Egg Curing Question

[Bait Bucket]

Is it OK to freeze eggs for a while before curing them? Until recently, all I have caught are native fish or buck hatchery steelhead. Lately I have picked up a few hatchery hens and I would like to try my rooky hands at curing them. Thanks. BB

[Danderson]

BB... I wouldn't freeze them I would get them right to the cure as soon as possiable. There are so many cures out there it is sometimes hard to find the right one that you like. Fortuanutly I was lucky to stuble on Amerman's cure very early on and have been very happy with it's results. Not only is curing eggs with the cure very easy it is trully very effective. Scott has a link on this site right HERE that will help you with the basics of egg curing it will defiently get you on the right track. I'am not an expert at egg curing but what I have learned in my short time at doing this is bleed the fish you intend to keep... Bleed ing the fish really helps the eggs come up nice and pink not bloodshot. I'am not sure but bloodshot eggs could have an effect on the scent and the texture. I have always bleeded my fish in opposed to just thumping them and putting them in the box. Next is I get those eggs from the fish right to cure ASAP. This insures that you get a good quility egg. You can have the best cure in the world but if you put it in on a poor quility egg it can be useless and a waste of time and money. Experiment with Scott's cure, add some scent that you like after the 48hr curing process put them in fridge and you can humidify them to the texture and the wetness you like to fish or just put them right in a jar from the cure bag. I have become pretty much just a pure baitfisherman and have got the curing process down to a egg quility I believe works and is most effecient for me. I started with the link above and a bag of amerman's egg cure and it all evolved from there. Good luck give it a try you won't be dissapointed. Maybe Scott or Grant will take a look at this post and throw you some trully expert advice but hope this helps for now. Get them eggs in the cure, You can keep them out of the freezer and in the fridge in a jar for a week or so after the curing process is done if you plan to fish with bait soon. Those stealhead eggs make good springer bait and backbouncing some freshly cured up Amerman eggs and some prawns or sand shrimp can be trully lethal with the spring season approaching us. Good Luck Again hope this helps a little. Click on the link it will help you out.

Derek

[Twitchs_Tackle]

)DON'T freeze, and Read Egg Curing Link (for a small service fee... like one skein for me, one for you... I can help you :tongue:

[Quasimodo the fish killer]

GOTFish is right you need to bleed the fish right after you whack it. blood will not cure and continues to rot thus causing enzymes that will foul you eggs. also bleeding a fish makes the meat turn out so much cleaner. try it some time when ya have 2 fish bleed one, and leave the other. there is a huge difference in quality of meat.

I use amermans on and off for steelhead and the only thing I would add is that I drain my eggs really well before I cure them ( I roll my eggs in paper towels over night and let them drain) then I put them in a zip loc add the cure and roll them around every now and then. I also let them stay in the cure untill all the juice is soaked back up by the eggs. then I air dry them in the fridge for a couple days untill they are tacky. ( this helps to keep them from milking out so fast) if I am going to be drift fishing some real fast water I will even roll them in a little borax just to tuff'n them up a little more.

Salmon is a different story though because the range of water speed you fish will vary a lot because of your location here in eugene we fish mostly deep fast water and you dont want your eggs to milk out super fast. I cure them in amermans pretty much the same way but instead of rolling them in borax I lay them out on screens and let a house hold fan dry them a little more. when the edges of the skein starts to get a little crusty I vac pac them and freeze them. this seems to really help to keep them from milking out super fast in the fast water.

when you thaw your eggs they will moisten back up from the sweat the temp change makes and they are nice and rubbery.

I been doing my eggs like this for a couple years. a buddy I fish with cures his just like the label says. we fished 4 trips last spring I was 13 fish to his 1 and in one hole I got 5 on 5 passes he didnt have a single bite.

we both use the same cure same color I just dry mine some. I am guessing my slower milking eggs leaves a scent trail longer and the fish can find it more easily.

OH if you do get some eggs that are blood shot you can take 1/2 cup borax per cup of water and soak them in it the borax will kill the bacteria and draw out the blood. just keep changing the mixture untill the blood is all drawn out. then drain them and cure them how ever you like.

ok my vast inexperience of egg curing has been depleted I can teach you no more grasshopper go forth and fill your fish box :grin:

Quasi

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