alewife or anchovie brine anyone?

[reelburn]

Iam an angler from Ontario and I thought I would ask the reel salmon experts from B.C. what a good brine would be for these baitfish! Living in Ontario, bait can get very expensive and when you catch as many salmon as I do, you almost have to remorgage the house!lol

 

[Mr. Dean]

I also like to add powdered milk too the mix. Makes'm shine nice-n-pretty

Some like it rough...
Others just puke!.
Mr. Dean

 

[Sam Salmon]

Remember that the bait is usually only good for a day or so brine or no brine-the stomachs go soft and 'blow out' when being trolled.
Brine that bait the night before and leave in a small dedicated cooler in the fridge.

livin' la vida pesca!

 

[JuandeOne]

I now just use rock salt alone. Be very, very generous with it and after each trip just store it back in the freezer. I have used the same batch of chovies on four consecutive outings and they actually get better each time. As for stomach blowout, I see this with some inferior products but on the west coast a good quality bait, like Rhys Davis, I have never found this to be a problem.

The brine works great too and with this you can get fancy with milk powder, blue food colouring, scent or whatever else toots your horn.