Category Archives: Bait Curing and Scents

Cured Tiger Prawns for Steelhead

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How many different colors can you make your Tiger Prawn? I guess the question should be, “How many different colors of Nectar does Pautzke’s actually produce”?

If you said 5, then you are on the right track. With that, we will stick with the basics just to make sense of it all. If I start mixing and matching colors, there is no limit as to how lengthy this article could end up. With 5 Nectar colors to choose from, you could actually create what I refer to as the Tiger Prawn Rainbow…

Now to say that Pautzke’s Nectar will add some color to your Tiger Prawn, is an understatement. The colors are very vibrant and basically jump off the page at you. Nectar not only adds tremendous color to your Prawn, but also additional bite stimulants that you get just as a result of how the Nectar is produced. You are essentially soaking your Prawn in Egg Juice, which adds additional scents and attractants, Oh and by the way, did I mention COLOR…

Another question to ponder, Are you using Tiger Prawn for Salmon and Steelhead? If not, then How Come? Ok, I guess that is actually two questions.

If you have sat through any of my shrimp Curing Seminars, Coon Shrimp, Tiger Prawn etc. then you have heard me talk about the versatility of these baits and just how much you can do with them.

The first thing I like to remind folks is that fish, absolutely love them. They are a very natural smelling and looking bait that fish very well raw with a little salt and sugar.

Now we are going back into the Bait Lab to take our beloved Tiger Prawn to the next level. For me at different times of the year, adding color to my Tiger Prawn is great way of creating multiple baits and giving me multiple options from just one simple bait.

I can also create two different baits using just one color of Nectar. If I soak my Tiger Prawn, for example in Blue Nectar, it will turn my Prawn, very, very Blue. An option that I like to use more than not, is simply this. Some of the Prawn are soaked with the shells peeled off and some are soaked with the shell left intact.

For the Prawn that are soaked in the Nectar with the shells removed, you will notice the color penetrates the Prawn completely and makes all of the Prawn Meat a very bold color based on the color you have selected.

For the Prawn that I soak with the shells In-Tact, the Nectar color of choice penetrates the Prawn Meat around the edges, leaving the center of the Prawn almost a natural color or just slightly colored by the Nectar. For me this creates a bait with “Color Contrast” which at times, may be just the difference needed to stimulate a bite.

Now, past practice for many is to chunk cut your Prawn and use it while side drifting, drift fishing and or even tip a jig with it every now and again.

For me, as I have mentioned before, chunk cutting is ok, however I like to change it up a bit and fish bait that has a little more natural action. I find that by simply cutting your prawn length-ways, down the center of the back, you end up with a very nice thin Prawn Fillet. This will fish very well when side drifting or drift fishing, it will also fish very well under a float. The thinness of the fillet allows the bait to tumble and role and in some respects float naturally, to more so resemble natural bait then just a chunk of meat tumbling along.

How about to tip a jig? Have you ever strip-cut your Prawn.

Once you have mastered the skill of cutting your Prawn Baits into nice even Prawn Fillets, the next step is to cut them once again, length-wise, to create a nice long strip of Prawn that resembles a very small worm. We know that pink worms and actually multiple colors of worms have become very popular for fishing Steelhead and Coho. Why not create your own colored mini-worm that has great scent properties, and when tipped on a jig actually has the added bonus of action. You cannot get that by simply putting a chunk of Prawn on your jig hook.

Using Pautzke’s Nectar is a great means of adding tremendous color and scent to your Tiger Prawn. To get your Prawn to fish the very best that they can, you still need to add a little more to create the ideal cure.

A basic recipe I like to use is simply this:

One Bottle of Pautzke’s Nectar (any color)
1/4 cup Non-Iodized Sea Salt
1/2 cup Sugar, (White or Natural)

That’s all there is to it, really it is just that simple. If you are curing Tiger Prawn for Salmon a 1/4 cup of Salt and just a 1/4 cup of sugar will do just fine. For Steelhead, I like to sweeten them up a bit and will add the extra sugar, as much as a 1/2 cup. This can actually cure up to about 25 Tiger Prawn, in the 51 to 60 count size.

