Fresh or Old?

[Zoedogg]

  Now I have had some time to think this early summer about the bait I used that produced the most fish. I have spoke to a couple of my friends at "WWW.SALMONANDSTEELHEADMADNESS.COM " who are fishing buddies of mine. They also market their own prawn bait.(They actually agreed) Like most steelheaders who can't wait for the first fish in late Fall and winter run ,I tend to make up a nice load of prawns or avoid the hassel later on. Long story short, as I get toward the end of a certain color after taking the same container with me over and over again without cleaning it out, in fact just thawing it and freezing it as I need it. I noticed that the more it has been thawed and froze the better it begins to work. This gave my favorite bait the name "Rotten Red". Now dont get me wrong, its not really rotten, but it does have a different smell than fresh cured prawns. I was wondering if anyone else has had the same or similar results with bait like this?
 This up and coming season I plan to put this new found theory of mine to the test. I will make a batch and periodically thaw and freeze it. I'll keep you all posted on the progress. I'll begin about August '06.
  I am very open to ideas as to why this might be working so well...etc. Now one of the last trips I made for winter run this year I fished my bait along side my dads, which was very fresh and cured the same way...(He taught me after all) and I pulled in twice the fish he did if not more. Fishing the same technique and everything. Once he switched to my bait he also started pounding the steelies. Huh? So again, tell me what you think.           Clint

[winterchrome]

Sounds like you have a bait you're confident in.  Hope it continues to work!

[Dragfreedrift]

A guide friend of mine told me that smelly, half-rotten sandshrimp can really clobber the salmon sometimes.
So, I 'm not surprised about your prawns!


DFD

[UmpquaDude]

What kind of prawns do you start with? Are you using a salt based brine for your cure?

[Zoedogg]

 Sorry about the very slow reply, but I use coon shrimp most of the time. I also lean more towards a salt base cure also...I like em tough...I have actually left shrimp on my hook one day and fished it all dried up the next and still catch fish on it. Dont get me wrong, the fish are smart, but not THAT smart. 

[dardevle]

I remember fishing the queets one day with some left over sandshrimp..  The water was the typical 2 foot visibiliy.  The sandshrimp was a little ripe but I figured something smelly is better than nothing.  I proceeded to hook 4 fish in the same hole with one that was easily 22-23lbs.  I figure that many predators  are scavengers at certain times and maybe more smell is better  in some circumstances.

[whsc]

wanting to but shrimp from your buddies at salmonandsteelheadmadness.com but cannot
find them .please help me out .
                             thanks ,brandon smtih

[Brian]

Looks like their domain was not renewed.