What am I doing wrong with my eggs?!?!

[sidekick10121]

So the first time I know where I went wrong. They were in the skein in the fridge with blood for 36 hours before I got to them. Lesson learnt.

Fast track to second batch. Catch the fish, pull a gill, bleed it out, take the skein out, butter fly it, push the remaining little blood out, put in stocking and river cure 20 min. Bring home, scape back of skein with spoon to get singles, put in a jar, cover with fire brine for 24 hrs and... They are still so soft that they are "bleeding out" in the fridge and deflating. When I tie them so many bleed out or pop that the once full bag looks almost empty 2 days later.

What am doing wrong?!(!, I don't want to keep wasting eggs. At least the fish is still tasty haha

 

[instapump416]

River cure them for a bit longer?

After grab a single egg and squeeze it to see how strong they are.

 

[steve7321]

Never let the eggs touch water until they are cured. Bring paper towel and a large freezer bag and cure as soon as possible. When fishing for Chinook I use straight borax and for my single eggs I will even let them start to shrivel to toughen the egg. Just add back to juices from the eggs or add a little water. But that's just how I do it

 

[fishingbimmer]

I had this problem with the brine in the past as well. Maybe try using some borax to dry up the brine... Think that's what I did in the past with some success.. For next time search around for a recipe using borax or one of the dry cures. Maybe someone else will be kind enough to post their recipe here.

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

Everyone has there own way of doing it. I do a straight stream harden on eggs (put them in a ziploc bag, add some water, let rest for 30 minutes then set out and air dry for an hour, these eggs will be tied into bags but with skeins I like to bleed the fish, allow them to air dry for an hour or so- add my firecure or borax-o-fire. Tumble them in a gallon bag until they start to produce liquid, then I let them sit in that liquid overnight. Ready to fish the next day

 

[salmotrutta]

To water harden your eggs quickly, the water must be nearly freezing cold. That's why your eggs aren't hardening.

You can water harden them at home by filling a large bowl with mostly ice and adding enough water to soak the eggs. They will harden up in less than 1 minute. If you salt them afterwards, depending on how much salt you use, your eggs may completely change texture and shrivel up. So the amount of salt you use will drastically change the cure. You can soak the eggs after they shrivel..

But the salt is not needed. Salt is nice to give white eggs their colour back if you buy crappy eggs from a hatchery. But for fresh eggs you harvested yourself - the cold water cure is very simple, clean, and effective, and makes for long lasting eggs that won't break after 2 drifts.

PS. I don't like to use skein eggs for tying. I just cut them up into chunks and put the skein directly on my hook. I prefer to keep a loose female trout or salmon as loose eggs are so much easier to work with. I find dealing with skein messy. Skein produces very well on its own directly on the hook with no cure. Catch yourself a loose female, then water harden with freezing water, let dry and tie. Some guys say they want maximum scent and goop on their eggs, not me, I always prefer a good water harden.

 

[LICENSETOPIN]

you cant river cure skein and expect the same results as river cured loose roe, scraped or not.

 

[Paul1913]

Well I've been doing it wrong for quite some time. I've been rising them in water as soon as I get them out of the fish..

 

[salmotrutta]

Well I've been doing it wrong for quite some time. I've been rising them in water as soon as I get them out of the fish..

Nothing wrong with that..there's no right or wrong way to cure them..everyone has their preference.

 

[float^drifter]

Get your self some loose roe buddy. Skein is always a bit to messy to deal with. Some guys swear by only using scrape from skein. Me I don't find a difference I've caught more fish on beads last year then any roe I used lmao.

 

[fishermandan420]

Scrape rules. You guys can have all the loosies!


For me, no water. Scrape skeins, into big Ziploc with fire cure about half recommended strength, and into the fridge. Keep mixing them up every few hours. When the juice is sucked back in(usually 24-36h)there ready to freeze.

 

[dreamboy2010]

Everyone has there own way of doing it. I do a straight stream harden on eggs (put them in a ziploc bag, add some water, let rest for 30 minutes then set out and air dry for an hour, these eggs will be tied into bags but with skeins I like to bleed the fish, allow them to air dry for an hour or so- add my firecure or borax-o-fire. Tumble them in a gallon bag until they start to produce liquid, then I let them sit in that liquid overnight. Ready to fish the next day

This is my method too. I can literally bounce a single egg on the ground and it will not burst.

 

[Shmogley]

yea if you cant bounce the egg its trash imo

for purists, curing the egg with the same stream water as the fish was caught in, and then using that roe in the same system will give a color and scent that will perfectly match what the fish in that area are eating.
im lazy and buy my stuff now but my uncle swears by this, and he catches a lot of fish

 

[fishermandan420]

If my eggs bounce im not happy. Its all about milking! If you look into how sulphite cures work its magical!

 

[steve7321]

Scrape rules. You guys can have all the loosies!


For me, no water. Scrape skeins, into big Ziploc with fire cure about half recommended strength, and into the fridge. Keep mixing them up every few hours. When the juice is sucked back in(usually 24-36h)there ready to freeze.

I completely agree. If the eggs are rinsed in water, even worse tap water they can start curing before anything you are trying to cure them with get a chance to do the job. If you want very strong eggs eggs borax and let them almost turn hard and then rinse. You can tie and bounce them off of walls and they will usually not break and still milk in the water.

 

[classic drifter]

I completely agree. If the eggs are rinsed in water, even worse tap water they can start curing before anything you are trying to cure them with get a chance to do the job. If you want very strong eggs eggs borax and let them almost turn hard and then rinse. You can tie and bounce them off of walls and they will usually not break and still milk in the water.

do you wash the roe after you airdry them?

 

[sidekick10121]

This is my method too. I can literally bounce a single egg on the ground and it will not burst.

This is what I want. Is scrape able to produce this kind of egg?

Also if I scrape and then procure at th bank will this make that kind of egg if I skip water harem?

 

[LogJam]

forget all you have read! lol get pro cure!
after getting eggs out of fish, drain fluids off, DO NOT RIVER CURE, this will ruin the "actual" curing process, put eggs in zip lock and keep them cool through out the day. once home place in fridge to make sure they are completely cool down,
use pro cure to cover the eggs at ur own desire, ( u will find out what amount works best for you) leave the eggs and curing powder in a jar in the fridge for 2-4 hrs, the eggs will leak out alot of juice, at this point adjutant them so the juices flow all over and leave for another few hrs in the fridge, you should notice the eggs will suck back up the fluid they have lost. after they have reached your desired texture and hardness, wrap and freeze...

i have tried many other ways and this works best. i have had the same roe for 2 maybe even 3 years now!

 

[rich_ace_G]

I don't usually target salmon this early because of avoiding skein scraping...the first time I did it was a mess. 2nd one...a little bit better...I got used to it but catching salmon last week of sept or oct....you will most likely get loose eggs by then which is just way easier. Last year I caught one that is dripping with roe. Milk it revive and let it go it's way to die without slitting it's throat.

 

[instapump416]

When you guys freeze your roe, do they turn white or do they stay the same colour?