Go into a tackle store and you will see literally hundreds of different products all designed to help you catch more fish. While each has its merits, the fact remains that natural baits catch more fish than artificials. There are many different natural baits that are all effective: roe, sand shrimp, nite crawlers, prawns, tuna, herring, sardines, and crayfish just to name a few. Steelhead have generally stopped feeding once they’ve entered fresh water and the truth is that we really don’t understand what triggers a fish to take our offering.You must be flexible in your choice of baits because on any given day, some will work well and others not at all.

In fact, in some cases a bait that worked well in the morning may not work at all in the afternoon. When selecting a bait for the day, you need to take into account, water temperature, clarity, condition of the fish, (ie are they just in from the ocean or have they been in fresh water for awhile), baits that seem to work best on a specific river, ( ask your local tackle shop or guide), and other factors.

In this section we will discuss:

• Three common natural baits, roe, shrimp, tuna balls, and worms
• How to carry your bait on the river
• Tips on curing roe and shrimp, and
• Use of scents

There are many other baits that can be used and combinations of natural and artificial baits often works well too. For a discussion on artificial lures, click here.

Roe - This is the most traditional bait used for salmon and steelhead. Consisting of salmon or steelhead eggs cured in a preservative, it is fished as a cluster attached to your hook with an egg-loop knot, or in an artificial spawn sac.

Freshness - Not all roe is the same. The single most important factor when using roe is to make sure your eggs are fresh or have been cured and stored properly. If you are going to cure your own roe, be sure to handle the roe with special care. See below for egg cures. If you are purchasing roe commercially, make sure that the eggs look fresh, ie plump and and with no foul ammonia or other odor. Roe can be frozen and thawed several times and remain effective.

Size - The size of your bait depends on the temperature and clarity of the water. Generally the colder and more clouded the water, the larger the bait. Conversely in clear and warmer water you will want to use a smaller cluster of roe. I usually start with a cluster of roe that is quarter sized and size-up or down depending on the water conditions.

Spawn Sacs - Individual eggs or clusters can be tied in spawn sac material that can be found in most tackle stores. There are multiple colors of the mesh material, and orange, red, and chartreuse are all effective. Usually 4-8 eggs or a small cluster are placed in the mesh material and the edges are drawn together and tied with stretchy thread. I usually try to make the the spawn sac the size of your thumb nail up to quarter size - smaller for clear water and larger for colored water and for salmon.

Some tackle stores sell a kit that consists of the mesh, thread AND a metal device that helps you easily form the sacs. I highly recommend buying one of these devices if you are planning on tying more than one or two baits. Most fishermen prepare these baits in advance, the night before, to save time on the water. You can add a little hobby store glitter to the eggs as they are tied and this works as an extra attractor.

An interesting alternative to roe is to use tuna for your spawn sacs -- try Chicken of the Sea brand that is packed in oil. Finally spawn sacs are effective when there are smaller fish in the water that tend to steal your bait, ie smolts and trout. An effective substitute to fresh roe in spawn sac is the Sponge Sac .

How to fish roe - Use scissors to cut a quarter-sized cluster of roe from the skein. Be sure to cut the cluster so a portion of the skein so the eggs will stay attached. Attach the cluster to your hook using the egg loop. Usually your presentation is enhanced by adding a float, (ie Sponge float, or corkie, or spin-n-glo), and/ or yarn. The float will help keep you bait just off the bottom and reduce snagging, and both floats and yarn work as an attractant due to their color. Contrasting colors work fine. Finally, you may also want to add scent to your final presentation. The picture below shows a typical setup. Most roe is drift fished from either the bank or a boat.

Roe fished on a #2 hook with a Sponge Float
This set up uses a fixed rig weight

Storing your roe - Properly cured roe can be stored in a refrigerator for six months or more and can be frozen and stored for more than a year. I have used roe that was frozen for well over a year and it worked just fine. Roe can even be frozen, then thawed, then re-frozen and still be usable. That said, whenever possible I always try to use fresh cured roe. When storing roe it is best to try to remove all the air from the storage container, ie if you are storing them in a glass jar, put a lighted match in the top as you put the lid on. When storing roe in baggies, push out all of the air as you zip it shut. Many fishermen use vacuum systems commonly used for storing fruits and vegetables. Finally, take care to avoid freezer burn when freezing your roe. Some people double wrap their eggs, others freeze their roe in a bag and then freeze the bag in water, and still others use specialty freezer wrapping. If some of your eggs suffer burn, just cut that section off and the rest should be ok.

