Tutorial by Chad Hardy
I still remember my first cast like it was yesterday. On a small lake in Northern Indiana I sat on the bank of Crooked Lake not being able to take my eyes off my bobber. The rhythmic motion of the bobber bobbing up and down had me in a trance like state almost as though I was hypnotized. When suddenly my bobber goes down and I have caught my first fish. I was hooked. I knew right then and there that fishing would run through my blood for life. As I’ve grown older my passion for fishing has only grown stronger every day.
Since that day I baited my first hook with a single pautzke egg I have evolved using different techniques such as the spawn sack. The spawn sack is an old school method that fisherman have been using for decades, which in my opinion is underestimated. Based on these methods I have adapted my own version of the spawn sack, combining them with yarn balls, which I affectionately call yarnies. I have learned that a good spawn sack relies on the quality of your eggs.
My preference is Nates baits and Pro-cure when curing my eggs. I first cure my eggs the same way as most people, just by reading the back of the bottle of cure, but I do add my own touch by leaving my eggs in the bag longer when they are curing to insure that my eggs will be super juicy.
With these eggs I move on to making berries, which are clusters of eggs tied in a spawn sack. Berries are also easy to make but I suggest buying a berry vise to tie up your egg spawn sacks, which cuts down on the mess. Once they are tied up you can do all sorts of things to them like add shrimp oils slam-ola and or Anise for those finicky Coho’s.
These spawn sacks can be used for all different types of applications. You can plunk or sidedrift with them, also you can run them under a bobber as well as troll them. The possibilities are endless when it comes to what to do with little spawn berries. My preference is to mainly run them under a bobber or sidedrift them.
Again, the key to making a great berry is in the quality of your eggs. Better eggs usually mean more frequent hook ups. Again I suggest using Nates Baits or try products from Pro-Cure. Every time these berries assist me in a catching a fish I can’t help but to be brought back to that first time my bobber went down.
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Movie: AAA Steelheading Away in early May....
Sweet video. The underwater release shots were awesome and the co-joi
Movie: AAA Steelheading Away in early May....
Burge I love to get on here and see comments from you! Thanks brother
Movie: AAA Steelheading Away in early May....
Great looking vid. How big do you think that toad was that you underw
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The Reel Tech
Very cool Chad, thanks for sharing. Is would imagine your primary reason for using the sack rather than just cutting up the eggs into pieces and putting into the bait loop mostly to keep em all together and keep them on the hook longer? Would be a great advantage when casting for sure!
Chad hardy
I have found that by using Spawn sacks for steelhead and Salmon to be very effective for steelhead and Salmon. You can use these berries in all sorts of applications as shown above in some of my pictures. Spin-Glows or yarnies are very effective when plunking or sidedrifting for those finicky fish. I prefer sidedrifting when using these berries but they have been very deadly when running under a bobber or plunking for Salmon. Berries themselves are very easy to make and it is not a hard process to do. First as I mentioned that your eggs should be decent enough for fish to bite. After I catch a fish I make sure that all the blood is out of my eggs, this usually means right after catching your fish you need to bleed the fish out. Secondly I butterfly my uncured eggs and either add sugar or salt depending on whether you want a sweeter berry or a hot berry. Mainly fishing on the coast you primarily want a sweeter berry. After I have put some sugar on my uncured eggs I start the process of curing my eggs. The only thing I do different is I leave my eggs in the bag for 4 to 5 hours at room temp and let them become very juicy, after the 45 hours are up I use a drying screen and let them dry for at least 30 minutes. Then the berry magic begins. If you do not have a berry vise to tie your eggs you can always tie them by hand. It is simply just go buy some pre cut spawn sack and make your own berries. For steelhead I usually like to make smaller berries for a better presentation, for Salmon berries you can make them as big as you want. Now go make some berries and have fun everyone. Good luck out their. Furthermore if you need more info on good egg cures, look at Willem Bomes’ tutorial on how to cure good eggs, he is the egg Guru. Good luck out there everyone.
The Reel Tech
Great info Chad! Thanks for sharing
Chris Brander
Used to use spawn sacks but as of lately i have gotten away from them. Prolly because its winter steel season and I find myself using corkies and yarnies mostly. But springers are comin so im sure ill be gettin back into the ol’ bag tyin! Great pics Chad thanks for takin the time to show us multiple applications!
jason stricker
Just read this article, very informative and well written. Thanks for sharing.