Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi, I want to make spawn sacs myself, but not sure what kind of eggs to buy. In Fred Myer or Big-5, I saw "CURED EGGS" in the fridge. And on the shelves, there are also eggs in little glass jars for $2.99 each. I remember one of the brands is called.Atlas. For those cured eggs, I can see the eggs are sorta bonded together by some sort of fibers. But for eggs in glass jars, they are separate. My questions are: Are those in the jars artificial? Is it better if I use the "cured eggs", which are real, for making spawn sacs? Thank you for reading.

i've used the atlas eggs for trout for years, they are real and work great and I don't see why they wouldn't do well in spawn sacs. the fibers on the skeins may be the membrane.

What are you planning on using the spawn sacs for? Salmon?

losaturn wrote:What are you planning on using the spawn sacs for? Salmon?

yes

obryan214 wrote:i've used the atlas eggs for trout for years, they are real and work great and I don't see why they wouldn't do well in spawn sacs. the fibers on the skeins may be the membrane.

I plan on using themon salm on. So I'd rather use real eggs. Are Atlas eggs real eggs?

I don't think they're really necessary. If you can find eggs that aren't moldy or deflated and still have their skein intake, you can just place them in an egg looped hook. If you can find some Ray's Bait Skein Eggs, they're the best looking eggs I've seen so far that are sold locally in stores. Dick's Sporting Goods and Wholesale Sports sells them.

p.t. wrote:

obryan214 wrote:i've used the atlas eggs for trout for years, they are real and work great and I don't see why they wouldn't do well in spawn sacs. the fibers on the skeins may be the membrane.

I plan on using themon salm on. So I'd rather use real eggs. Are Atlas eggs real eggs?

yes they are.

losaturn wrote:I don't think they're really necessary. If you can find eggs that aren't moldy or deflated and still have their skein intake, you can just place them in an egg looped hook. If you can find some Ray's Bait Skein Eggs, they're the best looking eggs I've seen so far that are sold locally in stores. Dick's Sporting Goods and Wholesale Sports sells them.

When I put them on an egg loop, I'd wrap the line around the eggs 3 to 5 rounds. After the first cast, about half of the eggs are gone. Sometimes they last only 3 casts, sometimes more, maybe 5 or 6 casts. Does this sound right to you?

That's why I'm thinking about spawn sacs; I spent too much time on changing eggs.

Your eggs may be too wet, if they fall off after the first cast.. You can firm them up by drying them out on paper towels for a few hours, or you can dust them with a little borax. All you really have to do, is place the eggs in the middle of the egg loop, and lightly cinch it snug.

5-6 casts sounds about right, as the eggs are supposed to milk out leaving you with just the white skin.

losaturn wrote:Your eggs may be too wet, if they fall off after the first cast.. You can firm them up by drying them out on paper towels for a few hours, or you can dust them with a little borax. All you really have to do, is place the eggs in the middle of the egg loop, and lightly cinch it snug.

5-6 casts sounds about right, as the eggs are supposed to milk out leaving you with just the white skin.

Great tips, thanks a lot. Mind if I ask one last question? What is Borax anyway? Heard about it a couple of days ago from a guy fishing next to me, then saw it in Fred Myer the next day. It's something for curing the eggs. That's about as much ad I know.

Borax is a natural soap, they sell it in the laundry isle. 20 Mule team is the stuff you want. Cheaper than buying from the sporting goods store.

I ordered some from sunrise bait out of Oregon worked really good for me .

If you are going to make spawn sacs, pretty much any eggs will do. Some guys will also add canned tuna (the stuff packed in oil) for a little extra scent. If I am floating eggs, I get between 3 & 5 casts out of em unless I put a little borax on em and let em dry over night, then you get more casts, but less milking.
Another thing to look at is how you are tying your egg loop, kinda hard to explain, but I usually do 10-15 wraps, then loop and 5 more, that way your line is pressing the eggs against the shaft of the hook with more surface pressure and not pinching it off. Not a BIG difference, but every little bit helps.

losaturn wrote:Borax is a natural soap, they sell it in the laundry isle. 20 Mule team is the stuff you want. Cheaper than buying from the sporting goods store.

Thanks.

Gringo Pescador wrote:If you are going to make spawn sacs, pretty much any eggs will do. Some guys will also add canned tuna (the stuff packed in oil) for a little extra scent. If I am floating eggs, I get between 3 & 5 casts out of em unless I put a little borax on em and let em dry over night, then you get more casts, but less milking.
Another thing to look at is how you are tying your egg loop, kinda hard to explain, but I usually do 10-15 wraps, then loop and 5 more, that way your line is pressing the eggs against the shaft of the hook with more surface pressure and not pinching it off. Not a BIG difference, but every little bit helps.

