Tile fish baits

[jjdbike]

Originally Posted by Garone Custom Rods

My favorite tile bait is fresh squid and freshly cut strips. Fluke, Bluefish, tilefish and also rosefish all work great. Mahi and skipjack or false albacore strips are also awesome but harder to come by unless you can catch them while you are out there.

A big thing with strip baits is to keep the fish whole and packed in ice until you are going to use them. I typically will fillet one side of a fluke for instance and cut strips. When that is done I will cut the other side and use that before cutting any more of the same bait. Also keep the majority of of the cut bait cool otherwise it turns to mush and is a waste.

This is great info here.
I understand keeping baits fresh & packed in ice. What I don't understand is why do we need to keep the fish whole till we need it? Why shouldn't we strip it out a head of time (eg when it's convienent) as opposed to when we want to be fishing? Doesn't it stay just as fresh filleted & striped I ice as it would whole?
Thanks
JD