I eat all I can with in 2 days of catching them, the rest I put in water and freeze them...and let my brother steal them, he has only complained once. That was when I set him up one time because I knew he was coming and was gonna steal what I had. I saved the head, skin, blood and guts, put them in 1/2 gal milk cartons I used to get from a friend of mine in Grenada that were un-used. I labeled them Crappie Filets... Sure enough, he came one weekend, left on Sunday and went back to Nashivlle. I could barely wait to check the freezer, when I did, I gave a loud holler, "I got him"... About 2 months later, he envited everyone in his office for a fish fry. He came home from work at noon and put the 'filets' in a tub of water and figured they would be good and thawed by 5 when he got home. I would have given a gold monkey to have seen his face when he dumped those 'filets' out... had to go buy some catfish at the local fish market.... But, he still steals them and I let him.. So, my point is, I don't really know how good or bad they are out of the freezer...
I'm sure gonna get me a vacuum sealer tho and try it..