Sand Shrimp and Prawns - Shrimp is the most common food for steelhead and salmon when they are at sea. Even though they may not be eating once they return to their native rivers, they still will actively strike at them. These baits are fished either raw or cured, are attached to your hook with an egg loop, and usually drift fished from the bank or a boat.

Sand shrimp are delicate so care must be taken to keep them fresh. I usually break the tail off from the body and only use that portion of the shrimp but many people actually fish the whole thing or even the heads only. From the underside I go down about a third of the way from the broken-off end and insert the hook. Next run the hook through the body for the length of the shank and then pop it out on the underside. Finally use your egg loop to secure the top third of the tail to your hook. Fish it with a Sponge Float and your favorite scent. Often the combo of the shrimp used with egg scent works well.

Prawns -You can also purchase uncooked shrimp/prawns from the seafood section at your grocery store. I try to buy the ones that are no longer than two inches and of course, they must be fresh. Peel off the shell and fish them raw or cooked or you sprinkle them with the same cure you use for roe if you like. I sometimes leave the tail on to give the bait a more natural appearance and to create more movement in the water. If desired you can then apply a shrimp or egg based scent. If you save your leftover juice from curing roe, the combo of egg-roe seems to work really well for salmon. This combo is sometimes called a shrimp cocktail. Some guys use hot pink dyes to give the prawns a strong color but I usually go with a more natural color depending on water conditions.

I usually use a whole uncooked prawn. I rig it by threading an egg loop hook through the center of the prawn starting at the thicker end and having the hook come out at the thinner end. I then place my egg loop over the top section of the prawn to secure it to the hook. Finally I usually use a pink or chartreuse Sponge Float as an attractor and use various scents, anise, salmon egg, or sand shrimp flavor. An example is shown below.

Prawn fished on a #2 Gamakatsu hook
with a Sponge Float and using a sliding weight.
Snug the piece of prawn in the egg-loop, add a little scent, and you are ready to fish!

 

Tuna Balls - When fishing for salmon in particular, an effective alternative to roe is to use tuna balls. They are made quite simply by purchasing Chicken of the Sea tuna that is packed in oil, not the kind that is packed in water. Then prepare a spawn sac by placing about a teaspoon chunk of tuna into the sac, adding a little scent, (sandshrimp, or anise, or your choice), and then optionally putting a small amount of craft store glitter over the tuna, and then tying the sac up. You can also substitute fresh albacore tuna from your grocery store, and certainly experiment with different colors of spawn sac. A chartreuse sac made with COS tuna and a little shrimp scent is a favorite of mine for spring run salmon. I usually make tuna balls the nite before fishing and store overnight in the fridge. The can also be frozen for extended storage.

Worms - Worms can be effective for both summer run and winter steelhead. Worms were part of a young fish's diet and coming upon one probably triggers a feeding action as an adult. They can be drifted or fished under a float just as you would use other baits. Rigging is simple, just run your hook through the upper third of the worm and let the rest wiggle. Steelhead seem to take the whole worm so short strikes are usually not a problem. You can rig a Sponge Float above your worm and anise based scents seem to be effective.

Worms can be quite effective in areas where there is heavy fishing pressure and the fish are seeing mostly roe and sand shrimp. The change to something different can often times be that little difference that lets you hook up.

Back to top

How to Carry your Bait on the River - If you are fishing from the bank there are several different bait boxes that are commercially available that hook onto your wader belt. Two examples are shown in the picture below. I usually place a small damp sponge in the bottom of the carrier to act as a shock absorber and to soak up stray water/rain that inevitably gets inside. I also put a small pair of plastic scissors in the carrier to cut my roe or shrimp to size. These carriers work well for both shrimp and roe.

Examples of Commercial Bait Carriers
Manufacturers - left- Flambeau, right-Belly Bait

When fishing from a boat, I usually just use a shallow, rectangular tupperware container with a lid. I will either place a damp sponge or borax in the bottom of the container.

Always keep the majority of your bait in a cooler and only take as much as you will use over a couple hour period in your carrier.

Back to top

Curing Roe and Shrimp - Salmon and steelhead eggs are cured to make them tough enough to withstand their bouncing along the river bottom as bait, to add scents and color as attractants, and to act as a preservative. There a hundreds of home grown recipes and numerous commercial cures available. For an in-depth discussion of various cures, I highly recommend the book "Egg Cures" by Scott Haugen, Frank Amato Publications. This book offers more than 20 time-tested recipes and suggestions for many more. Following is some information I consider when curing roe.

