Freezing bait: tray or no tray?

I've pre-frozen my brined herring so as not to crush them in the vacuuming process.
But now I'm finding air pockets around the fish in when I seal them in the trays.

I sealed a few without any tray and air pockets were fewer.

What do others do? Are air pockets more or less okay?

No tray. I try to pre-straighten as much as practical. Like the stacking tho.. I forget to make a spacer when stacking for freezing and the weighted ones on the bottom get mushed

Impressive bait supply! 

No tray. I try to pre-straighten as much as practical. Like the stacking tho.. I forget to make a spacer when stacking for freezing and the weighted ones on the bottom get mushed

Do you pre-freeze before vacuuming?

No tray. I try to pre-straighten as much as practical. Like the stacking tho.. I forget to make a spacer when stacking for freezing and the weighted ones on the bottom get mushed

Do you pre-freeze before vacuuming?

Yes sir, prolly go no tray though it looks pro when you do…

No tray, mostly for waste reduction. I brine overnight to get some of the blood out, then seal on gentle. They don’t ooze too much or get crushed. I’m not super concerned about the air pockets. Tray bait from the store generally has em too.

i think if you brine them you're already off to a great start helping to keep them nice and plump as well as preserving all the scales.. Getting them solid b4 bagging them and you're already a step ahead of the game.

i have used no trays, cardboard, and foam trays.  No tray is ok. Cardboard i hated- the baits stuck to it badly; maybe plastic wrap would help.  Foam tray is ideal. Flat, soft, no absorption.


Air pockets are ok but i try to minimize them. If the baits freeze in some liquid i think its ok, kinda like when people freeze meat in a brine.


I like to prefreeze on trays in an open bag and then after 12h or so put them in the chamber sealer.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cni2LhUhKmh/

my 2c,
cf

I just sealed them all away, mostly without trays. Better seal that way. Baits look good, the occasional reddish eye, but nice and shiny overall.

Letting them freeze solid before vacuuming seems important. It lets me really get a nice vacuuming without squashing them.

Here's hoping they work!