Off and on there has been some discussion about salting shrimp, and I have been doing it for a while, here are some pictures of what I have been doing. I'm not saying it is right, but has been working for me.

I have been buying 4lb boxes of Kosher or Canning salt for a couple bucks a box which is pretty cheap. There is some salt loss so I keep a fresh box on hand to add to the older salt.



I put down a layer of salt, then a layer of usually peeled shrimp, although sometimes I just pull the heads and legs off. And then cover with salt and continue until I run out of room in the container or run out of shrimp. Make sure the last layer is salt.

Leave it alone to cure at least a week, these pictures were after almost 3 weeks of curing, you can see the salt slurry in the picture where the moisture has collected on the bottom out of the shrimp.




After some curing time I seperate the shrimp from the salt and place them into a freezer bag.



I just add some cheap uncooked rice periodically into the salt storage bucket to absorb the moisture, when in storage, I mix the rice once a week or so, and then sift out the old rice and replace with new every few weeks or so, about the time the rice gets dried out, it is time to make another batch.



With the cost of shrimp now a days this helps to keep it affordable, I will usually buy live, then after that trip they will be frozen as "fresh dead", then they get salted.

Salted shrimp works very well to catch many species of fish, and will work when tipping artificials for scent, flavor.

Cut them very small and put a bit on each hook on a sibiki rig and increase the catch ratio, just as an example.

I can do 3 or 4 lbs of shrimp at a time in this setup, and the batch will last me a few trips, depending on how much of it I use each trip of course.

I got the plastic bucket with lid at Shipley's Doughnuts for a couple of bucks. They make great general use buckets for fishing, and since they were used for food preparation I don't worry about them effecting fish.

Saving money on the rising cost of bait is understandable. But is there any other benefit to salting shrimp beside savings? Increased catches?

It toughens up the shrimp, makes it easier to cast "long" without flinging it off the hook.

It takes longer for little fish to eat it off your hook.

I catch a lot of whiting and croaker with salted shrimp, and have caught flounder with it too, but won't say consistently.

Cats will take it also, BTW.

Pferox,
thanks for the detailed "how-to". Just some clarification questions:
The fresh dead shrimp get frozen - is it the left-over thawed ones that you salt?
Thee salted shrimp gets frozen again?

On another part you said

is it the rice that dries out or the salt?

Thanks a lot.

After I get back from using the frozen shrimp, which is usually thawed by then, I salt. Kind of like the last hurrah for them. They will last indefinitely in a sealed container, either in a cool dark place or the fridge.

If I get low, I will buy "Fresh Dead" and salt them directly.

On a couple of other sites there is a lot of debate about freezing salted shrimp, I do, but many say don't.

The rice is mixed with the salt after the shrimp is removed. There is a whole lot of moisture in the salt from the shrimp, and rice will absorb a lot of that moisture. Just separate and discard the rice from the salt before using it on shrimp again.

The holes in the strainer in the picture is small enough to separate the rice from the salt.

Some people believe that by salt dehydrating shrimp, it increases the scent and other attractants than fresh shrimp. I don't know I just know I do catch a lot of croakers, whiting, and gaff tops on the stuff.

Thanks. I will try it on my leftover stuff. Usually I just get 1/2lb to fish with my kids, so there is not much left over stuff... but worth a shot. Do you think they work better than buying fresh dead??

Depends on what you are fishing for. They are tougher so it takes a lot longer than fresh shrimp to get eaten off the hook when there are bait steelers around. I have caught croakers and whiting with them quite a bit. Amazingly, I have caught keeper sized gafftops with them too. Oh yea and a few short black drum a couple of times.

I don't think they do well for spots or reds, but that's just from my experience.

You can eat them too... just sayin'.

They sell them (although they're a lot smaller) in the Mexican spice sections and in mexico. Pretty good with some lime and chile.

I fish with pferox and his salted shrimp are tough. They do stay on the hook better than fresh dead. It gives you another type of bait in your arsenal.

It does work well for tipping sabiki rig or tipping articials to get some scent and flavor in the water.

If you freeze already frozen bait it gets so mushy you can't use it so this is a good method to prevent wasting bait.

I wonder which is more cost effective compared to the gulp artificials. I didn't buy any shrimp my last trip and was pretty impressed with my bucket of 3 inch new pennies.

Sawdust will do a good job and not as time consuming..

I've salted my shrimp and cut mullet for years and still stand by the process. I never freeze shrimp! I'll buy it frozen from HEB, bring it home, shell it and salt it. It will stay in the fridge for months in a plastic container with lid with little to no odor. I use paper towels to soak up the liquid that the salt removes from the shrimp. Makes it like a 'gummy bear'. Do the same with your cut mullet and you can catch reds and etc. with it all winter when they're hard to find.

I'm going to buy a box of squid and salt it next. That will probably last me 10 years. lol I use squid once in a great while and end up chumming with most of what I buy after it has been refrozen and thawed a dozen times.

We salted, gutted and butterflied greenbacks and mullet in FL. I haven't done that here yet.

When you salt bait fish, remember to gut them first. It gets a little nasty if you don't.

Saw dust on the shrimp? Or to dry out the salt.