the day restocking your bait supply.
Properly rig a well-cured prawn on
your hook, and it will stay there until
it gets chewed off. It will bring peace
of mind, and maximize your time on
the water. An added bonus which further
benefits durability, is that prawns
seem to draw less interest from “bait
pickers” such as smolt, trout and
chub, meaning the only bites you’ll be
getting are the ones that matter most.
Perhaps the most notable feature
of prawns is their potent scent. If
your friend opens a tub of herring in
the back of the boat, you may catch
a whiff of it. If someone three boats
over from you cracks the lid on a
container of prawns, it’ll get your
attention. They are strong, and when
you are targeting fish that rely most
heavily on their olfactory system,
strong is good. Often, having a scent
or bait that stands out in the crowd
around you will draw more bites,
especially on tough days.
The availability of prawns is also
superior to other baits, especially
for those of us who don’t live near
civilization, let alone a quality
outdoor retailer or bait shop. As long
as you have access to the Internet,
or a grocery store with a seafood
department, you can acquire good
prawns. But don’t just walk up to the
display case and expect to find whole,
head on prawns. Most often the head
on Arctic prawns that we use are
for specialized markets and are not
carried on daily inventory and must
be special ordered. This usually only
takes a couple days, and the only requirement
is you meet the minimum
order requirements.
Last but certainly not least is
cost. I started fishing prawns back in
college, not because they were great
bait, but because they were cheap.
Bait costs can border on ridiculousness.
A few trays of herring a day at
seven bucks a pop, or a couple quarts
of eggs pushing $30 a jar, trip after
trip, puts a serious dent in your wallet.
Bulk prawns, purchased by the
pound, typically sell for $5 to $7 and
yield between 30 and 50 prawns. The
end result is great, homemade bait at
less than $2 per dozen.
Getting started curing and brining
your own prawns is a relatively easy
process that brings a great deal of
reward and satisfaction from creating
your own unique baits. By following
these steps, referencing the provided
proven recipes, and adding a pinch
of creativity, you’ll be producing top
quality salmon and steelhead baits in
no time.
Brine or Cure
Brining consists of compiling a mix
of dry and wet ingredients together
in a jar, then adding prawns to the
mixture, where they slowly marinade
over the course of a few weeks before
being fished. Many people prefer
brines because the uniformity of the
preservation and bold color. Brined
baits also seem to produce a much
stronger, longer lasting scent. Brines
will commonly last several batches
of bait before a new mixture must be
made. With some brines fresh baits
can be added in as space allows, and
prawns may stay in quality, usable
form for up to a year when kept
refrigerated.
Brines are considerable more labor
intensive to create, and typically involve
many ingredients that increase
overall cost as well as requiring more
advanced prep to make sure you can
acquire all the ingredients. Brines,
like many of the finer things in life,
require time to properly ‘age’. They
must be assembled well in advance
of their intended use. Brines should
be prepared and stored in glass
containers. Long term exposure of
brine to plastic may cause scent and
chemicals from the plastic to taint
the brine. Wide mouth Mason® jars
are perfect. Do not re-use jars which
previously held strong smelling foods
such as pickles or spaghetti sauce, as
such scents may linger and contaminate
the brine.
Curing is a relatively simple,
straight forward process that produces
fishable baits in as little as two
days. Most cures use a powered bait
or egg cure which is added to prawns
and then allowed to react with juices
from the prawn as the container is
rolled or turned several times a day
for the next 48 to 72 hours. Curing is
very simple and works well for small
batches of prawns, with minimal
cost, and can get you out on the
water quick with great bait. Many
people will choose to ‘spice up’ their
cures by adding additional scents or
stimulants such as amino acids or
sulfites to create unique scents.
The shelf life of cured prawns is
considerably less than those that are
brined, and the colors and scent can
also be a bit weaker, but if you are
curing fresh batches between uses,
this isn’t an issue. Some diehard
prawners feel that simple cures are
too ‘bland’ and lack the complexity
of scents and flavors of brined baits,
and may not stand out amidst a
crowd of other anglers who may be
using the same simple cure.
Whether you brine or cure is really
a matter of personal preference, just
be sure to follow these simple steps in
order to get the most from your bait.
Acquisition
The biggest hurdle to overcome is
simply finding good quality, whole
bulk prawns. Smaller tackle shops
and outdoor retailers commonly
only carry prepackaged smaller
amounts, and the cost can be quite
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