I cured and froze some salmon eggs from last spring, and I'm looking for any tips or insight for the best way to bring them back to the point of being able to put them into fishable spawn sacks.
I have everything needed to build the spawn sacks, just need some tips before I defrost so that they don't turn to mush.
Any help is appreciated.
Just one comment, don’t borax loose eggs. Pat dry them and freeze them in multiple freezer bags if you don’t tie them up or use a glass jar. Borax skein but not loose eggs.
Well, as promised a report of the spawn sac size challenge.
I can't really make a determination as to if size actually mattered today or not, but i did learn that the way I tied the spawn sacs worked out well, and the eggs milked nicely even after being frozen, so I guess I cured them right.
Seems like I had everything going against me today though.
Warm Weather - CHECK!
East Wind - CHECK!
High Water - CHECK!
Not the best of days, but still fishing, none the less!
As many shared with me yesterday, the water was extremely high in the rivers, so I ended up at the Kenosha Harbor and the mouth of the Pike River.
Not many jumpers, and I only saw 3 salmon caught all day, but I'm confident in saying that they were there. None caught by myself, but at least I didn't get skunked! I ended up landing about a 15 pound Channel Cat that bit on a spawn sac!?!?! I think it was the quarter sized one...
Oh and a lady caught a sizable Carp....
The guy that I was chatting with and I were kinda baffled by the channel cat, but oh well. Great company, BTW! Thank you for chatting and making the outing more enjoyable if you read this.
I'll post a video of the catches and the day, but I learned an awful lot and had a great time.
Round 2
I made some nickel sized spawn sacs while watching the Badgers game tonight.
Carpio, after looking at the size of the ones I made originally, and making ones about nickel sized as you prefer, I think you're onto something.
Attached is the size comparison of the two batches.
Just a guess, but I'm thinking the bigger spawn sacs would fish better in the harbors and the smaller ones would fish better in the upper sections of the rivers.?.?.?
On a side note, one of my buddies went up to Two Rivers today, and caught these three on a hand made fly that I've also pictured. Hope this helps the audience.
Cross your fingers for me on Monday! Looking forward to screaming out a couple hundred feet of line. :)
Tight lines all, and I'll keep you posted.
Yes, this is an experiment to catch fish, but no, I'm not new to the game... For the past 17 years I've used different methods and have done very well. Just a middle aged dog here trying to learn new tricks...
Guess I'll take out another batch of eggs from the freezer and make a bunch of smaller sized spawn sacs to test the size theories.
IM me if anyone wants some. I'll be in Racine/Kenosha on Monday attempting to find a haul of fish to bring home and smoke.
The spawn I have is from a Chinook and a Steelhead. No Brown trout unfortunately.
Thanks again for the insight Carpio.
-Nate
I personally like them smaller. Since you are apparently somewhat new to this ,experiment! fish them side by side. By the way brown trout eggs are superior to salmon eggs IMO. If you can obtain semi ripe trout eggs try the borax cure. It’s harder to keep on the hook but milks better. CARPIO
Thanks for the tips fellas. Much appreciated. The eggs that I harvested last fall were loose eggs. Before I left the river I managed to squeeze most of the eggs out of the two females into a large zip lock bag and I took that bag down to the river to let the river water help harden them. At least that is what a few other guys told me to do in the past.
At home before I froze them, I paper towel dried them as best as I could and put Borax on them then. From there I froze them into manageable portions.
I took a package out last night in preparation for Monday's trip over to Kenosha and Racine. They thawed out fairly quickly, and I put a little more Borax on them, then I hand tied a bunch of spawn sacs with a couple floating balls in each.
Please take a gander at the pictures, and let me know your thoughts. It will be interesting to see how they work, and I think they look darn close to what you can buy at a store.
Now I gotta figure out my set up as to how to use them, and I hope they work!
Preparation of the eggs prior to freezing is most important. If you prep them first there are no issues when you defrost them.
First never rinse eggs under water. Remove all the blood using paper towel. If you are going to make spawn sacs using skein you must scape the eggs prior to freezing.
If the eggs are loose soak most of the moisture using a clean cotton rag or paper towel. Best method is to freeze the eggs in a glass jar or if you use zip lock bag, use multiple bags to prevent freezer burn. It’s best to tie spawn sacs prior to freezing, wrap them in tin foil and then freeze.
If you are using skein as skein, properly remove the blood, cut into small pieces and then cure using a product designed for curing. You can use borax if you want to have a natural color.
Again proper preparation is key. I see so many guys not properly curing eggs and waisting them.
Use the Borax method. Take a sheet of aluminum foil, scoop some 20 mule team borax onto the foil,cover the eggs completely. Fold up the foil into a package and refrigerate for a couple of days. This is best done when the eggs are in a skein but will still work. It takes out the excess moisture. You may have to add additional borax and refrigerator time. If it were done in a skein you could just cut off a chunk and run a treble thru it. It really works well , “ milks” nicely in the water. This WAS THE WAY to fish eggs before the SPAWNEE was invented. CARPIO
