The best thing to do is catch suckers the day before you head out fishing...... cut those suckers into narrow strips making sure to leave some skin on each piece. Obviously you'll have success simply cutting an entire frozen sucker while on the ice but if your bait thaws the meat will most likely fall of the skin making it difficult to keep your bait on a hook...... this tends to be the case for those suckers that have been frozen for a few months...... either way, having your bait ready to go means you'll be fishing and not wasting time cutting up bait.... I'm thinking about ice as well man, Good luck!