I will generally soak Tiger Prawn for about 24 hrs. in my colored cure mixture and then they are ready to fish. The Pautzke’s Nectar adds the color and bite enhancements and the salt and sugars add the sweetness and durability I can depend on that makes these little baits fish so good.

I will fish them right out of the soaking container the first trip out and cut as I go. If I have some left over and plan to fish within the next week or two, I can take the Tiger Prawn out of the cure and place them into a tupperware container and store them in my bait fridge. Just for test purposes I have had Tiger Prawn cured in this exact recipe last in my bait fridge for up to four months and still fish very well.

Which color of Nectar you choose is entirely up to you. I will however let you in on one additional secret. If you do select the Red or Yellow Nectar, you will also be adding UV to your Tiger Prawn, which may just be the difference you are looking for, when fishing low light or off colored water conditions.

Duane Inglin
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Steelhead Egg Candy in a Wet Brine

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I recently received a small cooler with 24 fresh Steelhead skeins in it from a good buddy of mine. “Thank You Andy”. The timing is perfect as I was hoping to get some more eggs and get them cured up in one of my favorite and easiest Steelhead cures, that I have been using the past couple seasons.

As with any eggs, to create great baits you have to start with great eggs. These eggs are fantastic, however even really good eggs won’t fish well, if you leave the blood in them.

Getting the blood out is really pretty simple. I just take the flat long blade of my scissors and lightly drag it against the skein, pushing all the blood from the smaller veins, into the large vein at the lower inside base the skein. Then I make a couple small cuts with my scissors and run them along the vein, pushing all the blood out of the small snip, into a paper towel. The paper towel should actually wick the blood away from the skein.

If you take your time, you will not tear the skein and all the blood should be removed.

Once you get all the blood out and the skeins are clean, you are ready to cure.

You have several choices, for me it’s a matter of a wet or dry cure. My “Go-To” cure for Steelies anymore is my wet-cure. It’s so simple and truly creates a bait that is exactly how I want my Steelhead baits to be; “Nice and Gummy”.

In my opinion, you will be hard-pressed to find a better egg cure for creating Steelhead baits, that will out fish BorX O Fire, by Pautzke’s bait company. It works great right out of the bottle. Of course with my bait lab, I can never just cure baits as everyone else does. I could, but where is the fun in that?
One thing that I usually do with my BorX O Fire is a little mixing. I also like to add sugar, as Steelhead do crave sweets. The best combination that I have come up with is mixing the dark red with pink. Or, pink with the orange. I will mix two brand new jars together and to that, I will add one full cup of refined white sugar. If I don’t mix two bottles together and want to add the sweetness, I’ll simply mix a ½ cup of sugar to one full bottle of BorX O Fire.
After my two bottles of BorX O Fire are mixed with one cup of sugar, I am ready to go.

This ratio works great as a sprinkle on dry cure and I will usually pour some into an old sprinkle bottle to ease the application and to not over-apply. Both my combination colors are proven and work very well.

Now here comes the ultimate tweak; “Ya ready”?

2 cups Red Fire Brine, into a gallon Zip-Lock Bag.
½ cup of my pre-mixed double color and sugar BorX O Fire (red/pink)
1 teaspoon krill powder.

Shake the bag with all the contents to mix and then add your egg skeins.

I will usually place at least six skeins in the bag and then seal up. This is about a six hour soak rolling the bag around every fifteen minutes or so, for the first two hours. Then I simply flip the bag over about every hour, until I hit the six hour mark.

Once they are soaked, they are cured. I have also left the eggs soaking in the wet cure for up to 10 hours and they do just fine. After the eggs are cured, I dump them out into a strainer and leave them there for about ten minutes.

After they have dripped for about 10 minutes, I place the eggs into containers, lined with a couple layers of paper towels. I make sure I place the skeins into the containers, egg side down, skin side up. This is to allow the excess cure to drain-out of the eggs. I then place them in the refrigerator, uncovered, overnight and they are ready to fish by morning.
You’ll notice that I have four trays with slightly different colors.

