A How-To Guide: Curing Brown Trout Eggs

By: Andy Bliss

This time of year obtaining brown trout eggs is common in the Great Lakes. When I get brown trout eggs I prefer loose, mature brown trout eggs, not skeined eggs like we fish for salmon in the fall. I prefer loose eggs because they are tougher eggs, less messy and easier to tie.

There’s a lot of misconception on how hard it is to cure brown trout eggs. With BorX O fire it’s a simple process. It seems many try to complicate it, but there’s no reason to. It’s easier to cure single brown trout eggs than salmon or steelhead eggs.

curingbrowntrouteggs7

The Brown Trout Egg Cure

Step 1: Ensure Eggs Are Clean

Once I have my eggs I make sure they are clean and have no blood. That means if there’s blood or other foreign object in the eggs I use a paper towel to clean that off.

curingbrowntrouteggs1

Step 2: Container & Cure

Once clean I put the loose brown trout egg in a container or Ziploc and I start to lightly coat them with BorX O Fire. I shake the BorX O Fire on top them and put on enough so the eggs are covered. Then I’ll shake them so it mixed up. You want to coat them, but they don’t need to be swimming in the cure.

curingbrowntrouteggs2

Unlike when you use Fire Cure on salmon eggs they aren’t going to juice out right from the start. The eggs will absorb the cure and I’ll let them sit overnight. They’ll be fishable in the morning. Really it’s that easy.

curingbrowntrouteggs3

Step 3: Choose Netting & Tie

When using loose brown trout eggs we are always tie them in spawn sack material. In the Great Lakes we love a natural color egg, but to spice up the egg we use different color meshes. White, pink and chartreuse netting is most popular and here on Lake Ontario we use blue netting, too. When fishing low and clear water we’ll fish six to 10 eggs in a bag, but most of the time I’ll use a teaspoon size of eggs. When the water is big and dirty expect to use a much larger sack, but most of the time dime to nickel size is common.

Bonus: Choosing Colors

I’m a natural guy and use Natural BorX O Fire, but when the water is dirtier I’ll use Orange BorX O Fire. I know guys that use orange, pink and red, too. Keep in mind, when I fish water that is crystal clear I like to leave the brown trout eggs in their natural state. But, anglers fishing water that’s dirtier might want to use brighter colors. Match the color of BorX O Fire to the water you’re going to fish it vital to success.

curingbrowntrouteggs4

Editor’s Note: Andy Bliss operates Chasin Tail Adventures. For more info on his salmon, trout and steelhead trips please visit https://www.facebook.com/chasintailadv or http://chasintailadventures.com.