Fresh Eggs - There is nothing more important than starting with fresh eggs that have been harvested properly. First of all, PLEASE do not take eggs from native/wild fish; these fish are endangered and should ALL be released alive. When fishing, I always carry several one-gallon size baggies and recently take cure also, so I can remove the eggs from a hatchery-caught hen salmon or steelhead right after it's caught and begin to cure them. If you catch a fish and do not bleed it immediately, the blood will tend to congregate around the eggs in the fish's cavity and reduce their effectiveness as bait. So it is important to bleed your fish immediately when caught. If at all possible, I also immediately remove the eggs from the fish, place them in a baggie, and store them in a cooler.

One important tip when handling fresh eggs is to not rinse them off in water. As soon as water touches the eggs, the the egg cell membranes will begin to crack and result in them milking out too quickly. If you believe you need to clean them off, use a dry rag or better yet a paper towel.

Cure the eggs right away - I have been using dry cures recently and actually place an appropriate amount in a baggie prior to fishing, so when I catch a fish, I can remove the eggs, and place them in the baggie with the cure to start the process within minutes of the fish being caught. Right after removing the skeins from the fish, I butterfly them by cutting down the middle of the skein taking care to not cut all the way through the surrounding membrane on the bottom. I then sprinkle my pre-made cure over the open part of the skein making sure I get cure into the nooks and crannies. I then place it in a baggie and shake it around a bit more. Finally place the baggie in your cooler. By the time you get home, the curing process will be well underway.

Commercial cures - There are many available and two that I highly recommend are Pro Cure and Amerman's. The most common cure/preservative is 20 Mule Team Borax. You can coat your eggs with Borax to make the skin tougher, more tacky and less messy.

A classic cure, often attributed to Buzz Ramsey, is very simple to use and works effectively for both salmon and steelhead is as follows:

1 part non-iodized salt (use kosher or sea salt)
2 parts sugar
3 parts pure borax (20 Mule Team works fine)
Red or orange food coloring, commercial dye, or raspberry or orange flavored jello (color to desired brightness)

Mix all the ingredients in a 1 gallon baggie, butterfly your roe skeins as mentioned above, and marinate the roe for 2 days in a cool environment, (bottom of fridge or garage works fine). The roe will juice-out initially, and then re-absorb most of the fluids during the cure process.Upon completion, you can store your roe in borax in the fridge or freeze it for future use.

Dont drain those eggs! - During the past couple of years I have been curing my eggs in ziploc bags. Some dry-cure instructions call for you to drain off the juice that expels from the eggs during the curing process. If you let the eggs stand in the the mixture however, they will re-absorb most, if not all, of the juices. The result will be more plump eggs that milk longer when they are fished.

I actually let my eggs re-absorb the juices and store/freeze them that way. I usually start curing my eggs at a cool room temperature, turning them several times over a 6-18 hour time period. During that time, the eggs juice out and then re-absorb most of the fluids. Technically what is happening is your cure is osmosing thru the cell walls of the eggs and replacing some of the original water. Once that happens, the solution of eggs, cure, and juices reaches an equilibrium on both sides of the egg cell wall. Once this process has completed, they go directly into the refrigerator or freezer without draining.

Some argue that curing without draining the juices results in skeins that are not as strong. While I dont consider this an issue, you can toughen your eggs up by removing them from the juice and letting them air dry for a 15-30 minutes. Or if you are steelhead fishing, roll them in borax and let them sit out in the air for a few minutes before using.

Finally, if you insist on draining off the excess juice, save it to use as a scent. It can be stored effectively in your refrigerator for weeks and frozen for a year or more. These juices make a great base for your scent making experimentation!

