What to do with spawn?

[BigMusky]

ever try a food saver? That would get the air out pretty good.

[Marksburg]

AllEyes: This maybe a bit late, but I read your thread and thought I'd lend my two cents. : ) There are a few things I like to have to cure the eggs to my liking; it seems to work fairly well.

Supplies:
-Borax, you can find 20 Mule Team at stores like Pick n' Save or Wal-Mart by the laundry detergent.
-Plastic strainer
-News paper
-Small plastic bags or containers. What ever you would like to store it in. The vacuum sealer would work great.
-Cure of some type.(But not necessary)There are various suppliers, it can be found at Gander Mountain, Sportsmen Warehouse, etc..... It comes in various colors as well as natural.
-Large bowl, use something old or get a bowl you'll only use for this poccess.
-Rubber gloves, you don't want the dye from the cure on your hands. This also helps if you have a problem with the smell of the eggs.
-Knife of Scissors

I try to do this same day I get the eggs, they will cure the best and last the longest. Make sure to get all of the blood from the fish off the eggs, it can ruin them quickly. First layout enough news paper to work on, a nice large area to work. When I have skein I like to cut it into manageable pieces. I use a scissors for this, it easies in my opinion, you may break a few eggs…. Be careful…. A knife works fine as well. At this point cover them in borax let stand for 10 to 15 minutes, package them up, done.…
But I find that if I cure it, it works better. Take those pieces and put them in the strainer and cover them with the cure. Mix it up good and let them stand for a bit, be careful so you don’t crush the eggs and break them.
Next take those pieces and lay them out on news paper, let them air dry for 10 to 15 minutes.
Next take that bowl and fill it up with borax, put the pieces in to the bowl and coat the eggs with borax. Let that stand for bit.
Ok, now you can package them up. I only package enough for a day or two per bag. This way you only pull out enough for a trip and the rest stays nice and frozen, while storing make sure you don’t crush the eggs. Depends…. but I keep cured eggs up to a year frozen and they work great. You can tie them into spawn sacks first then do the curing, cure them right away when there fresh. That seems to work best.

I hope this helps a bit, works well for me. Cured skein works great for me under floats. My two cents…. : )

[AllEyes]

Hope I put this thread in the right spot. I'm wondering what my options are for preserving spawn for longer periods of time. I end up with plenty of salmon spawn from trolling during the summer/early fall, and some brown spawn too. In the past I've just put it in a zip-lock back and froze it. To me, it doesn't look very "fresh" when I take it out of the freezer? I have the same problems with freezing the spawn sacs I tie. Is there any way to preserve them for 3-6 months without freezing, or do I just need to do a better job of freezing the spawn. I do have a vaccuum sealer I could use now. I like being able to tie a bunch of sacs up at one time early in the year and then having them easily available throughout the season, but they seem to loose their color quickly. I'd appreciate any tips and advice.