The different colors are created by simply mixing and matching. I can choose to use dark red BorX O Fire, with the sugar added and which goes into red Fire Brine. This will create a very dark red egg. If it is the combo red/pink BorX O Fire into the red Fire Brine, will creat a slightly different red.

The pink/orange BorX O fire into orange Fire Brine, creates a very nice orange egg, however the pink/orange BorX O fire combo into clear Fire Brine,, creates an amaxing peach egg.

It’s really up to you to mix and match the colors of BorX O Fire with the Fire Brine.

Give it a try, it’s a great and simple wet brine that flat out produces…

Duane Inglin
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

 

Do you have “The NAK” for fishing

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I’m often asked which scents I use. And, while there are many options available, most of the time, I use three: Pautzke Nectar, anise and krill. These scents, when combined and mixed properly, make a difference. Nectar, Anise, Krill or “NAK”, as I call it, is the additive I rely on for Northwest salmon and steelhead fishing.

Let me explain how to use these scents to your benefit. Nectar is only found in the Pautzke line up. For those who are not familiar with this product, you’re missing out. Nectar is created when the factory is cooking Balls O’ Fire salmon eggs. In essence, it’s the run-off of all that egg juice, salts, sugar and additives, which are drained into large vats and bottled.

Bottled salmon egg juice is your friend. It comes in five colors. However, for fall salmon red is my favorite. I also invest in krill, the liquid form (Liquid Krill) and powder form (Fire Power).
To create “NAK” for steelhead the first thing I do is pour a small amount of Nectar out of the bottle to make room for the krill and anise. (Only pour a little out, keeping the level to the top of the label). Then pour half a bottle of Liquid Krill and one heaping tablespoon of Fire Power.

With Nectar and krill mixed in, it’s time to add anise. I purchase 100% pure anise and add 10-15 drops. That’s it: simple and effective. With this mixture it’s best to pour some in a small container and dip your baits in it every few casts.

For salmon it’s important to add a half-teaspoon of sodium sulfite. However, when fishing an area where salmon respond better to a higher percentage of sulfites I add a full teaspoon.

Normally, I carry three bottles of NAK: one of the basic mixture (the steelhead version), one with a half teaspoon of sodium sulfite and one with a full teaspoon. It’s best to let the fish tell me what they want.

To dress up my eggs by giving them extra scent and milking ability I cut pieces of roe and place them in a separate tray adding a shot of NAK on some of them. Traditionally, I won’t do a whole skein if I think there is a chance that the fish may not respond. Once I add it, the skein has the scent/additives and if it doesn’t work I’m stuck fishing eggs that the fish don’t want.

One other tip; don’t be afraid to give your sand-shrimp a quick squirt. You’ll be surprised with the results. Give NAK a try. You’ll be glad you put in the extra effort.

Duane Inglin
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

 

Going Green & How to Get There

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In the last few months I’ve fielded many questions from fellow anglers spending time in The Bait Lab. One of the most common revolves around turning baits green. I’ve been going green a lot this season, but unfortunately you can’t buy green Nectar or Fire Brine. Pautzke doesn’t make those colors. Going green requires a little work. Rest assured, though, creating green herring is easier than you’d expect. It doesn’t take a Mixologist to do so.

The green craze has evolved over the past few years. Historically, we’ve had good success on chartreuse herring and anchovies. Knowing that, I really wanted to fish green herring. I knew by simply mixing blue and chartreuse Fire Brine I could create green. I just wasn’t sure on the ratios. Fortunately, I did my homework in The Bait Lab and figured it out.

I’ve conducted many experiments in the last few months and believe that exact measurements aren’t vital when it comes to getting the green color we all want. It’s more important to mix blue and green until you achieve the exact color you’re looking for. Through trial and error I learned that I could create several shades of green depending upon the amount of blue and chartreuse used. Nonetheless, I always start with chartreuse in the bag (or container) and watch the color change by slowing adding blue. Doing so allows me to get any darkness of green I want.

