Spawn bags

[michigan_transplant]

Being new to steelhead and salmon fishing i spend a lot of time googling stuff on it. I noticed that there are a lot of people that use spawn bags (eggs wrapped in a nylon material of some sort). Most of which seemed to be on the east coast and mid west. I asked a friend about it and he said "no one would be caught dead using that on the Santiam" maybe he was being a bit over the top but I have noticed that i never see anyone on here talking about them.

Just curious as to why. Is this some sort of thing that people in the Pac NW don't use and leave it to those midwesterners that are fishing the Great Lakes rivers??

 

[brandon4455]

i posted a thread about spawn sacks a while back, a guy replied he used loose coho eggs and tied them up with the material and fished em under a bobber . he said he and his buddy both limited out on springers. and if they work for salmon im sure they will for steelhead



brandon

 

[michigan_transplant]

yeah i was just curious. i know you posted a link to a bunch of videos of a guy and his kid that fished out in Pennsylvania it looked like. looked to me that was all the guy used. might have to check it out this year.

 

[brandon4455]

yeah i was just curious. i know you posted a link to a bunch of videos of a guy and his kid that fished out in Pennsylvania it looked like. looked to me that was all the guy used. might have to check it out this year.

yeah they used those and marabou jigs. i myself used some coho eggs last year and made some spawn sacks, i caught a few large cutthroat and had another takedown but thats about it. i think it's worth a try



brandon

 

[Chedster]

I can usually get enough casts out of my eggs to where spawn bags don't really make sense for me tie up. Fish a glob of eggs for fifteen minutes then throw some fresh ones in the egg loop. I know some people who do use them here in the NW but don't think they catch any more fish than the traditional egg loop method used here.

 

[brandon4455]

it's just like using globs of eggs but,isong different colored eggs along with different colored nylon material can also be the ticket. i guess you could do the same with yarn under your bait loop with the eggs but the color would not cover as much of the bait.

 

[halibuthitman]

well I will go ahead and just throw myself under the bus for being the one who says using roe on steelhead is a waste of roe if the air temp is above about 35 degrees... a jig or yarn or penny or chunk of wire.. whatever, will catch just as much fish as eggs... and if its the hungry steelhead your after.. then they will be even more inclined to hit the previously mentioned tackle... and if you insist on using spawn sacks, you might as well use it under one of those red and white bobbers that came free with your kids buzz light year fishin pole... heck, mabe even use the pole! lol... mostly joking around, but I have seen quite a few guys take a pretty hefty ribbing over them. If you feel you need scent, take the roe...smash it in some tupper ware, and dip your yarn or jig in it often, works just as good.

 

[troutdude]

That makes sense to me. If you already have the roe, why waste time putting it in wrappers? The only advantage that I can see, is like Brandon mentioned...different wrapping colors. But, it's mesh netting and barely visible in mucky water.

 

[brandon4455]

well I will go ahead and just throw myself under the bus for being the one who says using roe on steelhead is a waste of roe if the air temp is above about 35 degrees... a jig or yarn or penny or chunk of wire.. whatever, will catch just as much fish as eggs... and if its the hungry steelhead your after.. then they will be even more inclined to hit the previously mentioned tackle... and if you insist on using spawn sacks, you might as well use it under one of those red and white bobbers that came free with your kids buzz light year fishin pole... heck, mabe even use the pole! lol... mostly joking around, but I have seen quite a few guys take a pretty hefty ribbing over them. If you feel you need scent, take the roe...smash it in some tupper ware, and dip your yarn or jig in it often, works just as good.

why do you think i have never wasted my money on eggs in my life? when i used spawn sacks it was loose left over coho eggs from a fish i caught i dont fish eggs for anything unless it's puatzkies for trout . i like using lures that you can cast over and over again and only loose it because a snag or a fish snaps your line not have to reload every 10casts. when i did think it was a good idea to use spawn sacks it was because i was curious to seeing what worked . and i found out that i had a lot more time to fish whenusing corkies and yarn or spinners rather then bait and re baiting your hooked all the time just my opinion and what i have found to be a better method for ME . but everyone thinks a little different i guess



brandon

 

[halibuthitman]

the sacks can kinda come in handy sturgeon fishing though-

 

[brandon4455]

the sacks can kinda come in handy sturgeon fishing though-

so i have heard..you bunch a bunch of worms up in the mesh.

 

[Heavy Metal 1]

They work just fine

They work just fine

I moved here from Wisconsin a few years ago...We used spawn sacks when we used eggs. I never saw anyone use an egg loop w/ eggs ever. I read STS magazine and noted that PNW anglers used the egg loop set up. I tried it and saw no positive difference. The sacks work quite well; much more durable for repeated casts and you can add those little styrofoam balls in w/ the eggs to give a little more flotation to your rig. I have caught plenty of steel on them, salmon too. I have found skeined eggs under an egg loop, even w/ yarn cushioning the line loop to come apart more easily when drifting or plunking. Spawn sacks are much faster to rebait and easier to carry on the stream too. You can put them in a vitamin bottle in your pocket and pop one out when needed. I tried both ways here in OR and found the fish bite both equally. A round drft bobber and yarn is more "unnatural" than a bag of eggs, but as we all know the steel will hit a drift bobber so why would they reject a sack of eggs? Fact is they don't. I use latex gloves when I tie up my sacks to minimize human scent transfer. I have one of these: Spawnee Spawn Sack Machine it makes tying spawn sacks a breeze.

 

[troutdude]

HM, welcome to OFF.

I, for one, am glad that you chimed in on this. Thanks for sharing your experiences, and the web link. I like the ideas of: added color, longer lasting, ease of re-baiting, adding pills for more flotation (and / or color), etc.

Happy Trails, TD

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

The only reason I would use a spawn sack is if there are a lot of smolts in the water like in the spring or in rivers like the Trinity in where you catch a trout or they take your eggs on every cast. No need to take the extra time to make up spawn sacks. The problem if you make single eggs for sacks is getting them wet in water to help remove them from the skien! That decreases the final product of your eggs and cure. The eggs will suck up all of the water and not allow your cure to get into the eggs leaving you with a less productive egg. Not that they wont work but they wont be as good.

 

[SantiamDrifter]

I saw a video of a guy removing the berries from the skein using a spoon. He kept the eggs out of the water. It look like a good way to do it.

I fish everything myself, from pink worm to jigs spoons and bait. A good egg cure is hard to beat on the river.

 

[CoastieFlo]

A couple things.......

Ive used spawn sacks with TUNA on the S Santiam (when I lived in Corvallis) and caught many a springer on it. I dont know about steelhead but maybe...?

Also go to a craft store and look for their mesh netting, usually they will have a bazillion shades of flo. red, orange, pink etc. And for a buck or so u will get a ton of it, just have to cut into pieces. Much cheaper than the pre-cut stuff. Also u can get puffballs at craft stores for this too.

 

[FISHHEADMAFIA]

I have caught steel using spawn sacks under a bobber , and hit steel drifting spawn sacks .
However , 95 % of the winter steel I hit , hit on a cork and yarn . They can't resist it . Click on my web page and check out the drift rig video .
That rig is where pretty much where all my steel comes from .
Cheap and effective . To save time tying rigs , invest in a small "PIPS" .

 

[cat77xx]

When the King salmon and Coho salmon have been in the creeks up this way for a while there eggs become loose (not connected/surrounded by a membrane) and the only way other than going through and extensive process of making sticky eggs is to put them in little net bags!