If you could choose any color to cure your eggs what would it be? Does one color outperform others? I don't have knowledge in this area, but am interested in learning. So... what's the color? Red? Orange? Maybe a mix?

Matt

Salmon and steelhead seem to respond to a brighter red egg in my opinion. Although, I've done well on a bright orange egg also. I think it's a personal preference, the red ones just look better.
Keith
Matt- give me a call on my cell 521-6996 I have some computer questions..

I love the red Pro Glo coloring powder or liquid for curing eggs. It's actually a very bright strong cerise color(hot pink with a touch of purple). I use it with my custom chem powder egg cures. I agree with Keith that red hues are the best colors, even though orange does very well at times.

RT

BLACK!!!

I agree with the bright red for kings and silvers but the last few years I've seen alot of steelhead caught on hot pink eggs. They are usually best in clear water fished in nickle sized globs with just a small piece of led. I wouldn't use them in the spring because of all the fry but come december and january the fish better watch out.

My Brother swears up and down that Cherry Kool-aid works.. go figure.... I aint gonna try it....

Cherry Kool-aid may not be the best, but it does work fine. It has good color and it has the sugar they like. The slightly darker rich red of the cherry colors do work for a wide range of river water conditions too. For coloring chem powder cures try Rit fabric dye powder in the cherry red color. It works pretty darn well. But I still prefer the Pro Glo red.

RT

I have used the pro-glo dye when I made a pathetic attempt at creating a brine for some eggs. The color came out and lasts good in the eggs, but the eggs weren't so hot.

Matt

Matt, tell us what kind of eggs you used and the condition they were in before you tried curing them. Were they a bit loose or frozen before curing? If you use a good cure with a proper procedure, that guys have posted here, on good fresh eggs they should turn out good; and catch fish. Both dry powder chem curing and brine curing work well. I prefer the dry powder cures though. Let us know and we'll try to help you along further. You need to get that skunk monkey off your back that you posted about. We all went thru the smae learning stage - just keep at it and you will get there.

RT

Well, where do I start? How about the time I used warm water. That resulted in some single eggs. Great looking eggs (I think), probably work for trout. Or, maybe the time I left the eggs in the brine longer than recommended. I thought I could leave the eggs in the brine longer because I used more eggs. That resulted in some hard eggs. Or, maybe the time I just used borax on the eggs. They didn't last very long before they became hard and blackish. Or, the time I just used pro-cure and the eggs came out really mushy. They have been sitting in the fridge for over a month, still look good, and finally fishable. Or...

It's a long pathetic story. So, to make a long story short... Maybe I should just go buy pre-cured eggs from professionals because I mess them up every time. As far as my eggs go, I have had to buy them. All the times I bought them I was standing there as the fish were being cut, and hand selected the skeins that were medium sized eggs and tight. I don't see any reason why the eggs were the problem, except that I couldn't get all the blood out.

Another question that comes to mind is: is the color of the eggs make a difference? I had the choice of buying redish eggs or orageish eggs. They were separated in two containers. I chose the redder ones. And, I finish the questions by asking how many people carry a dry cure with them and cure the eggs up in baggies or jars on the stream?

As far as the skunk monkey goes, I think some aliens sergically planted it into my body. I haven't even caught a fish by accident, like on a mistake cast, or lure hanging over the water. Weird. Could it be the bannana I eat every morning? Just kidding. I'm not superstitious, so I don't believe in the bannana thing unless it has to do with the chemicals... More to come.

Matt

one thing to say double neon red for salmon and steelhead sometimes!!!!

Borax and some gelliton, they seem to work good. Im sure these Chem cures work good too and have some bennies over plain borax eggs from time to time. But Plain old natural eggs work good enough most of the time in good river conditions. Ive tried different cures but keep going back to old borax.

Matt,

Here is the curing technique I use. I'm a young guy too and so I'm new at all this stuff, but my eggs are turning out pretty good.

Take eggs out of fish and put them between paper towels and put them into refrigerator. Let them stay overnight in the fridge.

The next day take the egg skeins out and cut them into bait sized pieces. Take newspaper and lay it out on a table. Cover the newspaper with borax. Take the bait sized gobs of eggs and roll them in borax. Then leave the eggs on the newspaper and dump some fresh borax over the top of the eggs.

