Really need a shrimp cure...

[Zoedogg]

  Well guys, and ladys. im headed to McNary in the morning with about 6 different cures hoping one is the ticket. Over the last few years I have had a hard time deciding what is working and what isnt. If anyone has an old faithful they feel like sharing, please let me know, cause I sure need it. Wish me luck..... Clint   Gotta love those lake trout

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[Fish]

  Welcome aboard Clint, I'm sure you'll get a bunch of help from the other members, as for me I like just the plain old Sand Shrimp in the 18 count best, Prawn is also excellent, or try Crawdad Tails   

[Zoedogg]

  Thanks for the help, fished Mcary this weekend and ended up getting 8 Steelhead among three of use. Two wild, one being 24.9 lbs. Six nice keepers. I was beginning to wonder if I had lost the touch after coming home with an empty cooler a few times prior. Over the summer I forget how much patients it takes to hook one of these beut's at times.

[Fish]

Sweet, what a day 24.9 that fish all alone made the trip for you guy's.

[Zoedogg]

 It did I tell ya!! I would have to say it was its the second biggest steelhead Ive seen in person. Wish we had a camera with us. I went out the day after with my father in-law and didnt even so much as  get a bite for the 6 hours we were on the water. Guess thats why they call it fishin.

[Fish]

Hey Clint

     That's the way it always goes, no camera on the hot days, I'm thinking of leaveing the camera home for now on

[Brian]

Never really felt a need to cure shrimp or prawns. I just keep the raw prawns frozen til ready to fish. I do know of a guy who ads a little scent to them and does quite well. Good Luck1

[Zoedogg]

  There are a few guys over here that fish with plain shrimp or prawns, but not many. For the most part all the people I know that have fished them plain including myself havent done quite as well. In fact here around the Tri-Cities area pink, dark pink, and dark purple seem to be the craze...dark purple being the newest. Columbia Basin Bait Company puts out a pre-cured dark purple coon shrimp that seems to work very well for some. I purchased four pounds of uncured shrimp two weeks ago from them to dye and cure only to find out they must have been thawed and frozen a few times over. Im sure you've all smelled that paint peeling scent before.( Dont plan to get that stuff anymore.)
I guess I should clarify what I mean by "cure"...its not really a full on cure, I simply add dye, salt, scent, and a dash of borax. Then freeze until I fish'em. This recipe along with a few other key things has been in the family for some time now. I was plain having a ruff early season. Its seems now my fishing crisis is over and the fish are on the hook once again. I was a little desiprate earlier to catch some fish again and figured that just maybe a new cure would do the job.
    Anyhow, I hope to share some nice pics in the future and its nice to find a few guys that are just as big a fishin nut as me.  Steelhead notebook ROCKS!!!   

[Brian]

I think you ought to put all of your shrimp cureing information into a tutorial for the rest of us to try.   Thanks!

[Fish]

That sounds like a good idea Clint, not much info here on Shrimp (Cures) how about it

[Zoedogg]

 I could probably do that. I think that would be a great idea. I have surf the net with an eye out for new cures all the time and have found next to nothing. So I will gather some info on a couple of my favorite cures and post it tommorow....just about to hit the hay and dream of fishing. 

    Two 15lb Steels at "The Day"




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[Fish]

Sounds good Clint, Thank You

[zonker]

I hope Mr. Zoe isn't still sleepin'. I haven't seen that shrimp cure yet.

z~

[Backer51]

Zeo if you are in to curing eggs like some of us here are, STS had a shrimp cure that used the runoff from the egg cure.  The Pro-Cure or Atlas Shake N" Cure they used has dye already added, if you want a deeper color now is the time to add it.  Dump your shrimp into the drain bucket with a 1/2" or so "egg juice" in the bottom and gently stir the shrimp for about 5 min. Do not over do the soak time unless you want purple shrimp.  This amount of "juice" should produce around 3 to 4 pounds.  Freeze the finised shrimp, as they do not stay firm in the refrigerator. 

[Zoedogg]

    As I had mentioned before I was going to to give a couple of simple ways to dye and cure shrimp. So here they are....

        Dye cure is a favorite of mine. They are tough when you rig them to the hook and don't
        leave your hands a nasty color that takes a month to get clean.
        Ingred: 1 can of "Bad Azz" Pro Cure Dye of desired color - Rock salt - White Borax - White 
        sugar - 16 oz bottle of water. I prefer bottled as opposed to tap, but not super important.

  1) Get a container that will hold 1/2 to 1 pound of shrimp along with about 16oz's of water.      (An old large pickel jar or large mason jar will do just fine)
  2) Partially de-thaw either 1/2 or 1 pound of shrimp, just so they're a little flexible. Lay them on a paper towel to do this.
  3) With gloves on, carefully add to your jar one full teaspoon of dye, to 16 oz of water. Mix well. Careful not to breath in the dye powder for its very fine and becomes airboorne very easy. Trust me.
  4) At this time you can add the shrimp, careful not to splash because this will stain anything it touches. Cap the jar when done and shake well.
  5) You want the shrimp to set in the fridge over night with certain colors like the deep purple and the flour. pink and lime. The red will take in just a couple hours. Mix the jar around as often as you want, just so that it is mixed at least 5-6 times.
  6) When your desired color is reached, pull out the shrimp and lay on about 5 paper towels on top of a piece of cardboard. Dab the shrimp with a paper towel and let sit for a few minutes.
  7) Get a zip-lock bag big enough to hold the shrimp with ease. In this bag add 1/2 cup of rock salt, teaspoon of Borax and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Mix it up by shaking the bag around then add the shrimp and continue shaking for 5 minutes. These additives will toughen and protect your bait in the freezer and the river.
  8 ) Lay down one more paper towel on your stack and dump the zip-lock bag onto it.
  9) I then get a zip-lock container about 5" deep and 6x6 wide. Place a nice layer of salt in the bottom about a 1/4" deep and put only the shrimp in a layer on top of the salt. Place a light layer of salt on top of the shrimp and repeat until full.
  10) You can now put these in the freezer and keep them there until the day you fish. Add any scent you desire one shrimp at a time unless you know just what the fish want at all times. They will last in the freezer for about a year, even longer. I have used shrimp I cured 1 1/2 years ago and still caught fish.
  11) This is the cool part, since your dye alone just set you back about 9.50 , save it in the same jar. Pull out most of the junk like floating legs and stuff, then just put in the fridge. I use the same dye for the whole season. The shrimp actually smell a little better every time. Keep it cold though. If it smells bad; believe me bad shrimp is a scent you won't forget, then toss it, along with the container.
    If anyone has questions about this cure, feel free to ask. It has been a proven one in my family for sometime.
                                                      Clint