Other considerations -

• Adding scent to your cure - In general, dont do it. I wait until I'm on the river and add scents then. You have much more flexibility this way. Some days the fish like one scent, and other days another. I start with a basic-cure roe and tweak while on the river. See the section on scents below for suggestions. An exception is sugar and salt - see below.
• Specialty cures for steelhead versus salmon - Some argue that salmon are more sensitive to cure materials than steelhead and as a result use different cures for each. Most agree that that salmon like more of the nitrates and nitrites than steelhead and the steelhead prefer a milder cure that is anise and sand shrimp based.
• Colors/dyes - Many of the commercial cures come with a dye, you can purchase commercial dyes, and you can even use jello to color your roe. A long time favorite is to use raspberry jello to color your roe as it cures. Generally, I use an orange color dye for steelhead, and a red colored dye for salmon. I have recently tried chartreuse dye with success. Green eggs may look strange to us but the steelhead munched them right up.
• Sugar and Salt - I have had luck using extra sugar or salt on cures depending on the condition of the fish in the river. If they are just in from the ocean, they seem to like cures that are sweet. Ive heard of people adding honey and brown sugar to their cures. After the fish have been in fresh water for awhile they seem to be attracted to salt so you can add more salt to your cure.

 

Back to top

Scents - Commercial scents have come a long way over the past few years and now have become a mainstay in the fisherman's arsenal. While some still say that they do no better than your main bait or lure, I have never experienced a situation where they have put fish off the bite. In fact, in years of experimentation I have found that scents can often give you that extra edge necessary to get a steelhead or salmon to strike your lure or bait. So I firmly believe that by using scents you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Different types of scents - There are two common families of scents, those that mimic natural foods and recently scents that are pheromone based. The natural food based scents come in common flavors, ie sand shrimp, roe, crawfish, herring, sardine, tuna, etc. They are often supplemented with secret formulas consisting of minute quantities of different chemicals and natural foods, ie sugar, salt, molasses, anise, etc. Another way to experiment is with is cod liver oil, others rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and other "essential oils".

The pheromone based scents act as sexual attractants and usually consist of various amino acids. One example is a scent called Ultrabite. These scents are relatively new and we are just beginning to experiment with them.

Be Flexible - I have found that certain scents work better than others on specific rivers. Further scents that work one day may not work the next. The key is to experiment and keep a log of what works at different times and places. Also please understand that scents that might be effective for salmon may be different than steelhead.

Commercial Scents - There are several companies that produce scents to specifically target salmon and steelhead. Procure, Mikes, and Smelly Jelly all make scents that work well. Of note, Procure Anise+, Procure Sandshrimp, and Mike's Lunker Lotion get consistent rave reviews but all of the others can be effective as well. Here's a little secret: -- Berkley Powerbait for Trout scent works for both salmon and steelhead.

Using Scents - Scents are effectively used with your natural baits, smeared on your lures, or used on their own with plain yarn or a Sponge Float. I have found that mix of natural roe and shrimp oil can be an effective combination and tuna scent on roe also works quite well in certain places. Im a firm believer in the KISS principle. I prefer to use one scent at a time rather than the "little-of-this-little-of-that" approach. However combos sometimes work well, ie fishing roe with shrimp scent or visa versa.

Homemade Scent Recipe - I have been preparing a tuna based scent for the past several years. Basically I start with Chicken of the Sea tuna packed in oil and run it thru the blender.

While in the blender I always add more canola oil to get the right consistency. I like mine fairly thick but I have also had it work when more runny. Personal choice I guess. Also please remember that canola oil (rapeseed), is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids that attracts both salmon and steelhead.

Then I start adding goodies. Here I take several factors into account, ie

• Whether going after salmon or steelhead, - Salmon seem to like salt, sugar, and a couple of other things and steelhead seem to like shrimp, roe, etc. Having said this I recognize that there is some significant overlap here.
• The KISS principal, ie keep it simple stupid, I generally add only one or two additional ingredients. I have found the "little-of-this-and-little-of-that" approach generally doesnt work as well as a more simple, straight forward approach.
• and most importantly, remembering that the fish can smell parts-per-million so you dont need much -- in fact I try to make sure that the tuna "base" is always the most prominent smell. Generally, I add only a few drops of "extras" and most of the time you can barely tell that they are there.
• I have had luck using sugar, salt, blended roe both raw and cured, I often add a raw shrimp or albacore that the blender liquefies, anise, some commercial scents, (Mikes, Procure, etc), sulfites, vanilla, citrus extract, and more.....

I think the types of additives seem to be dependent on factors like: the timing of the run, early or late, the specific river, the clarity and temperature of the water and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE!!! Sometimes no matter what you do fish have lockjaw some days and other days attack like sharks. I guess that's why we call it fishing

I usually fish my scents in combo with roe or shrimp and have been known to liberally apply it to spinners and jigs on occasion. Just like the thrill of having a trout take a fly you made, I find making scents to be just as rewarding when I feel that head-shake at the end of my line!

Back to top