Let them sit for about 8 hours (some guys say until a crust forms on the top) and then go roll them over. Dump more fresh borax onto the top of the eggs. Let them sit for another 8 hours (usually the next morning) and they are done. I always put them in a ziploc bag that has borax in it and put the eggs in the freezer.

This is what I've used and I've caught a lot of silvers on them this year. If you ever make it out to Sequim I would be happy to go fishing with you around here. If you put in the time you WILL eventually get fish.

~ Dr Pepper

An interesting pattern has developed in these egg curing threads. There are 3 very good fishermen using primarily borax eggs very successfully out on the Oly Pen for salmon. Marty M. has always been a proponent of it's effectiveness and now Rich and Dr. P are also. As Keith mentioned in one of his posts, fish from different regions do definitely vary a little in what they like best; even river to river somewhat. It seems obvious that the 'nooks and silvers like borax cured eggs on the OP. They will take them anywhere, including here in NW Oregon. But in my neck of the woods there the chem cured eggs outfish borax eggs by a significant margin. That's why you read me being a strong proponent of those cures in my posts.

I would just say a couple things about borax cured eggs and newspaper. The first thing I know; they will not preserve as long as chem cured eggs so what you don't expect to use within a few days I would freeze in additional borax and air tight container soon after curing. This one I don't know; but I have a concern about laying moist salmon eggs right on newspaper for concern of the ink scent that likely gets absorbed somewhat. Obviously it doesn't stop fish from biting them, but does it diminish their effectiveness for some of the less aggressive fish? I use non-inked paper towells to put my eggs on, with waxed paper underneath to keep the dye off the counter. Likewise, I have a bit of chlorine concern when using tap water for bait brines; not a big deal, but I prefer using distilled water for the very best results I can get. Every little detail counts and adds up!

The chinook salmon in Oregon coastal and inland rivers do prefer dry chem cured eggs such as Pro Glo, Pro Cure, and Amerman cure. And Keith & James' and my cures also. It preserves and colors eggs better and puts a sodium sulfite scent in them that salmon like - a lot. If you also refrain from draining the juice off and let it reabsorb into the eggs for 3 or 4 days in the fridge they will have more to milk out into the river, and over a longer period of fishing time. Packing them moist also helps prevent freezer burn. Curing and packing them in skein quarters also allows you to cut them into the target fish's proper cluster sizes the night before fishing or out on the river - water clarity and salmon speices both determine best egg cluster size. If you thaw out what you will need for your day's, or week's, fishing needs you can then dry them to your preference the day or night before fishing. The looser ones can be dried harder and then be rolled in
borax to toughen them up if necessary. If you come up with 3 chem cures with significant differnces that are all effective, you can take some of each to find which cure the moody salmon want most; or which they like best in the areas you fish the most. You can lightly add other additives and scent oils if the eggs aren't working by themselves. Be flexible for best river success on Kings (silvers and steelhead too). ...

Hey Matt, if you get good eggs, be sure you are presenting them in the proper ways and depths by watching what the guys catching fish are doing. You may also have a higher degree of L-serine in your skin (it varies quite a bit from person to person, and men have more of it tham women) so be sure to wash your hands in fisherman's soap often; and consider trying baiting up with rubber or vinyl gloves on. If you do all this you are going to start catching fish. Good luck, and let us know how you are doing. Many knowledgable members here can help in other areas if you continue struggling more than you should. Just post away.

RT

L-serine huh? I have often thought the problem was me and not my presentation or bait. So if I start sweating, I should stop tying up my leaders? Dang-it-all-to-trash, why me?

Okay, next time I'll wear those white latex gloves, and walk around on the bank yelling out, "who wants their check-up next?" I can't even imagine the strange looks I would get.

As for that skunk monkey, oh don't worry he's still there. Went fishing three times this week and still haven't managed to hook a fish. Drifted okies with and without bait, drifted just bait, and threw spinners. It gets really frustrating to not catch fish. Hopefully this next time, which will probably be this weekend.

Blue eggs huh? That's a thought. What about a plain black okie?

Matt