nounced discoloration of the head,
have crushed/broken heads or tails
or heads that ‘flop’ when a slight
shake is given. Black heads indicate
decomposition, and cause heads to
become very soft and frail. Note: Do
not throw a prawn away just because
it is broken or has a black head. Snip
off the head and save the tails. The
tail section of “Bad” prawns can still
make great bait.
Tails
There are certain applications that
work very well with just a prawn tail
such as drift fishing, back bouncing,
bobber fishing and wrapping plugs.
Prioritize the best baits for uses where
whole prawns are needed, and use
all the marginal or broken prawns
for just the tail. Use scissors to snip
off the black or damaged heads and
place just the tails into a cure or brine
of your choosing. If your fishing buddy
has failed to chip in for gas or bait
for the last few trips, take the excess
heads and trimmings and place them
under the back seat of his vehicle.
Prawn tails also make excellent
steelhead baits. When brining or
curing for steelhead, recipes heavy
in sugars and lacking sodium sulfites
will achieve the best results. Great
additive scents for steelhead baits are
anise, shrimp/sand shrimp, crawdad
and natural egg juices such as Pautzke’s
Nectar.
Storage
Long term storage of brined and
cured prawns varies a bit depending
on ingredients used, but the most
popular methods used are to place
prawns in a jar or container and cover
with rock salt, or place prawns in a
freezable container then fill with distilled
water and freeze in block form.
Kratzer’s Killer
Veteran guide Bob Kratzer relies on
this easy method for curing prawns
via cooking. This cure could also
be called The Divorce, because if
you attempt to do it in your house,
or with your wife’s good sauce pot,
bad things will happen. This method
produces very bold scented, durable
baits that work well for both salmon
and steelhead.
INGREDIENTS
1 large pot
20-30 small to medium sized prawns
with head on
Shake It
This simple cure uses your favorite
powdered egg or prawn cures.
INGREDIENTS
Shaker style powdered bait cure (any)
Rock salt
Gallon Freezer Zipper Bags (2)
Additional Scents (if desired)
2 quarts distilled water
2 cups sea salt
2 cups raw sugar
2 cups Pink BorX O’ Fire
DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients and place into
an old pot from a thrift store. Add
prawns, and heat outside on a
propane camping stove. Boil for 10
minutes, remove from heat, pour
prawns into a large strainer and wash
with cold water to stop the curing/
cooking process. Allow to air dry for
one hour, then place into containers
and cover with rock salt.
DIRECTIONS
Place a layer of prawns in the bottom
of a flat bottom glass dish. Sprinkle
your favorite bait or egg cure over
the prawns so that the side facing
up completely covered. Let sit for
a few minutes, then flip the prawns
over, and sprinkle with cure. Wearing
gloves, gently stir the prawns with
your hands to ensure good coverage
with cure, and then pour into heavy
duty freezer zipper bag. (Double bag
for protection from leaks) Add scents
such as anise or krill (optional). Bleed
air from bag and place in fridge. Gently
rotate bag every few hours over
the next 24-26 hours. Remove prawns
from bag and place into container,
and then cover with rock salt.
24 SALMON THE TAILOUT & STEELHEAD JOURNAL
38