Just recently, I noticed that Scott Amerman of Amerman's Eggs began offering his egg cure for sale. I bought some to see how it stacks up against Pro-Cure Wizard. Here's what I found:

The cure sells for $6.00 lb for salmon or steelhead in orange or red. It is available directly through Scott via his website/e-mail. I thought $6.00 lb was a bit pricey but I noticed that Wizard sells for $7-$8 for 12oz. I ordered one pound of orange and 2 pounds of red (both for salmon). The shipment arrived within 24 hours of when I ordered it (via e-mail).

The color of both the red and the orange cure is stunning. It is, by far, the brightest cure I have ever seen. Whatever dye he uses is unbelievable. I cured three batches of fresh coho eggs, one with red, one with orange, and one with Wizard (double neon red). The directions were simple but clear. I found the three sets of directions on Wizard a bit confusing so I cured them all with the same process (jar method). Both Amerman's cures came out a shade or two brighter than Wizard and the eggs seemed a bit firmer. Oddly, it seems as though the Wizard cure produced more egg juice during curing. This may have been a difference in the eggs and not the cure. I was happy with the result.

But do the eggs processed with Amerman's cure catch more fish than Pro-Cure Wizard? Tough to tell. I used the Amerman-cured eggs this past week and did quite well on late run coho. But I am not an accomplished salmon-egg angler either so I'm probably not the best judge of their fish catching qualities. Perhaps someone more experienced could render a more informed opinion.

I don't mean to slam Wizard egg cure since I've used it for years and it works great. In fact, the hen cohos that I caught for this comparative test were landed on Wizard cured eggs. But Amerman's cure sure does make great looking eggs and I caught some nice coho with them. So I can't complain. I encourage others to give it a try. The site is: http://www.ifish.net/amer.html

I'm anxious to try the "Ultimate Egg Cure" when it becomes available. Any news on when this will occur? Parker? STHLD1?

Uh.....

I'll defer that question to Keith and James. As a member of Ultimate Cure Pro Staff, I'm not allowed to divulge that information. Sorry.

Parker

Keith said they should be ready to sell The Ultimate Egg Cure in the near future; as soon as labeling and some biz permit formalities are complete I think he mentioned. It will be a very good cure.

Presently I don't think you can buy a better cure than Amerman's Egg cure. His family has been the pioneers of chem cured eggs on the north Oregon coastal rivers for many years, and their cure has always been revered as the best. And the color is great. When I put a quarter teaspoon of it in a clear glass of water and then put a quarter teaspoon of the red Pro Glo egg cure (the actual cure, this time not the concentrated coloring powder) in another clear glass of water the 2 were identical in color, except the Amerman cure was slightly more cloudy due to differences in other ingredients. It appears to me they have discovered the same commercial dye company.

As for the effective Pro Cure Wizzard egg cure, it's a very good one too. It has something unique in it I recognize by smelling the cure powder and from having tried it myself many years ago in my egg cures - it's likely powdered hatchery smolt pellet feed used by salmon/steelhead hatcheries. I could be wrong and it's something that just smells very similar. I posted that tip on ifish about a year and half ago. When I used it the results were irratic. Sometimes great, others times not. That may be because when I used it years ago there were more native fish present. With a higher % of hatchery fish around now, that have been imprinted with the smell and taste of hatchery feed, perhaps that is one of the ingredients in Wizzard that is effective? It also smells like it has a very small amount of sodium nitrate in it, so I wouldn't add any extra spinkled on to eggs cured in it.

I have done a lot of investigating of various egg cures, and experimenting and refining of my own custom egg cures in the last few years. I have come up with the best of the 3 I have been working on and refining, and I may market it for next fall's egg harvests - calling it "Fatal Attraction" Egg Cure by RT. Or I may not. Depends on many factors. It sure is fun to experiment and make discoveries though.

If you want to experiement I will give you a basis to start with. Use the old standard of a 2 to 2 to 1 ratio - of non-iodized salt to sugar to FDA quality sodium sulfite. I've found that while this is an effective ratio, it is not the best one. Experiment with these ratios and importantly adding other powdered ingredients that salmon like. Use the search feature to come up with some of the many other lesser amount ingredients that make a big difference; one being MSG. Then you add your favorite powdered coloring dye, in the concentration you like. My favorite is Pro Glo's red coloring powder (not the cure). It not only has the best of colors, it also has among the least toxic smells and tastes among dyes. Same with dry powdered food coloring, but their colors aren't as good.

One thing is certain, if you come up with an effective home made egg cure it will cost you a fraction of what the commercially sold cures will cost you. Have fun experimenting and good luck.

RT

Coho:

Likewise I got some cure from Scott and followed the directions to the T. I processed 15lbs. or so of eggs with the salmon cure. They came out EXCELLENT!!!Color and scent are by far the best I've seen, and they stay colored up after being in the water for quite a while.

Gave some to a friend who fished them in T-bay tournament last week and he was also impressed.

I can't yet say I am catching more, but I am using a lot less eggs.

I'LL stick with Uncle Joe's eggs, seems to produce just fine. Uh, Parker did you fall of the fence and land on the wrong side?
It seems to me you caught a bunch of fish on saturday with BK and some of uncle Joe's eggs.
Peace Superfly

It won't be long and Ultimate Egg Cure will be up and running and we'll be taking orders by mid next month. One thing that sucks for sure is we might miss a majority of the egg season. We'll keep you updated.
I've personnaly never had the chance to fish Amermans egg cure but by the sound of it they've got things going good there also.
Keith

A good egg cure is worth waiting for. Hope it is soon..

Sorry Joe, as I should have put in a in my post. Maybe "pro staff" was used a little losely there!

Don't worry, Uncle Joe's eggs still ROCK, and yes, BK and I cooned a few fish on Saturday with good ol' Uncle Joe's Eggs.

Parker

Backing out already parker, hmmm. We'll see what you say when you get to try them!
Keith

Oooo! That's a challenge I will never pass up!

If Uncle Joes eggs are what they think they are I have used them myself. They are a great egg but can't compete with Amermans when it comes to fishing tidewater under a bobber. Fish get very picky down there. :p

Joe, where are my hooks?

It's hard to judge how good a egg cure is when there is ton's of fish.... lets look @ the cures when things get tough!!!! Keith i would like to try your cure when you get it up and runnin. I have just started to fish amermans cure latly, seems good, i judge how good your eggs are if the fish swallow it, so far we have some gulpers

I had the chance to try some of Scotts eggs last week on some of the Forks area rivers and was happy with the result. They fished well and lasted well on the hook. Our fish catch was not as good as we had hoped for but thats fishing. In the future when I need to buy eggs Scott will get the call. great service and a great product. When it comes to cures I too am looking forward to the new Ultimate cure. Just have to catch more than one hen per trip.