SalmonJeff
03-19-2005, 09:04 PM
well I got the springer bug his year and I thought that I would go back to an old style of fishng to me and cure up some prawns. With all the talk about prawn spinners I thought I would share how it is that I cure my prawns and give some new guys some tips on a great cheap allternative to trolling the old herring around.
to start I take the prawns and I wash them off and dry them realy good. you dont want the old juice that they have been in to be on them you want them good and clean and most of all dry. I then like to cure my prawns with a dry cure. Yes the un thinkable of useing a dry cure on a prawn. an Alternative to a dry cure is to use the run off from your fall egg cureing if you still have it which does work but to me it is easier to do it with the dry. The wet old stuff will cure much faster but it will also over cure if you are not to carefull.good cures are : Amermans , wizard, pro cure etc... any dry cure that you use for fall eggs will work.
then I take my prawns and I put them into a ziplock bag and add some dry cure. from that I will mix them all up in the bag realy well you realy can't hurt a prawn like an egg so give some good shakes. the prawns will be all covered with the dry cure and it will look kind of clumpy. I then will let them sit over nite in a cool area but not the fridge. the next morning I will shake them some more and they will have a little bit of moisture in the bag but nothing like eggs. then I take a bottle of Tillamook bait scent!!! and I add a good shot of shrimp scent to the mix and then a little more dry cure to keep it from puddleing and add to the color. and again realy mix it all good. then I leave it set for another 6 or 8 hours until the scent is good and absorbed. Now the final step is to set them out to dry and then you are all set. I like to put mine on a paper plate and let them sit out again over nite util the next morning where it is cool and by morning they will look something like this.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/3526in_contrast.jpg
note this is two diferent cures one of which is much hotter then the other. I like to have at least two diferent cures with me at all times and I also will use two diferent scents the top is marries shrimp and the bottom is shrimp and anise. the biggest problem you will face is if you let them cure to long they will turn a kind of purple and I have not had much luck with those. you realy need to watch for them to be just right. if you do it to much they will not work nearly as well. when you are done you can package them however and they will fridge fine for a short while but if you are going to use them all season then freeze them in smaller amounts that you can use in a trip.
keep in the back of mind to use some of these prawns for steelhead as well I have taken a number of summer steelhead on cured prawns and I am sure many of you have as well. for steelehad I always use Amermans steelhead cure and do it the exact same way.
good luck :cheers:
to start I take the prawns and I wash them off and dry them realy good. you dont want the old juice that they have been in to be on them you want them good and clean and most of all dry. I then like to cure my prawns with a dry cure. Yes the un thinkable of useing a dry cure on a prawn. an Alternative to a dry cure is to use the run off from your fall egg cureing if you still have it which does work but to me it is easier to do it with the dry. The wet old stuff will cure much faster but it will also over cure if you are not to carefull.good cures are : Amermans , wizard, pro cure etc... any dry cure that you use for fall eggs will work.
then I take my prawns and I put them into a ziplock bag and add some dry cure. from that I will mix them all up in the bag realy well you realy can't hurt a prawn like an egg so give some good shakes. the prawns will be all covered with the dry cure and it will look kind of clumpy. I then will let them sit over nite in a cool area but not the fridge. the next morning I will shake them some more and they will have a little bit of moisture in the bag but nothing like eggs. then I take a bottle of Tillamook bait scent!!! and I add a good shot of shrimp scent to the mix and then a little more dry cure to keep it from puddleing and add to the color. and again realy mix it all good. then I leave it set for another 6 or 8 hours until the scent is good and absorbed. Now the final step is to set them out to dry and then you are all set. I like to put mine on a paper plate and let them sit out again over nite util the next morning where it is cool and by morning they will look something like this.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/3526in_contrast.jpg
note this is two diferent cures one of which is much hotter then the other. I like to have at least two diferent cures with me at all times and I also will use two diferent scents the top is marries shrimp and the bottom is shrimp and anise. the biggest problem you will face is if you let them cure to long they will turn a kind of purple and I have not had much luck with those. you realy need to watch for them to be just right. if you do it to much they will not work nearly as well. when you are done you can package them however and they will fridge fine for a short while but if you are going to use them all season then freeze them in smaller amounts that you can use in a trip.
keep in the back of mind to use some of these prawns for steelhead as well I have taken a number of summer steelhead on cured prawns and I am sure many of you have as well. for steelehad I always use Amermans steelhead cure and do it the exact same way.
good luck :cheers: