Not out to one up or try to get my feet kissed but I would like to add 2 cents worth of suggestions that might help curing eggs. I agree with much of what Stlhdr1 posted. Especially about quickly and properly bleeding and harvesting the eggs as fresh as possible and kept cool and clean (use gloves and plain paper towells and into a large ziplock for the cooler). Proglo is right up there a smidge above Pro-Cure and even Quick-Cure as far as OTC cures go. That is because they use the least costic dye and highest quality of sodium sulfite. Store bought cures can be improved upon with modification, or with accumilated knowledge custom scratch cures can be better than any of them. A few tips that will will help your eggs be more productive: only rinse off uncured eggs with almost frozen distilled water because the low temp will close the eggsack pores and not allow them to waste some milkout and you won't have any chlorine concern. Pad them off with non-inked plain white paper towells. Use a little less cure than the instructions call for per pound of eggs so as not too overchem them, and also to allow for modifications. For freshwater King egg fishing you will do best if you have some degree of flexibility for their moodiness. One mod is to put in 1 T. MSG (Sun Luck is best) per 10 T. cure before curing. After sprinkling on the cure it's best to leave them out in room temperature for a couple hours so that the pores will open better for thorough juicing and thus curing, rotating &/or mixing them about every half hour. Then refridgerate them for up to a few days before freezing, turning them upside down each morning and evening. Most of the egg juice will be reabsorbed back into the egg sacks within 3 days, which gives them better and longer milking ability. For some of the eggs put in fresh sardine filets in the egg juice during curing and some of that excellant baitfish oil will be absorbed into the sacks (and this will also leave you with great eggcure scented reddish sardine filets for wrapping on Kwikfish bellies -killer!). I agree with jarring the eggs for freezing without drying them if they are good tight skeins, because they will be less prone to freezer burn (overdrying) and also importantly look and feel softer and more natural to the fish; and when done properly as descirbed above will have plenty of juice to last awhile on the hook. If they are loose &/or gooey eggs then dry them out for awile and roll them in borax to toughen them. After thawing, another good mod is to put a VERY LIGHT sprinkling of food grade sodium nitrate on some of the eggs the night before fishing. Many times the Kings will want this more than without it so if your nitrate eggs are getting more strikes set the others out and sprinkle them very lightly while out on the river. For the non-nitrate eggs, that you have not overchemed during curing, they are good for trying bait oils on; such as shrimp oil and sometimes a light spray of WD40. Vary your well cured eggs when necessary and you will be in the bite (and in the ballpark with the better guides). -- As for steelhead fishing eggs, steelies don't like quite as much sodium sulfite in the cures as Kings do. However, they will take the stock OTC cured eggs well enough. I suggest either using about half the amount of cure for steelhead eggs or just use a little sugar and non-iodized salt shaken on the eggs, and then roll them in some pink colored egg curing borax; that works great for steelies. Adding a little quality shrimp oil or tuna oil are good varients to try. Be flexable with your egg cures for best success. - Good fishing. - RT




[This message has been edited by Reel Truth (edited 09-29-2000).]