There are many different ratios that work, however, for this blog I wanted to provide many points of reference, which should aid your efforts to create green herring/alewives/sardines/anchovies.

Here’s my published study:

The following are the four comparisons. All four containers started with ½ bottle of chartreuse Fire Brine. I left some herring chartreuse so we have a base comparison (C). The three levels of green created were as follows.

G-1: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 2 tbl sp. blue Fire Brine
G-2: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 4 tbl sp. blue Fire Brine
G-3: ½ bottle chartreuse Fire Brine, 2 tbl sp. blue Nectar

After a 20-hour soak time I compared the darkness of green achieved.


When I compare the different shades of green the color I’ve seen the most success with is G-1.

When compared closely it’s apparent: the more blue added the bluer the herring is. On the other hand, if you are wondering how adding the blue may affect the UV the results are positive. The UV properties in chartreuse Fire Brine are so strong that it maintains the UV level regardless of how green you make the herring.

Here’s a recap of what I do to make the perfect green:

I start by filling a gallon Ziploc bag with a ½ to full bottle of chartreuse Fire Brine. Then, it’s time to blend chartreuse and blue Fire Brine. After pouring them in the bag, add the herring and let it sit for 18-24 hours. Sometimes I add 1 teaspoon of Fire Power (krill powder) for additional scent.

Bonus Plan: Adding Bite Stimulants To The Brine

If I plan on adding Nectar to my Fire Brine as a scent additive/bite stimulant on my herring, I can also use that as my color change. Pour chartreuse Fire Brine into the Ziploc and add the blue Nectar to achieve green. Keep in mind that the dye properties in the blue Nectar are every bit as strong as the Fire Brine. So your ratio may be the same, more or less, based on the previous information.

Give this a try and “Go Green” I think you will like the results.

Duane Inglin
Strong Arm Guide Service
The Outdoor Line, 710

The Secret To The Sound

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Add Green To Your Diet!
By Chris Shaffer | 08/05/2012
Those of us fortunate to know Pautzke pro staffer and Outdoor Line co-host Duane Inglin on a personal level know nothing excites him more than being in “The Bait Lab” which has taken over a portion of his garage.

Knowing this, it was no surprise the Inglin arrived almost 30 minutes late to pick me up at the new Sea-Tac car rental facility two weeks ago.

“Sorry Shaf, I was doing some mixing. We are running herring in the morning and this bait is going to be awesome,” he told me, while opening the cooler and lifting a Ziploc bag filled with what looked like antifreeze.

I’m accustomed to seeing Inglin show me wild color combinations and wasn’t surprised to see this, even though we didn’t sell a green Nectar or Fire Brine. It’d been a year since we last made green Kokanee Fuel and I figured Inglin again had his measuring cups and Tupperware out. His drive to remain a leading Mixologist continues to burn.

“Do you see this green?” he asked me. “You like that, huh?”

Inglin had made the green herring and anchovies to be drug in the Puget Sound the following morning when we met Inglin’s co-host and saltwater guru Tom Nelson. The herring and anchovies were brought to imitate candlefish, the salmon’s main food source right now in The Sound, Nelson said.

“I don’t care what you are running in regards to hardware, it’s never going to be as effective as bait,” Nelson told me.

While lures remain common having a good looking bait is tough to beat.

“Anchovy are a soft belly bait and they like to blow out so a lot of guys don’t run them, but we brine them up with the Pautzke’s Fire Brine, which does a real nice job at firming them up, plus it has the UV properties, which is real important when you get those baits down,” Inglin added. “We’ve also done the same with red label herring.”

Inglin later revealed he mixed chartreuse and blue Fire Brine to achieve the perfect green.

“The key to successful bait trolling is having a tough and dependable herring down there and Fire Brine does that,” noted Nelson.

 

It proved to be our recipe to success that day.

And, it could be yours, too.

