baitstealer
08-18-2009, 11:38 PM
Salting Bait for Surf Fishing (http://surf-fishing.us/bait/salting-bait-for-surf-fishing/)
Undertow, suck outs, waves and small bait stealers make the surf a very tough place to fish. One of the toughest things to do in surf fishing is keeping fresh bait on your hooks. Normally when people head to the beach to surf fish they stop by the bait shop and buy shrimp that is frozen in water. By the time they thaw and pull some shrimp from the clump of ice it is typically mushy and soft. This bait barely stays on hooks and really doesn't produce very well. One very simple alternative is to salt preserve bait. This method dehydrates the bait and preserves it much better than freezing.
There are a few obvious advantages to salted shrimp. One, you don't waste any bait. If you salt two pounds of shrimp, you won't be tossing the second pound in the trash when it gets stinky, because it won't get stinky. Two, when you're fishing, it's really convenient to have bite sized, peeled, ready to go pieces of shrimp. Three, the shrimp is almost rubbery when it's been salted, and it stays on the hook very well. After it's been in the water it seems to rehydrate a bit, and looks just like fresh shrimp. Four, it saves you time. You don't mess around on the beach peeling shrimp, you just stick a piece on the hook and get back to fishing.
Undertow, suck outs, waves and small bait stealers make the surf a very tough place to fish. One of the toughest things to do in surf fishing is keeping fresh bait on your hooks. Normally when people head to the beach to surf fish they stop by the bait shop and buy shrimp that is frozen in water. By the time they thaw and pull some shrimp from the clump of ice it is typically mushy and soft. This bait barely stays on hooks and really doesn't produce very well. One very simple alternative is to salt preserve bait. This method dehydrates the bait and preserves it much better than freezing.
There are a few obvious advantages to salted shrimp. One, you don't waste any bait. If you salt two pounds of shrimp, you won't be tossing the second pound in the trash when it gets stinky, because it won't get stinky. Two, when you're fishing, it's really convenient to have bite sized, peeled, ready to go pieces of shrimp. Three, the shrimp is almost rubbery when it's been salted, and it stays on the hook very well. After it's been in the water it seems to rehydrate a bit, and looks just like fresh shrimp. Four, it saves you time. You don't mess around on the beach peeling shrimp, you just stick a piece on the hook and get back to fishing.