Salmon Roe

[dirty.dan4]

I usually use borax but was wondering if there was anything better.  Any suggestions?

[billythekidrock]

It has been a few years but Pro Cure worked for me.

[Gobble]

Pro cure  Borax, even table salt work fine. The only complaint about the pro cure are the pink hands from the dye 

[Fishhog]

Most guys are rather secretive on their "Go To" cures.

There are a lot of good commercial egg cures on the market: Ammermans, ProCure, Ultimate Egg Cure, Etc. Some have scents and some do not. Some are Sulfite based cures and some are not. A lot of this depends on if you are fishing for salmon,  steelhead or both. 

There are lots of home cures using Borax, Salt, Sugar, Jello... the list is endless. Some guys add scent during the curing process and you guessed it, some do not.

Good eggs start by immediately bleeding the fish, removing them and getting them on ice. Some will maintain you MUST wear latex/nitrile gloves when handling the eggs to avoid transferring any human scent on the eggs. I'm on the fence on the gloves. It makes sense, but I haven't noticed a vast difference. I do wear them MOST of the time, more-so when I'm curing them. Cure them up as soon as possible. 

Me: I like a simple borax/salt/sugar cure. As far as the ratios go well....... see sentence no 1   

[Bigshooter]

Wizards double neon read, then dip them in borax.  Add what scents you like or leave them alone.  I like a little, and I mean a very little worm scent.

[dirty.dan4]

I totally understand the secret recipe.  Too bad no one has loose lips.  Thanks for the advice, I will try to find my own secret by trial and error.

[wackmaster]

Ask klickriverchromer

[klickriverchromer]

What are you going to be fishing for would be my first question?  And how do you entend on presenting them to the fish?  Drifting?  Plunking? Divering? 

[Geno]

For the life of me I still don't understand why keeping an egg cure recipe needs to be a secret. It makes no sense at all, why not help a fellow fisherman out? It's not like they are going to catch all of the fish that you could have caught. I keep my "honey holes" to myself, but helping someone be more successful makes me feel good. Learning how to fish the river systems for steelhead or salmon is hard enough, most of us were taught by someone. The reason I enjoy reading these forums is learning from others and sharing what I know. These forums would SUCK if everyone kept everything a secret. My
Geno

P.S.: Don't take what I said personal fishhog, I am not attacking you. I use procure, I have tried all kinds of recipes including the "top secret" ones and they all work about the same. It depends more on if they are hitting eggs when you are using them.

[300rum]

I use procure, I like them deep red but sometimes I throw in a little orange jello, especially for springer's and then sometimes I throw in some slam-o-la, I think Procure makes that too.  I like to dry some of mine out a little on some wire racks so they aren't so juicy, they stay together better.  I know some guys would never put them on metal but it doesn't seem to bother them to me.  I will label them with the combination that I used.  After I am done I throw them in a zip lock with some 20 mule team.

[PolarBear]

Pro cure with Krill and I also use the Jell-O method.  Every now and then I go back to the old borax and sugar recipe.

[Fishhog]

Geno - Geez. I was having a little fun.   

Most home cures are the process of trial & error over the course of many years, which is why guys aren't too open to sharing, let alone post it on a public forum. The same applies to posting one's "Honey Hole" Example: You post some info and next time you go to your spot, there are ten new faces like you suggested.  You have to do your homework.

Some take it to the extreme, but I apply the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method. I personally believe that it's not the cure on the eggs, but rather how they are presented. That and the quality of the eggs temselves.


 Amato Books publishes a great Egg cure book written by Scott Haugen:  http://www.amatobooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AmatobooksCom&Product_Code=1571882383&Category_Code=

I have some Pro Cure Last Supper cure up and vacuumed packed in my freezer. I haven't tried them yet, but they sure look good.

[Geno]

No prob Fishhog I agree that presentation is key. How you cut your skeins in conjuction with proper care and a good cure could mean the difference. Getting your eggs to have "stringers" of eggs off of the main body works really good. Sounds technical, but I have seen it work. The problem is getting a good cure to create that effect.

[dirty.dan4]

It seems that when I stay tight lipped about my honey holes, my friends that partake in the feast open there mouths to there friends.

[Fishhog]

Dan - Did you find what you are looking for? I can email you some info if you shoot me a PM with your email address