I have read that stealhead can smell 1 part per million, or is it billion I forget. Anyway this is one reason many fisherman use that special handsoap to wash all scents from there hands before they go fishing.

Borax is soap....whats with that? Why am I worried about washing my hands when I am curring my eggs in soap as well?

I dont think human scent really makes much difference. People say that the smell off tobaco repels fish but when I chewed copenhagen I yousto spit some on my rigs just to see and it never made a difference when the fish were biteing I think it might even help sometimes.

Borax is not a soap, its a mined mineral. For some reason it makes a great cure as well a booster for your laundry detergent. I believe in washing your hands to remove human scent but I don't find it to be as critical with steelhead as I do with chinook. More often than not I'll just dump some Mike's anise scent on my hands prior to baiting up and find that works pretty well.

Hey RichH,

You can also but anise extract at a cheaper cost from a grocery store.

The main benefit I see that Borax provides is to draw excess moisture away from the eggs so they don't get soggy. Borax also dilutes almost immediatelywhen it hits the water, so within a few seconds you just have eggs on your line, nicely preserved.

Has anyone tried using kitty litter to dry their eggs? If so, how'd it work? I thought about trying it, but hate to risk perfectly good eggs.

BTW - The soap you wash your hands with is Boraxo , not Borax.

kitty litter is clay. when it gets wet it turns into gumbo mud

There is an amino-acid called Serene or L-Serene that most mammals have in their skin. I have heard that this amino-acid concentrates in the hands, feet & paws, especially in males. Serene is said to cause fish to spook so washing your hands should be a good idea. Maybe salmonids have been naturally selecting wariness towards Serene from migrating past predators like bears standing in the rivers.

Beezer

BILLYBOB

OK that was part of my problem I thought Borax and the handsoap BoraxO were the exact same chemical make up.

Beezer

Fish really do fear me :p

Lead thrower,
Most Borax compounds are an-hydrous, that means they will suck up a water molicule or disolve easily. that is one of the reasons that borax is a good basic cure. When you suck the water out of the membrains, you toughen it up. As an FYI, Boron is also the main element necessary for filbert meat production, that is why nut growers spray sol-u-bor on their trees. Also the cheapest source of borax, busted bags at the farm supply house, but you didn't get that information from me.

Thanks for all the information guys