By: Mike Ainsworth of First Light Guide Service
There are countless ways to cure roe for fall salmon. Some anglers use long, drawn-out processes that take days to complete. I don’t do that. I want an egg with great color, that milks well, has strong scent and, most importantly, fishes well.
For years, I’ve kept my cure pretty simple. I mix BorX O Fire and Fire Cure and add a good amount of Fire Power—that’s pure krill powder for those who don’t know. That’s really all I need to consistently catch salmon.
Now there’s a new kid in town: Fire Bite.
You may have your own egg cure recipe that works for you. This is mine. It’s simple, quick and easy. I like the combination of borax and sulfites, and I add krill because salmon eat a lot of it. Krill is an important part of the food chain in the Northwest, and Fire Bite possesses that krill scent along with powerful amino acids, and other ingredients designed to trigger the bites you’re looking for.
Start With Good Eggs
To cure eggs, you need skeins. So get out there and catch a salmon. There are plenty around, and your chances are good. If you’re having trouble catching hens, you can always reach out to me. I know a guy who sells frozen eggs.
Once you have your fish, bleed it and get it on ice. If you’re cleaning your fish on the shoreline, have a clean, dry container or Ziploc bag ready for the eggs. Keep them cold in a cooler with ice until you get home. You have to start with a good egg to end up with a good egg. Taking care of your eggs from the beginning is important.
I like to bleed the salmon before it dies. Cut the gills and allow the fish to bleed out. This helps keep blood from flowing into the egg skeins. Some people like to knock the fish on the head before bleeding it. That’s fine, but don’t go crazy with the bat or club. You want the heart beating when you cut the gills so it can help pump the blood out of the fish. The gills are essentially major blood vessels, and cutting them allows the fish to bleed out while the heart is still beating.
Some anglers don’t believe blood in the eggs is a problem. I disagree. I prefer to err on the side of caution and believe that some fish simply don’t react well to eggs with a lot of blood in them.
Even after properly bleeding the salmon, there will usually still be some blood in the skein. It’s easy to remove. Cut the end of the egg sac—or cut the skein in half—and use the back of your scissors to gently push the blood down the vein onto a paper towel. The paper towel will absorb the blood.
Again, start with a good egg and you’ll have a much better finished product.
My Egg Cure
Cut your egg skein into quarters or thirds. This gives the cure more opportunity to work its way into the eggs.
For the past few years, I’ve been using a 70/30 blend of BorX O Fire and Fire Cure. That’s 70 percent BorX O Fire. I prefer having more borax than sulfites in my mix.
I like using Pink Fire Cure and Red BorX O Fire together to get a lighter red color. That’s just my personal preference. You can play around with the amounts and colors until you find what you like.
When it comes to Fire Bite, you can add it right into the curing process. Meanwhile, I prefer to add it afterward, almost like putting finishing salt on a good steak. You can do this the night before after you defrost your eggs, or you can add Fire Bite when you get to the river.
Put your eggs and cure into a Ziploc bag, seal it up and tumble everything thoroughly. You want the cure getting into all the nooks and crannies of the eggs.
Once they’re mixed, put the bag in the refrigerator and let the cure do its work. I’ll tumble the eggs about once an hour to make sure everything is getting a good coating.
Typically, I let the eggs soak for at least 24 hours. That said, I’ve fished eggs the next day after an overnight soak and caught plenty of fish.
That’s really it. Follow these simple steps, use your favorite Pautzke colors and you’ll have a great egg for the upcoming fall and winter salmon fisheries.
When I Add Fire Bite
I like to fish my eggs straight first. If the bite gets tough, that’s when I pull out the Fire Bite.
I’ll dust the eggs with Fire Bite and get them back in the water. The krill scent and other bite-triggering ingredients give the eggs a different look and scent in the water, and that can be enough to get a reluctant salmon to bite.
Sometimes you don’t need to completely change what you’re doing. You just need to give the fish something a little different. That’s where the new kid in town comes into play.
Editor’s Note: Guide Mike Ainsworth operates First Light Guide Service. To book a Northwest salmon trip with him please visit www.firstlightguideservice.com.