Real Spawn and Imitations

Whether you will be free-drifting or float fishing with spawn, how you prepare it can make the difference between catching fish or just washing baits. Spawn can be fished in chunks, tied, or as single eggs. When you catch a female steelhead or salmon, the maturity of its eggs will determine how you prepare them. They will be in two basic forms: in skeins (strips of eggs still held together with membrane) or loose, ready to be spawned.

Skeined eggs can be used for chunk fishing (chunk spawn is fished under the snell of the hook), but loose eggs must be tied in a supporting material. Salmon eggs, however, are large enough that one or several of them can be placed on a hook after they are processed to firm them up.

There are dozens of ways to prepare and preserve spawn for steelhead fishing. But many require the use of harsh chemicals. Since the purpose of using spawn is to take advantage of its natural odor and texture, it doesn't make sense to bother with the harsh preservatives that change the way it smells, tastes, or feels.

You can preserve spawn using one of two agents: borax or salt. I prefer the former. Skeined spawn can be treated in two different ways with borax: one is a dry treatment, the other a bath. you do not have to buy chemically pure borax powder. A large box of borax from the supermarket, free of any soap additives, is good enough. With both treatments, the borax kills any bacteria on the eggs that may cause spoilage, but the dry method is best for long-term storage without having to freeze the eggs. Skeined eggs do not always freeze well, often turning oily. The borax bath is adequate for eggs to be used within two or three weeks. For the dry treatment, thoroughly rinse all blood and debris from the skeins with cold water. Drain on paper towels. Lay on fresh towelling over newspaper and sprinkle the eggs liberally with borax powder. If you are going to use them for chunk fishing, pre-cut the skeins into nickel and dime-sized pieces before sprinkling.Make sure the powder gets into all the folds of the skeins. Fold the newspaper over the eggs and place in a refrigerator overnight. Borax takes moisture out of the eggs, so add more borax each day until the eggs have dried and are firm enough to fish on a hook. When dried sufficiently, pack the eggs into jars, alternating layers of eggs and borax powder. They'll keep for months if kept sealed in the refrigerator. The chunks will be ready to fish when needed, or you can tie pieces in netting to make spawn sacs which milk a natural odor of eggs.

The borax bath is also easy. Just pre-wash the skeins in cold water, then place them in a bowl of cold water and add borax powder until the solution is saturated. Place the eggs in the refrigerator for about two hours or until all traces of blood are removed from the skeins. Very immature eggs may require an overnight bath. When finished, remove and rinse the skeins quickly in cold water. Place on clean paper towels over newspaper, wrap, place in a plastic bag, and return to the refrigerator. These eggs will keep for up to three weeks but to keep them longer, sprinkle them lightly with borax and place them in sterilized airtight containers and place in a cold area.

Very mature eggs which are starting to separate from the membrane are best for spawn sacs. Scrape these eggs from the skein with the edge of a dull kitchen knife after treatment with borax. Rinse, then treat as before with more borax powder, or use them within three weeks. Mature, loose eggs should first be washed in cold water, preferably in the river, drained, and then kept cool until they harden. Only mature eggs will water harden. They can now be tied fresh, or frozen in airtight plastic bags or jars, or treated with either of the two borax methods.

You can also put mature eggs in a pickling salt and brown sugar bath for several hours. Once hardened, salted eggs will keep for months in an airtight container, sometimes for up to a year.

Single salmon eggs can be purchased bottled but you can preserve hem with this simple recipe: boil them quickly in boraxed water until they are of a consistency that will make them stay on a hook but still soft, cool them, and then add cod liver oil or some other attractive scent. This method turns the egg white, which is attractive to fish in the fall in rivers where salmon are spawning. But you can also change the color by adding food dye. Keep these eggs cold and sealed in jars. They'll keep for years. Single salmon eggs are effective when fished with small hooks and light lines.

To make spawn sacs, buy netting material at tackle shops or use kerchiefs, white nylons, or maline cloth. Cut the netting material into two-by-two-inch squares. Place the eggs in the centre. Form a sac by twisting the material. Tie off with thread and trim. Spawn sacs are tied in nickel, dime, and even smaller sizes, depending on water clarity. Smaller baits are best for cold and clear water. Water clarity can also determine the color of spawn sacs. Try the hot pinks, oranges, greens, and reds when clarity is down. The natural oranges, yellows, pinks, chartreuse, and whites are best in clear water.

Some of the most popular spawn imitations are the hard drifters, such as Okie and Lil' Corky, rubber eggs, colored sponge balls, and yarn flies. Some are often combined with a small piece of chunk spawn held in place under the loop of a special steelheader's knot. There are several ways of tying this yarn and spawn knot, but the easiest to tie is the simple Uniknot snell. It is the basis for the simple yarn fly that you make at streamside, as well. Because snells tend to abrade line on hook eyes unless a piece of yarn is placed under the snell, avoid them when they are not needed. Instead, other reliable knots such as the double improved clinch, the Trilene knot (another version of the clinch knot), or the Palomar should be used.

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