Curing Coon Shrimp

[eastbayed]

I want to cure a batch of shrimp for steelhead. (called coon shrimp) It's difficult to find whole small shrimp in the SF bay area to use. I've been thinking of using grass shrimp. They are easy enough to get with a small gage trap and a little bait. Has anyone tried curing them for steelhead? If so what was the result in terms of toughness and effectiveness on steelhead?
Thanks,
East Bay Ed

[Mark Kranhold]

Have a friend that just buys the little bay shrimp at the grocery store and uses those for bait and does well.

[Idadon]

My son uses those little cooked shrimp, like you use for shrimp cocktail, that he buys at the grocery store. They catch Steelhead on the Salmon river by using a shrimp on a jig head and fishing it under a float. Seems his only complaint is they come off easy. On the plus side, if you get hungry you can eat your bait. I used Grass Shrimp for years for sturgeon but they seemed very fragile and died quick. Used to use a milk crate with screen inside and just lower it down by the pier. Bait was usually the cheapest can of cat food we could buy at the commissary.

[Mr T]

You can use any standard egg cure, or do it yourself with a borax mix, they cure quick so just go about half the time you'd use for eggs.

[BradW]

Just tie the shrimp, raw or cooked, in spawn sac like with roe. Lasts a long time.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

In Florida salt water fishing they use tons of live shrimp.

If you don't use them all you can cook them up after you get home.

Fly fishers use them for chum while they are staked out up tide in a skiff from a light colored shallow flat for Bonefish.

[Mark Kranhold]

Just tie the shrimp, raw or cooked, in spawn sac like with roe. Lasts a long time.

Yup, exactly!

[STEELIES/26c3]

Strain the shrimp in a strainer to remove excess moisture.
Pad shrimp with paper towels
Place 2 cups coarse grain sea/kosher/non-iodized salt in a plastic container
Add shrimp to it
Shake it up and store in reefer 24-48 hours
Remove shrimp from container and dust off excess salt
Place 1 cup Borax in a 1 gallon Ziplock bag
Place amount of shrimp you intend to use that day in the Borox/Ziplock bag
Salt toughens the shrimp so it stays on the hook better *but don't leave it in salt for over 3-5 days or it will get TOO hard
Borax cures it and prevents it from rotting
You can add (red, pink, orange, purple) powder cures like Pro-Cure or simple, Jell-O Brand Gelatin to the Borax for color
Ghost and sand work well up north and on coast
Bay, grass, cocktail for the valley fish.
Big, colored-up shrimp works well on the AR early in season and smaller, natural color tends to work better for the spring fish.
Put ANY shrimp in front of a steelhead anywhere at the right time of year and it WILL get smashed~
NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD be posting steelhead/bait-fishing advice on any board...
ESPECIALLY THIS ONE...
HA-HA-HAPPY NEW YEAR
<I:>~ <*)))))><

[Mark Kranhold]

Strain the shrimp in a strainer to remove excess moisture.
Pad shrimp with paper towels
Place 2 cups coarse grain sea/kosher/non-iodized salt in a plastic container
Add shrimp to it
Shake it up and store in reefer 24-48 hours
Remove shrimp from container and dust off excess salt
Place 1 cup Borax in a 1 gallon Ziplock bag
Place amount of shrimp you intend to use that day in the Borox/Ziplock bag
Salt toughens the shrimp so it stays on the hook better *but don't leave it in salt for over 3-5 days or it will get TOO hard
Borax cures it and prevents it from rotting
You can add (red, pink, orange, purple) powder cures like Pro-Cure or simple, Jell-O Brand Gelatin to the Borax for color
Ghost and sand work well up north and on coast
Bay, grass, cocktail for the valley fish.
Big, colored-up shrimp works well on the AR early in season and smaller, natural color tends to work better for the spring fish.
Put ANY shrimp in front of a steelhead anywhere at the right time of year and it WILL get smashed~
NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD be posting steelhead/bait-fishing advice on any board...
ESPECIALLY THIS ONE...
HA-HA-HAPPY NEW YEAR
<I:>~ <*)))))><
Can I come over for a shrimp cocktail Mark?:eek:

[eastbayed]

Thank you to all for your comments. I've only cured eggs once using a borex, etc. recipe from several years ago. Most of the recipes for shrimp on you tube call for the smallest size count (for some reason called coon shrimp), which I'm not successfully finding around here. The larger sizes wind up in my pan and get eaten by the family. I do like the idea of cutting medium shrimp into smaller segments or using the very small bay shrimp. I was primarily interested in finding out if grass shrimp would work. They are small and seem to fit the bill, and are generally easy to get. Watching you tube is a lot of fun with tons of info. Steelies, I've used flies for most of my life, but have had a couple of accidents recently while wading. At 70 it gets harder to aggressively wade, so I'm looking for easier ways to fish.
Once again thanks and good fishing to all in 2017!

[Carl Blackledge]

East bayed,

Your going to receive lots of information and how to cure shrimp. Keep in mind if you buy just what you need for the day you won't have to cure anything and besides the un-touched shrimp might even be more deadly then the cured stuff? Fresh sand shrimp comes to mind.

Carl

[STEELIES/26c3]

Can I come over for a shrimp cocktail Mark?:eek:

Sure but it won't taste too good...
MY shrimp cocktail is shrimp and salmon or steelhead roe together on a hook, BARF...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I did not fish steelies much this fall and I stayed home on the opener Sunday.
Likely, it will be a scant Eel R strain return this year due to the failures at Nimbus Hatchery to produce and release quotas in 2013 2014 and 2015.
Let us hope for strays... and if they don't come... then STRAY yourself... west and north ;)

[Idadon]

With you on the getting old problems. Led me to try Spey style stuff. I'm much more likely to pick up my spinning rod with a float/jig combo now. I'll still wade deep on good gravel but leave the bigger slippery stuff for the younger guys. By the way I've only seen "Coon" shrimp for sale up in Washington. Tight lines!

[eastbayed]

Idadon, I still wade hard and probably more aggresively then some of the youngsters (just not up to my younger standards), but with progressive lenses in my glasses I don't see the bottom as well and a spinning rod makes it easier. I will still carry my fly rod, but will be more selective with the water I'm fishing when using it.

By the way, (I don't want to start a new thread), but, while surfing the net looking for info on small shrimp curing and coon shrimp, I ran across several you tube and google searches that mentioned tuna balls soaked in Paulzke Nectar. That also sounded very interesting.

Good fishing to all.

[Idadon]

Good bait for salmon and used up here in Idaho frequently. Never saw anyone trying it for Steelhead though.