The web's best fishing magazine
If you’ve ever dealt with loose, soft roe that just won’t stay on the hook, this video is for you!
Making spawn sacks is a quick and easy solution for soupy eggs. Spawn sacks (aka “egg bags”) are also extremely useful when you are fishing in an area that’s loaded with bait stealers like chubs, smolt, trout and squawfish, etc.
Okay, more from my Alaska files…Here’s a cluster of roe drifted down a run on the Togiak River loaded with Dolly Varden (some rainbows and jacks were in there too). I always cut the points off the hooks while filming (if a fish got hooked, it caused too much camera shake). This sequence is cool as one dolly rejects the bait and another comes out of the pack to eat it!
A dolly varden lines up on the scent trail of the bait…
At the last minute, he rejects the bait…perhaps the camera scares him off.
Check this guy out, though…coming out of the pack to attack
No turning back now!
Going in for the kill!
Tastes good!
Full commitment!
JD,
I was wondering if you could explain the difference between sulfite and borax eggs cures. Furthermore, are there times when one is superior to the other, for example do Kings prefer sulfite cured eggs over borax?
Cheers,
Mike
Mike, many of the commercially-produced cures like Pro Cure, Pro Glo, etc. are sulfite cures…in that, sodium sulfite is one of the main ingredients. Usually, there’s other stuff in there too like dye and maybe some sort of “bite stimulant.”
Boraxed eggs are just that — baits rolled around in a bowl or Zip-Loc of Borax (not Boraxo). Borax helps toughen the outer membrane so the eggs will fish longer but doesn’t add any flavor or color.
Generally speaking, kings and other salmon prefer bright red salty eggs so go with sulfite eggs while chasing them. On the other hand, steelies like a sweeter egg, so Borax or Jell-o cures are better for them.
Both species will cross over and eat the other type of bait, but you will definitely do better by matching your bait to the species you’re after.
Okay, you asked for it…here’s the basic way to bait up with roe for steelhead fishing:
