Brining Pilchards

[ospray 1]

Hi all, looks like the snapper are coming in thick and fast, talking to 'Spotter' at Compleat Angler (Moonta) yesterday, she said there are still heaps of them out from Pt Hughes at the moment and for a fair while yet, which gets me to my Question.What is the best method to brine PilchardsThe last time I went out the pillies were fine at the start , by the time we finished about 2 hours later they were like mush and barely able to stay on the hookThanks[/color:3xvvl2c1]

[ospray 1]

After asking the question I did a google search and found a method, which is years old and supposedly works well.I used a pack of large pilchards(Pt Lincoln variety)which were frozen as a block($13), got some Brown sugar and Salt, mixed then together as equal parts, put a layer (5) in a take away rice container (small plastic size, 10 for $3 at a $2 shop) covered the bottom in the mixture, put 5 pillies in, then covered with the mix again.I put them in the (bait) fridge for a day to let them set, then pour their juices out each day into a separate plastic jar and mix whiting nuggets with it.They are starting to look and feel leathery at the moment and I have left them out of the fridge, just put them away in a cool spot in the shed.I was also told to just cover them with rock salt, pour off their juices that they make, keep for berley mix and they last for months[/color:1ssqari4] {SMILIES_PATH}/tongue.gif

[fred 1]

You pay a little extra for brined pilchards.My thought is buy the brined ones and save yourself a lot of experimentation and time.

[ospray 1]

Thanks for the tips fellas, time is of no essence to me, I am retired, so I need things to help me fill in the time, it only took me around 30 mins to do them so it wasnt all that bad, the sugar and salt were not that dear, about $4, the containers were $3 for 10, I should be able to get a few re-uses out of them. So it it cost me $13 for pillies, $2 for sugar and salt (I only used half of what I bought) $1 for trays, so divide 40 pillies into $16 = $0.40 per unit, Fred what do IQF pillies cost per unit, and how much can you save us if we buy them thru you.[/color:35sc4kow]

[brenton 637]

When i,ve brined pillies before i just made a heavy brine solution in an old esky and stuck the whole lot in the freezer for about 3-5 days depending on the size of the pilchards.The brine is too salty to freeze and if the pillies take up the brine slowly they keep their plump appearance instead of shrinking.I still don,t like them that much as bait but they are good off the deep reefs.In the surf i still prefer fresh if you can get them because as they fall to pieces they add to the burley.If on a extended trip to the far west coast this is the exception because they turn to mush and the brineys are the way to go. cheers brenton

[fred 1]

A mate and i were catching 4lb salmon off the beach at Myponga a fair while ago. We had brined and fresh pilchards. We experimented with both and the Salmon would take the fresh ones over brined most times. After we got bored of that i mixed up a whole sachet of stimulate instant bait and shaped this pink blob into the shape of a fish over my 3 x 4/0 hooks. I talked myself up about the size of the huge salmon i was going to catch with my massive stimulate blob/fish. I gave it the biggest cast you've ever seen and the line snapped and i lost it all. Bloody funny.

[ospray 1]

Well the brining seemed to have worked o.k., it has sucked out to much juices from the Pilchards tho and they are leathery looking with dark skins, another friend suggested that I have used to much salt/sugar, when he does them he only uses as much salt as you would put on chips, then wrap them between layers of paper in bundles of 6, leave them out for a day then put them in the freezer until needed, what you dont use you can put back in the freezer and use them another day, making sure you keep them cool and out of the sun when on the boat, I used a good handfull of sugar for every 6 pilchards.I'm learning all the time[/color:1mrizho8]