I see these posts of various egg cures but don't understand why they work better than borax. Are things like pro-cure which I guess you can't get right now due to a fire- adding scent or something to attact steelhead? Isn't an egg an egg? Must not be but I don't understand wh.

i think boraxed eggs work just fine and sometimes better than the chem cured eggs.15 to 20 years ago before the pro-cures and such came out thats all we used is borax.a lot of the new cures work great also and actually milk out a lot better than borax eggs, leaving a far better scent trail and color quality.i cure eggs using several different cures depending on what,where i'm gonna be fishing.best thing to do is take a few different cures on your fishing trips and try them.experimenting is a fun part of fishing.good luck.scott

Steely:

Yes, an egg is still an egg. Did the borax bit for many yrs., froze the eggs, took them out and guess what??? caught fish!!! Then decided better go with the sugar, salt, borax cure....put in jars and did the match/paper bit, for vaccum, stored until I needed........guess what?????caught fish....
Retired now, fish lot's, in area's(Grays Harbor County)that have lot's of "good fishermen". Bottom line is that some people catch more fish than others, ALL THE TIME!!!!!I'm not to old to change, and OHHHHHHH so glad I have. All my eggs are "put up" about the same way.... combination of sugar, salt, borax, Pro Glow(or other name brand product) and maybe some "smell."
Now I use a vaccum sealer to "suck the air out" and then freeze. Works!!!!!!

I'd tell you my the proporation's of each....but then I'd have to kill you, kidding but don't ask!!!

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"

You need to read the article in oct-nov STS this guy really chems up his eggs.

Steely, ever fished next to someone who is just slaughtering the fish and you cna't get bit? an egg is not an egg. I feel naked if I don't have atleast 3 diff egg cures with me at any given time. It's amazing, but there can be a BIG differance.

I agree with fishbait. An egg is not an egg. I use chem cures mostly for salmon and borax cures for steelhead and sometimes combnations of both. I have my favorites which is a combo of pro cure's and a few other additives. I also really like Bobs recipie from his tips section for dyed boraxed eggs, experiment and try scents and some of the other great tips that have been on here and you will find something you like. Once the Ultimate egg cure is available I will try it also. Always looking for that little extra edge.

[ 11-27-2001: Message edited by: Firedog ]

Some of the folks who do chem cures also have chemical attractants in their mixes as well. From MSG to the stuff that aquarium owners use to stimulate the feeding in sick fish, there are a lot of interesting things that can be added to cures.

Do feeding stimulants like these work? Why are you asking me? I don't get out fishing enough to know. :p

Hey Fishbait, the reason you feel naked out there without enough egg cures is because you ARE naked out there! Sorry, but someone had to tell you about it. Your wife told us that it's a rare mental syndrome and you aren't aware you are fishing naked among the sickened throngs.

Actually I agree with Steve (Fishbait) about being flexible and having 3 good but significantly different cured egg containers along for salmon fishing. Same with scents combos. Often they will bite on all 3 - sometimes on only 1 of them. I also suggest going easy with your chem cured eggs, allowing better use of additives for flexibility (use the search feature to find lots of good additives for salmon fishing eggs).

I prefer a good modified borax cure for steelhead fishing. They don't like the chems as much as salmon do.

RT

-WARNING-WARNING-information Overload to occur in 30 seconds......

Wow! I can't keep up with all the good advice that comes on this board. But honestly, if you guys keep on mentioning more stuff, I'm gonna go broke just running out and trying it all!

I keep reading about egg cures and drift fishing and jig fishing under a float......what works best and in what conditions? For example high dirty water, high clear water, normal dirty etc.....

Will wait for responses.....

IMO, if the guy beside you is killing'em, and your getting skunked it probably has more to do with factors outside the roe your drifting. Steelhead are the dumbest fish that swim,and in medium to fast water, they don't have time to examine the cure you used on your eggs. It's always easiest to blame the other guys success on his eggs, but he might just be a better rod. If your eggs are cured properly in a number of different ways they will fish well.

just mix a little cocaine in your borax, it works wonders, hook just one and you can C&R the same fish over and over all day long!!! LOL

seriously tho...i would have to agree with beek, look at the whole picture (technique, drift speed, depth, etc, etc) there are so many different factors that are involved and egg cure is only a small part of that.

Commercial egg cures vary in many ways in what they use. Most commercial egg cures consist of salts, sugars, presevatives, bite enhancers, dyes, etc. But they all differ in the proportions of each chem or dye that they use.

I believe color of a cured egg in it's self will change a fishermans success rate. For example if you just borax an egg you'll get a dull orangish-brown egg and without any presevatives an egg that will go bad quickly at room temperature. Chem cures work differently, when you use a commercial cure you have the opportunity to choose the color of egg you want and you also will have an egg that will last longer. Other advantages to a commercially cured egg is your egg will milk over a longer period of time so your actually covering a fishes sense of sight and smell.

