I need to know which is better when curing
prawns.Should I use my normal Pro-cure double
redd cure or the pro-glow red bait coloring
with out the cure??????.Which color seems to
be working the best,Red or Orange??Thank you
and good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Strike Zone:

The pro-glo (non-cure) pink dye on my prawns produced 3 springers for me last weekend!

It was the last bag of it at Outdoor Emporium, a couple of weeks ago.

Going back this weekend to put another hurt on the springers!

Keep your hooks sharp!

Bobber Down

Thanks bobber down,I'll use the dye instead of the cure.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Hey SZ, I got some better ideas for you. First, get quality cooked whole prawns; the best being the Marcy brand. Some seafood stores or dept.'s will sell you a whole unopened box of frozen Marcy's, and you only have to eat some of the ones with missing heads or fantails. The majority of them are good to go. ...

The best cure for prawns is soaking them for a couple hours or so in the drained off saved redish egg juice from the chem-curing process; with such as Pro-Glo cure, Pro-Cure, or Quick cure. You get the best pinkish color, egg juice and scent, and sodium sulfite from the egg cure juice to both preserve them a bit longer and add the sodium scent Kings like. This is also a good thing to soak sardine filets in before wrapping Kwikfish - deadly!!! ...

If you don't have enough egg juice, I suggest making a brine using distilled water (no chlorine concern as with tap water - although a small factor, small factors add up!). To a gallon of distilled water add about one cup of the red Pro-Glo coloring powder (not the cure), one cup sodium sulfite, and one cup of either non-iodized salt or quality fine powdered borax. Stir real well and leave the prawns soak in that for a couple hours or so. Try adding some bait oils for some of them for a variant. A medium pink color will work better on the Columbia and Wind/Drano, and the hot pink to red color for the Willamette, especially after it colors a bit with rains. Also, check out my Columnbia tips thread on ways to rig prawns. I will find it and bring it back up toward the top of the BB.

Thanks R.T.
Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I've never done this prawns thing so maybe a little help please. You buy them allready cooked or do you cook them after you buy them? Should the head and tail still be intact? What store can you buy them in? Thanks for your help. I'm going down to Longview for springer fishin next week thurs thru sat.

Sockeye,Try mutual fish company @ 2335 Rainier Ave So. in Seattle.That's where I pick some up yesterday.Fresh cooked with head and tails still connected.Then cured in R.T.'s brine.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Are cooked prawns the only way to go? How are whole un-cooked ?

AK F, I never see any whole raw prawns in NW Oregon seafood stores or depts. The only raws ones I see come only as tails; which incidently are very good as egg or sandshrimp substitutes when floatfishng slow tidewater holes or deep slack holes in the lower ends of rivers (use raw right away or cured if kept for awhile before using). The 4 1/2" +/- whole prawns we have around my area are cooked - and they work great for springers; especially cured in redish egg juice drained from curing or in a hot pink brine (as mentioned above). If I could find some 4" to 5" whole prawns I would love to try them just raw with maybe a little salt shaken on or cured up in a like manner as the cooked ones. I don't know if the raw ones would have the rigidity of the cooked ones for setting a curve in for rolling action. I have a hunch they may smell more interesting to the fish though. If they worked any better than the cured cooked ones, look out! I've heard the Hoodscanal shrimping seasons have been closed or very limited for years now - true? If they just had a spring season to co-incide with springer fishing I'd be right in there with traps and catfood after them! Hard not to eat them myself though :), maybe eat the jumbo tails and use the small whole ones fish fishing (BTW, summer steelhead and fall 'nooks like them too) . Does anyone know if the small whole ones are marketed raw anywhere in the region?

[ 04-08-2001: Message edited by: RT ]