use of unused bait. PS swollow tail/dart seem to prefer the preserved yabbies than fresh. !!

[Noelm]

they will stay alive for days in a Fishtank with an air pump and an Airstone, just change the Water with clean stuff, just before you come home from catching them, put them in the tank, on with the Air and they will be fine, if any die, take them out.

[Outsider1]

Similar to Noelm, but I have just used one of those live bait buckets (with the inner mesh and outer bucket) and a good aerator and kept them alive for a few days. The live bait style bucket make it easier to quickly change the water and rinse out any contaminants. Have used the same method successfully on live prawns as well.

The basics in rough order of importance are;

- keep them cool and out of direct sunlight;
- change the water regularly
- remove any dead yabbies regularly
- aerate them if you can, better quality aerators are worth the money imho

Cheers

Dave

[bam424]

Ditto what outsider said regular change water keep cool dont let any fresh water in ie rain water
Also what freedom suggests you can freeze fresh ones try using rock salt when freezing
Hope this helps Bruce

[alleycat]

Pine shavings or dry sand will keep them for several days.

[Oh Gee]

Hessian bag, folded in half, layed in esky or box simular,Soaked with sea water. Put yabbies between fold and keep in cool place. Rinse through with fresh sea water every 12 hours (tides). dont drown them. Check for and remove dead ones.

g

[ssab1]

As Horse says, but they also freeze very well if you want to have a supply of top bait that is available instantly without having to put the effort in before starting fishing. Use only whole, live yabbies and put them in a freezer bag well spread out so that they form only a single layer without too much contact with the others in the bag. Freeze them in a flat sheet like this - you can stack the bags on top of each other to save freezer room.
When you want to use them tip them straight into a container of water from your fishing site and give them a couple of minutes to thaw and absorb some water. They inflate with the absorbed water and become a firm, plump little bait that works almost as well as the live ones. I always have a supply of them in the freezer for a quick 'emergency' estuary session
Cheers Freeeedom

.thanks for that I,ll give it a go, real pain letting them go if the fish arent biting cheers alex