Egg Curing

[bluewater]

This is a little off the usual topics about trolling but I have been doing a lot of steal head fishing and wanted to try to cure some eggs myself and was wondering if any of you have any tips or instructions how to cure them. There seems to be tons of cures out there some say use water some say no water. I have never tried it before but it doesn't seem to be to difficult. Thanks.

[challenged1]

Cured eggs last a long time. If you can vacuum seals them in small quantities they last even longer. You can also put them into the fridge. Your choice. Good luck in the creeks.

[Chromeslayer]

Lots of cures all over the web.. everyone has there favorite that they will never give out (including me ) .. the prolly easiest way to cure eggs is with Pautzke BorxOfire... the stuff flat out works!

[bluewater]

Thanks I will have to try that, I just got a white cure that is supposed to make them a natural color and it says to add water then put the cure in with the eggs but several other cure directions say no water because it takes some of the natural scent away. I am not sure what works best I guess I will have to try a few ways and see what works.

[rocketman]

. I've fished steelhead for close to 50 years using roe, & have tried dozens of curing methods over the years. And the best by far for me is 20 mule team borax, which in Can. can be found in the laundry soap section of your supermarket. One box, which only costs $5.00, will last many years. & cure many eggs. It doesn't take long, & is really quite simple.

I sepatate the eggs from the skiene by using a large spoon so I end up with single eggs. Put the eggs into a flour sifter, & rinse well with cold water, making sure that all blood has been removed. I let them airdry in the sifter for 10 minutes, putting a paper towel under the sifter to remove any moisture. Then put some 20 Mule Team Borax into a clean plastic container(I use a marg. container), put your eggs in, shake so they're coated, then spread them on a newspaper to air dry for 15-30 minutes. I then put them bag into a dried off flour sifter, getting rid of the borax which absorbs the moisture. I then put them into a Mason jar, & pour in some more borax. If you plan to freeze some, I fill the jar with borax & eggs about an inch from the top. Once I put them into the freezer, every 15 minutes I give the jar a shake, which keeps the eggs single, & continue doing this until the eggs are entirely frozen. When you want to take some eggs out to use, this method allows you to take out only what you need, as opposed to thawing out the whole jar, as thawing & refreezing affects the quality of the eggs. It is also important to let the eggs thaw in the fridge, not on the counter. I recently took out some eggs from 2007 to tie, & they looked like they were fresh. Once thawed out, I put them into a flour sifter, rinse in cold water, & your good to go. The eggs are not messy to tie. I caught 11 on those 3-4 year old eggs 3 weeks ago. I have not used "fresh" eggs for many years, as for whatever reason, the boraxed eggs worked better for me than fresh. Keeping your eggs in an airtight container once tied also increases their"shelf" life, as I had some eggs tied from last Spring kept in a plastic urine sample container, & apart from losing a little juice, were just fine, no smell & great color. This method allows me to only keep one 3-4 lb. hen each year, & you'll always have quality eggs available. If you don't want to freeze them, they'll stay good in the fridge from Spring to Fall, no smell, looking good, & most importantly catch fish. I hope this helps, & if you have any questions, just shoot me a PM. I was getting ready to post this, & I read about putting them in water. I've found that by leaving the eggs in water is not adviseable, as the eggs absorb water, increase in size, which due to the swelling, makes the egg membrane thinner , far less durable, so they break easier, & don't last nearly as long. I,ve tried many different ways, & this way works great for me.

[bluewater]

Thank you very much rocketman I will do that with the cure I got now I believe it is a borax mix with a couple other added ingredients it should work the same I would think.

[Kevin J Legg]

I've used a Borax, non iodized salt and brown sugar cure I found on line and had good results. just freeze them and they last a long time, particularly when vacuum sealed.

[bluewater]

Thanks guys just got some steelhead eggs cured today they look great I cant wait to try them out this weekend.

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[joejv4]

I use Atlas Mikes egg cure - comes with dyes to change up the colors, no water required. an hour in the cure then a half hour drying on paper towels, they keep a looooonnnnngggg time. I usually tie mine into spawn sacks, a few dozen each evening while watching TV until they're all used up, then I freeze them a dozen to a ziplock, sorted by color.

I did up eggs from a salmon two years ago and froze the spawn sacks - caught my first steelie of the year with those same eggs (was down to my last dozen).

Fortunately that first steelie was a female loaded with eggs, so I've got spawn sacks to finish out the spring and to take me into the fall run (and the fillets came out of the smoker tasting awesome).

To rocketmans point however, most any of the cures you can buy are nothing more than borax and dye, so the quickest, easiest way to go, especially if you want natural colored eggs, is good old 20 mule team borax.

It's also good to have borax on hand in case you catch that trophy fish that you want a skin mount of - coat it with borax and wrap in wet towels to preserve until you can get it to the taxidermist.

[bluewater]

What is the best stream presentation for steelhead I couldn't get antthing to touch the eggs the other day.

[joejv4]

I tie mine in spawn sacks - about the same diameter as a dime (give or take).

Generally, I buy multiple colors (yellow, pink, blue, orange, red, and white) of the mesh so that I can change up the color of my offering. I play around with the styrofoam floater pellets too, mixing and matching colors.

Best color for me this year so far, is blue mesh with pink floater pellets. Second best is yellow/yellow.

[bluewater]

Thanks but are you using some kind of float with them as in (bobber) or just drifting on bottom with the current? I usually only use egg sacs for salmon I don't have a lot of experience with them for steelhead.

[joejv4]

I do a little of both, depending on where I'm fishing. In a fast moving tail-out, I'll put on enough weight to tap the bottom on each drift - no float. When I'm working the seams at the top of a deeper pool, I'll cut back on the weight and clip on a foam float. I use a 9' rod to give a bit of reach to keep the line off the water and let the float help to hold the bait right along the seam.

There are days when I can't buy a bite on eggs, so I usually have a couple backup baits... the little Exude Trout worms (pink and white seem to work best for me), and a couple tiny bucktail jigs (1/32 oz). I fish these pretty much the same way.

Good luck!