Best egg cures for Chinook, Silvers and Steelhead

[Gizmo Man]

Now that it's Fisherman's Easter (egg gathering time) any good ways to preserve the hidden treasures that many will get for each of the different fish.

Giz...

[Salmonator]

I can't tell you what eggs I liked for tidewater bobber fishing last year or you'll laugh. O.Mykiss stay out of this!!! My favorite river eggs for back-bouncing are procure redd-hot doublestuff cured with the drying method. Favorite winter steelie cure is no cure. Cut in bait sizes and dried until barely tacky or not tacky at all on the outside then packed tightly in borax.

[chuck 'n' duck]

My fav. chinook cure is still up in the air. I have about a dozen different recepies that I have collected and have yet to try them all. I will be trying some that R.T. suggested this year for fall run.

My fav. steelhead cure is the old borax and jello cure. Very simple and very effective.

Chuck 'n' Duck

[Trick]

I've tried the jello method and that was the stickiest mess, gets under your finger nails and all over. They smelled pretty good though. I have always liked to dry them on news paper in the sun for a few hours to tighten up the skein. Then I would roll them in a Borax and cracker meal mix (which helps pull more moisture), cut into bait size chunks and pack into freezer bags and freeze them for winter. I would like to get other home-made formulas to experiment with, so please post other recipes.

[Quick Fish]

Does anyone have any experience vacuum packing salmon eggs in the plastic bags provided with the vacuum packer? Do they end up squeezed too much and broken? Is it better to put them in canning jars and vacuum seal the jars? Thanks.

QF

[dawhunt]

Hi Gis,I've had a good friend who taught me to use PRO GLOW he swore by it his name was Richard Paradinski and he'll propably roll over in his grave when,I say.I like PRO CURE BRINE METHOD it really works slick both the bright red and natural.When i use Pro glow
when the eggs start to milk out in the jar,I squirt some salmon or shrimp oil into the jar
and when the eggs suck that juice back in they suck the scent in to.I think you can do the same with pro cure.When I'm winter steelhead fishing and hopefully catching and hopefully maybe if I'm lucky at all and catch a hen,I just use Borax cus I'll use them up pretty quick.I might be wrong but it seems like winter fish like that orange color of fresh eggs.But then again i might be right.Good Luck.
Bob

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Bob Dawson

[Fishaholic]

I vacuum seal my cured eggs in quart jars; they last for years in my fishing refrigerator. its easy to make the date and cure type on the lid. its sometimes hard to select jar of eggs to take fishing? you can reseal the eggs left or mix them with another jar thats not full
Lyle

[newt]

Quickfish:

I vacuum pack all my eggs. It's a trick I learned from a friend years ago. If you want eggs that are as fresh as the day you cured them months previously, then vacuum pack them.

Definitely freeze the eggs first or you will crush them. I usually freeze them overnight and then vacuum pack them the next morning. Works great!

I'm amazed more guys don't use this method. Freezer burn is a thing of the past.

[garyk]

Lyle - Please pardon the dumb question but how do you vacuum seal jars? Is it the method of adding a burnning piece of paper to use up the oxygen? Or is there a device that seals what I assume are mason-type canning jars?

I'm really curious since my unfrozen eggs quickly develop mold.

[Jeffhead]

Hey Garyk,
A little cleaner way than using paper to burn the oxygen off is to use a small candle.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

[Salmonator]

Food Saver vacuum sealers have a wide mouth jar attachment. I used to vacuum seal eggs but I generally go through them fast enough to where I don't do it anymore.

[cureless]

This is my favorite topic hence the name “cureless” I have used all the cures that has been listed so far.

One year I had some freezer burned five year old dried up eggs that were hot and seemed to be the only egg that worked ???? RT (Steve) posted some good info last year if you can go back and find it, He mentioned a few tricks I plan on trying this year.