Scents you add to an egg are extra things you can do on the river if the fish aren't interested in your offering, they're basically bite enhancers but sometimes they can work against you as much as another scent might work for you.

Remember, when your on the river and you see someone that is consistently producing it's apparent your watching a good fisherman that has put their time in fishing and they themselves likely understand how to use a quality egg cure or bait. But a quality cured egg will increase success even for an inexperienced fisherman. An important thing to remember your only as good as your bait if your baitfishing...

Hope this is simple enough to help.
Keith

[ 11-27-2001: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

After taking eggs,lay on paper towels,drain overnight in fridge,lay skiens on prepared mix of 50%borax,25%brown sugar,25%sea salt,cut skiens into quarter sized cubes,roll into mix,vacumn pack or freeze. After this, technique and presentation,are all that matters.If this does'nt work,there's always golf,works for me.

I dont claim to be the authority on curing eggs, but this is the stuff that works for me...... I dont chem cure the eggs that I'm going to use for Steelhead. I cure them in a mixture of salt, suger,borax, and pectin. I do however use chem cures on the eggs I'll be using for Salmon. I like to use pro cure in either the red hot double stuff, or the Steelie pink, and I also like to add a little scent.....Usually the pro cure Slamola powder. I cant give you guys any sort of reason as to why I like to use Chem eggs for salmon and not for Steelhead, It's just a personal preference thing. It's been my experience that Steelhead tend to "eat" the boraxed eggs a bit better than the chem cured eggs, and that salmon tend to prefer the chem cured eggs. Anyhow, just my .02.

Littlezozo,
Procure is a good cure to use for steelhead by its self but it is a tempermental cure (sort of tough to use), and personally I don't like the color it produces. But Slam-olas main ingredient is sodium nitrate and that's an absolute no-no for steelhead, they hate it. Which is another reason why procure wizard doesn't work too well for steelhead either, it has the same active salmon bite stimulant in it. The problem with nitrates are, if the fish want them your on fire but if they're not in the mood for it you won't catch crap. We've played around quite a bit with nitrates and that's the only chem I've found where water temp actually affects how well they bite eggs with it, the warmer the water the more they like it. But personally I'll start with a base cure and add the bite stimulants the night before fishing, if necessary.
Keith

That makes sense Kieth, My little brother absolutely swears by Wizard, however, everytime we go steelhead fishing together, my boraxed eggs kick ass all over his chem cured eggs. That's gotta be it. Its gotta be the nitrate thing. Even my brother will admit that when he gets a hit from a Steelhead on his Wizard cured eggs, it's just kind of a bump and run type bite, but when I get a bite on my boraxed eggs, the fish tend to bite and hang on..... They aren't as apt to spit my eggs out.

Put it this way, the few times I tried wizard cure I would have sworn there were no steelhead in the river, and the few bites I did get the fish wouldn't hold on.. While james was next to me hooking the crap out of them on our eggs and other baits.

No offense to anyone out there but wizard is garbage for steelhead... It cracks me up to see the articles and advertising with some of the best guides out there saying they're using it for steelhead, it's BS...
Keith

[ 11-28-2001: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

I've fished for many years up in Washington and used various cures..The borax cure is good but i find that you need to have a lot of eggs cause its a real pain to keep them on you hook, also you need to be carefull with the amount of borax you put in your cure because it really draws the moisture away from the eggs.
Lately ive been using the chem cures and have had a lot of luck with Salmon and Steelhead. The trick is to get a good cure in the eggs and properly dry them...If the cure didn't take then when you put your eggs in the freezer the will freeze. I like to cut the skeins into 1/2" pieces before i lay them out to cure...
But then again its personal preferance FISH with what your comfortable and what catches fish for you.. I belive if there is i a steelhead in the path you your bait whatever it is Eggs, spinners, spoons, or flys, it will that it on the 1st or 3rd pass.

I've fished for many years up in Washington and used various cures..The borax cure is good but i find that you need to have a lot of eggs cause its a real pain to keep them on you hook, also you need to be carefull with the amount of borax you put in your cure because it really draws the moisture away from the eggs.
Lately ive been using the chem cures and have had a lot of luck with Salmon and Steelhead. The trick is to get a good cure in the eggs and properly dry them...If the cure didn't take then when you put your eggs in the freezer the will freeze. I like to cut the skeins into 1/2" pieces before i lay them out to cure...
But then again its personal preferance FISH with what your comfortable and what catches fish for you.. I belive if there is i a steelhead in the path you your bait whatever it is Eggs, spinners, spoons, or flys, it will that it on the 1st or 3rd pass.
Another thing you might consider is curing up some bait shimp...they work good too.