So I cured up the eggs from the fish I brought home last night. I woke up this morning to find that the eggs did not reabsorb any of the juices like they normally do. Instead, the bag was full of juice and the eggs are pretty hard. They look like little pebbles! I've been using boraxo'fire for a while now with great results. lately I've been adding a bit of sea salt and have been producing some excellent, gummy side drifting eggs. I also usually add a 1/3 cup of raw sugar. I'm pretty sure I put too much salt in and burned them, but it was probably less than 2 tablespoons that I put in there.

What do you think? Is there a way I can get them to plump back up or is it a lost cause at this point? I really needed those eggs for the coming months...

Thanks for any help,

Drew

Give 'em to the kid down the street for trout fishing.

Leave them in the juice and see if they plump up. I haven't heard of anyone burning eggs on borax o fire. I add sulfite to all of my cures and have only burned one batch.

If they don't reabsorb them then try to throw them in a brine. If that doesnt work pm me your address and I will take them.

If you had "good results in the past"......write the formula down and follow it...

On the current eggs..... some eggs are better than no eggs, can always use them for "jacks".

Don't want to give another egg cure, but the "old":

1/3, 1/3, 1/3.....sugar, salt, borax, I add some Beau Max dye....is tough to beat. Can mix up and have ready to use, except for the dye.

Don't "over do" when putting mixture on eggs.

8 - 12 hours, then dump in a plastic strainer....I leave in the strainer, but move eggs around, turn, for 2 - 3 days.

I put in vacuum seal bags, 20 - 24 baits, put in freezer for about an hour, then vacuum seal. Write on bag.....kind of eggs and date. In the freezer they go.

20 - 24 baits is normally enough for a days fishing, cause I also have 6 prawns, and then jigs. Need to get into "spoons", just tough to do it all.

I would if there was one to give them too. haha. So do you think a couple tablespoons of sea salt was the demise of my eggs? it just seems like such a small amount of salt to cause that. I'm thinking the sugar has nothing to do with it.

Or maybe it was the sugar?

He said he put salt in them, that is what did it.

Sugar is the hardener. I would leave them in juice for another 24hrs. If all else fails buy some pautzke Necter and soak them in that.....

+1 on the nectar...good stuff. I add it to bait a lot when king fishing. I doubt it was the salt, I add a lot of salt to salmon bait cures and it only aids to reabsorbing the juice. But in the other hand, a couple tablespoons is quite a bit for a couple small steelhead skeins.

I also don't add any salt to me steelhead cures but thats another dabate and personal preference. Its concept I still battle with. Some kolks will preach 'til there blue in the face thaf steelhead won't bite a cure with sulfites/salt..but I have killed many steelhead with rays coon shrimp and Duane E.'s recipe from NWWC. Both cures have a lot of salt.

I do use fire cure though for all species with success.

I've had some good days with sulfite cures for steelhead. Sounds like the sugar is what hardened them. I'll grab some nectar or maybe some fire brine and experiment tonight.

if they stay in the egg loop use them the fish don't care I routinely catch fish on borax cured eggs that have been in the back of my truck for a month ( during winter) steelhead simply do not care if it's mean they'll eat it.

I have found sulfite cures are better in lower river situations.

Drew,

Just be patient, I think your eggs will turn out fine. I have experimented with a lot or weird chit with eggs over the years.

I have had many batches turn out on the grainy side and also to the point of looking like wrinkled up raisins. I bet yours will stay on the hook well and plump right up after the second cast. Just give them a try.

sometimes it takes a couple days to reabsorb the liquid? with 1 of my cures i have to rotate the eggs for 3 days before it gets reabsorbed.

yes, my steely cure is a 3 day process...... a lot of sugar for upper river fish

The eggs that I use for steelhead...which I do about two days per year...are usually prepared first by defrosting the sandwich bag they are jammed in, and then trimming off the mold.

Steelhead don't care too much.

For the two days per year that I use eggs for salmon, on the other hand, I actually take care of those eggs. Once they get a little sketchy is when they miraculously become...steelhead eggs.

Fish on...

Todd

If you're sidedrifting them for steelhead you'll probably like them as they are..If they'll stay on the hook. Little yarn and you have super scented immitation eggs. As has been stated a million times before, it's more of a site thing with steelhead.

I had been taught by old school egg guides, one of which is a Pautzke pro-staffer that an egg attack is sticktly the fish trying to kill and destroy the eggs to ensure survival and eliminate competiton for that particular fish's genes. Also that the deeper red eggs had a higher chance of survival and that was why these certain fisherman wanted a red cure.

Of course this could be smoke being blown up my ass. But these men have quite the reputaions for their egg fishing and have been doing it for a loooong time. Take it for what its worth, I guess.

Easy fix. Take a moist (soak it and ring it out as dry as you can get it) paper towel and wrap the eggs in it. Let it sit over night, eggs will plump back up. AND they'll be pretty tough staying on the hook a lot better.

just take the eggs out of the juice, you can save it but it is too concentrated to allow the reabsortion process to start, its basically one sided right now and all its doing is continueing to draw out the liquid of the egg. so by removing the liquid you basically dilute the juice, there will still be a little juice in the crevises of the eggs and thats what it will reabsorb. you will still have the ingredients there but the concentration levels are down enough to allow the eggs to get back to your desired state.