Editor’s Note: Co-hosts Duane Inglin and Tom Nelson can be heard on The Outdoor Line Saturday mornings on ESPN Radio 710 in Seattle. This week, Inglin’s newest Fire Blog will explain how to make your own green herring/anchovy.

Scent: The Key To Successful Crabbing!

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One of the greatest things about living near coastal waters is enjoying the world-renowned delicacy that is dungeness crab. However, the tasty crustacean is highly sought-after and those anglers that fish the best bait are, more often than not, the ones who will be enjoying a crab dinner!

Successful crabbing begins with fishing the best available bait in the correct combination.

With any type of bait fishing, establishing a long-lasting scent trail quickly and dependably is a key to success. The bait’s natural lipids, also known as “fats” or “oils” is the most significant element to forming a scent trail as water cannot mix with any type of oil. This resistance to mixing -and therefore diluting- makes oily baits the most desirable and effective for most if not all types of fishing.

Next time you watch The Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”, take a close look at what the professionals bait their pots with: A one-two punch of “broadcast” and “hanging” baits.

The Bering Sea crab fishermen use a combination of ground, frozen herring which quickly spreads a scent (the “broadcast” component) and a whole cod which gives the crab something to eat (the “hanging” component). The “broadcast” portion rings the dinner bell making your gear easier for the crabs to find. The “hanging” portion of the bait keeps the crab in our pots longer. Make no mistake, when there is no bait or scent, crabs will find a way out of your pots!

Lurking in the deepest part of most fishermen’s freezers is undoubtedly some old bait herring, sardines or even salmon eggs which is a bit on the freezer burnt side and no longer suitable for use as effective fishing bait.

Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel to the rescue! The oils and semi-solids in Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel can replace most if not all of what the freezer removed and then some! The trick to making an effective, long-lasting scent trail from old bait is maximizing it’s surface area… which is a fancy way of saying that we’re grinding it up! Grinding the bait serves the dual purpose of getting the oils from within the frozen bait out to the surface and giving the Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel something porous to soak in to.

Get an old hand crank grinder or check out garage sales for an electric food processor and set up your bait "disassembly" station.

We’re turning our bait into a fine grind and adding Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel to the mix, so we have to use something that will keep the mixture from washing away too quickly…

Commercial crabbing bait cups are closed at the bottom and have a vented lid. This configuration allows a controlled release of your broadcast bait and will not spill in your boat before deployment!

Grind your “freezer fodder” into the bait jugs, filling them half to 3/4 full of the ground bait. You want to leave space in the bait jug to allow water to mix within the cup and slowly release the scent trail.

By grinding herring, sardines or even unwanted salmon eggs, you bring fresh oils to the surface providing the best scent trail possible!

After the grinding you can add Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel immediately to the jug, or wait until you are ready to drop the pot in your location of choice!

Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel absorbs into the frozen, ground bait producing a very effective, long-lasting scent trail that will keep bringing crab to your gear long after other's baits have washed out!

The crab bait “one-two punch” is Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel soaked ground bait and a “hanging bait” of fish scraps or chicken parts which allow the crab a little something to grind on while they wait for you to pull the pot!

The "one-two punch" of a hanging bait (in this case a salmon head in a bait bag) and a bait cup containing Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel soaked ground bait is the best way there is to ensure that you'll never pull a "zero" pot again!

Here’s the “after” shot of the baited Stearns nesting crab pot above after a several hour soak in a very heavily fished crabbing area in Puget Sound.

Seven keeper male dungeness crab greet us as we open this pot! Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel gives you the effective scent trail you need to keep crab coming to your gear... and then to your dinner table!

Taking the extra effort to prepare your bait a few minutes ahead of your crabbing trip is well worth it! When you consider the time and cost of simply running your boat out to the crab grounds, the cost of bait is small potatoes and the wrong place to try and save a buck. If you try a Pautzke Crab & Shrimp Fuel spiked bait mixture on your next crabbing trip, I’m willing to guess that you’ll have the same results I’ve enjoyed and several crab dinners that your friends and family will enjoy even more!

Tom Nelson

710  ESPN Seattle

www.TheOutdoorline.com