I have found that when the bite is hot it matters not what egg cure you use, Its when its slow and the fish are selective (specially in slow moving tide water) that a good clean fresh bait works best.

That is the time its nice to have several (2 or 3) different cures just different enough to get those few biters to bite your offering and not the guy next to you unless it’s me next to you.

Also review the bobber topic being discussed and go out and watch those who are hooking the most fish and study their presentation, type of bobber lead combination etc.

Don’t overlook what has already been posted thus far. It took my dad and me over twenty years to learn what has been posted in half a day

Good luck and have fun with it !

Cureless (Mike)

[fishhead5]

I take my eggs and roll them in paper towels Viva brand. Then rap them in comercial grade plastic wrap. Then vacuum pack them. It sounds like a lot but the paper towels keep them from getting too gooey when they thaw out and for some reason when you wrap them in plastic you dont have too freeze them befor you vacuum pack them.

[fishhead5]

I take my eggs and roll them in paper towels Viva brand. Then rap them in comercial grade plastic wrap. Then vacuum pack them. It sounds like a lot but the paper towels keep them from getting too gooey when they thaw out and for some reason when you wrap them in plastic you dont have too freeze them befor you vacuum pack them.

[dawhunt]

Hi guys and gals.I had some eggs that were 3 or 4 years old,thawed them out didn't look to good,bought some RED PRO CURE used the brine method for about twenty five min,after thawing them out.They came out GGRRREEAAATTT
so if you have old eggs give this a try before you throw them out it works.Don't leave them in the brine to long maybe 30 or 35 min. at the most.I've been bumped again so I'm out for the night.$#@%%^& AOL

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Bob Dawson

[Steelheadman]

I just put up some Chinook eggs I bought out on the coast from a fisherman last weekend. Still not as mature as I would have liked but still some good eggs, and a few dark ones not so good. I slit the skeins in half and let them dry out for a couple of days on some burlap in the fridge. Then I cured them the old fashoned way with borax, 1 cup, and non-iodized salt, 1 teaspoon. Make sure to get the mix in all the cracks. Then I put them in zip-lock freezer containers and in the freezer. Went through 3 boxes of borax.

[Richter]

I vacumm seal my eggs in pint and quart jars. I recently found some eggs in the back of the frezer. The were from the fall of 1996. I took them out and they were primo, just like the day I put them up. Have caught several nice steelhead on them. Vacumm sealing is a great way to go no matter what cure you use.

Rich

[ripalip]

Hey Quick Fish, Yes I have vacuum packed cured roe in both canning jars and the bags for the vacuum packer. I am much more satisfied with the bags. I was told that the vacuum would break the eggfs and ruin them NOT SO! In fact, it firms the eggs up some and actually improves the fishability of them. I used them for spring chinook on the upper Deschutes (Shearer Bridge)this spring and knocked them dead.

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

Hey y'all, I cured up some eggs last night with a method that seemed "factory" to me. It's the first time I have done it this way, and the results were awesome. Just need some fish to run my way, and then "fish on!" I had about 2 to 2.5 lbs of skein I split them long ways down the center, exposing some more of the moisture. Of course I put them on a newspaper first! Then I sprinkled the cure (don't know what it's called, but it was in a herb shaker type bottle) on the "rough" side up and used my fingers to gently rub it in. I only had enough for a pound, so I used what I could and then I started sprinkling brine on the eggs. I let them sit like that for about 3-4 hours changing out my newspapers as needed to quicken the drying time. I then cut the roes long ways again, and then cut width ways, with the membrane side up, into the baitsized portions. I sprinkled a minute portion on these bait sized pieces, and let sit on fresh newspaper for 2 more hours. Well the results were very much to my liking! I put about 10 pieces per ziploc bag, rolled up the individual bags, placed all of them into a large ziploc bag, and popped them into the freezer. I will thaw them out tonight and place in the fridge for this weekend's excursion. I will keep everyone updated, so wish me luck.
roll tide