10-15 wraps on the eggs!? I find 3-5 wraps are already messy enough! lol

Is spawn sacs reaaly a good idea, compared to tying eggs directly to the hook? I presume spawn sacs stay on the hook longer, but do salmon like them? Which is more effective? Spawn sacs or bare eggs on the hook? Anybody has a preference for one over the other???

p.t. wrote:

Gringo Pescador wrote:If you are going to make spawn sacs, pretty much any eggs will do. Some guys will also add canned tuna (the stuff packed in oil) for a little extra scent. If I am floating eggs, I get between 3 & 5 casts out of em unless I put a little borax on em and let em dry over night, then you get more casts, but less milking.
Another thing to look at is how you are tying your egg loop, kinda hard to explain, but I usually do 10-15 wraps, then loop and 5 more, that way your line is pressing the eggs against the shaft of the hook with more surface pressure and not pinching it off. Not a BIG difference, but every little bit helps.

10-15 wraps on the eggs!? I find 3-5 wraps are already messy enough! lol

Is spawn sacs reaaly a good idea, compared to tying eggs directly to the hook? I presume spawn sacs stay on the hook longer, but do salmon like them? Which is more effective? Spawn sacs or bare eggs on the hook? Anybody has a preference for one over the other???

No man! 10-15 wraps on the hook when tying an egg loop.

From what I've read spawn sacs are more popular on the east coast and great lakes than here, not sure why. I don't see why they wouldn't work around here, I've thought about trying em, just to lazy to actually tie em up.

Gringo Pescador wrote:

p.t. wrote:

Gringo Pescador wrote:If you are going to make spawn sacs, pretty much any eggs will do. Some guys will also add canned tuna (the stuff packed in oil) for a little extra scent. If I am floating eggs, I get between 3 & 5 casts out of em unless I put a little borax on em and let em dry over night, then you get more casts, but less milking.
Another thing to look at is how you are tying your egg loop, kinda hard to explain, but I usually do 10-15 wraps, then loop and 5 more, that way your line is pressing the eggs against the shaft of the hook with more surface pressure and not pinching it off. Not a BIG difference, but every little bit helps.

10-15 wraps on the eggs!? I find 3-5 wraps are already messy enough! lol

Is spawn sacs reaaly a good idea, compared to tying eggs directly to the hook? I presume spawn sacs stay on the hook longer, but do salmon like them? Which is more effective? Spawn sacs or bare eggs on the hook? Anybody has a preference for one over the other???

No man! 10-15 wraps on the hook when tying an egg loop.

From what I've read spawn sacs are more popular on the east coast and great lakes than here, not sure why. I don't see why they wouldn't work around here, I've thought about trying em, just to lazy to actually tie em up.

Exactly. I read the same too. I tried eggs for two days, got fed up with the constant changing of eggs and the messiness, so I want to give spawn sacs a try.

losaturn wrote:Your eggs may be too wet, if they fall off after the first cast.. You can firm them up by drying them out on paper towels for a few hours, or you can dust them with a little borax. All you really have to do, is place the eggs in the middle of the egg loop, and lightly cinch it snug.

5-6 casts sounds about right, as the eggs are supposed to milk out leaving you with just the white skin.

I'll even dry them with a fan on them.

i use these!!!!



but no spawn sack for me, just fresh goopy eggs. they be crushing'em!!!!!

p.t. wrote:Hi, I want to make spawn sacs myself, but not sure what kind of eggs to buy. In Fred Myer or Big-5, I saw "CURED EGGS" in the fridge. And on the shelves, there are also eggs in little glass jars for $2.99 each. I remember one of the brands is called.Atlas. For those cured eggs, I can see the eggs are sorta bonded together by some sort of fibers. But for eggs in glass jars, they are separate. My questions are: Are those in the jars artificial? Is it better if I use the "cured eggs", which are real, for making spawn sacs? Thank you for reading.

If you want to make spawn sacks the single eggs are what you want. There are artificial and real eggs packaged in the little bottles. The real eggs have just been rubbed from the skeins during the curing process. The eggs you see bonded together are still in their skeins or the membrane that holds them together until they're ripe and they're laid. I've never personally made spawn sacks but I've seen them made in person and watched numerous videos. All the stuff you need comes from Atlas. I think the reason the sacks are popular around the Great Lakes is because they're more durable than a chunk of skein and you use less eggs per setup. They do a lot of ditch fishing or small stream if you like. The commercially rubbed and cured eggs will not milk like a skein because you aren't breaking the eggs. So grab a hunk of the netting material, drop like four to six eggs on it, pull up the edges and tie it with miracle thread.
I've often thought they'd be good drifting under a float, just a good way to keep them on the hook.
Hope that answers your questions, I didn't see any direct answers, just other things to do.