How to brine ballyhoo?

[vettnman]

This is probally a stupid question, but it's something I've never done before. After fishing with Mark this past jan, and using his brined ballyhoo, I was curious. How many of you brine your hoo's and what way do you do it? By "way", I mean instuct an amateur what you used and lenghts of time involved. Thx guys

[offshore]

As you saw we just dry brine ours and they will last forever. 50% borax and 50% koshar salt mix. Clip the two front fins push out the eyes gently break the backs being carefull not to damage the scales. I dont de poop the ballyhoo its sort of like tuna and wahoo candy!! Put some of the mix in a tray and just roll the ballyhoo in it. Then stack the ballyho on their backs in a tray side by side. This way if there is any blood it will not discolor the bellies of the bait....Mark

[Capt. Fred]

Remember not to thaw them in their package. If you do they will soak in the blood and get discolored. I take them out of the package, lay them in a tray with no holes in it, thaw them in some water and salt and baking soda and then once they are thawed I dry brine them in a tray that drains as Mark explained above.

[vettnman]

what is borax and where would I get that? When you brine them, the ballyhoo are thawed out first, correct? After brining them, do you refreeze them?

[Capt. Fred]

I think technically brining means in a liquid so we are kind of talking about two parts of the process here. I thaw mine in a brine solution. (water, salt and baking soda) Then, once they are thawed, I place them belly up in a tray and sprinkle the same mix on them to toughen the bellies a bit. I'm not sure where you get borax but Mark will chime in. I generaly don't re-freeze ballyhoo but I know some folks do with sucess.

[fishbard]

Borax is in the laundry section of the supermarket. Also used by country folk to cure hams---that and Salt make a great cure, BTW. Any of you folks ever raise your own hogs? Guess I am showing my age, but remember "20 Mule Team Borax"? It was the sponsor of "Death Valley Days". The Announcer was none other than Ronald Reagan.

[BigSea]

First start with good hoos, Baitmasters are the best.

What I do is thaw them outside, once thawed I'll clip the fins, poke the eyes out, depoop and gently break the backs. Then I put them in salt water (just enough to cover, fresh will work if salt isn't available) then generously ad Bionic Brine. Add lots of ice and let soak overnight. In the morning I'll dump out the water, put ice in the cooler and use a tray or towel over the ice. Then place ballys belly up for rigging. If the bait quality isn't good you can sprinkly more Bionic Brine on the belly for the ride out. I use a 25 quart igloo marine cooler, its just the right size for small to medium hoos.

You can run a bait all day......but it shouldn't last that long!

[vettnman]

Thx guys for your help!

[CAP1]

Some kosher brining salt a little water to create a slushy mix, heavy on the salt.
All good advice here.

[Capt. G]

Going to try trolling with some hoos up here this year (we usually use mackerel for tuna but there have been some good shows of halfbeaks the last couple years). Can you point me to a supplier for the bait trays you guys are talking about.