Cranka

Yeah Ranger i imagine the acid does, but probably more to speed up the curing process i guess.Also when I used to do it alot, I would keep the brine for a month or more in the fridge, so i could reuse it.Because of the salt content, stays good.You could also freeze it and thaw it later if you have the room in the freezerDan

Hi GuysIn addition to smoking the fish the fish should be slightly cured first.I have tried many ways and have found this the best by far, I found it on the web some years back when i was at uni and had little money and lived of fish, abalone and crays. (sounds like the life doesnt it)and home brew beer.3 Men’s Fish Smoking Brine Recipe* 1 U.S. gallon of water at room temperature 2 cups salt 1 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon garlic juice (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder) 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon allspice (it is best to sift this into the water to avoid clumping 2 teaspoons white pepper *This recipe is for an 80º brine and can be multiplied as many times as neededIn a glass, plastic or ceramic container (never wood or metal), mix all of the ingredients thoroughly until dissolved. A small handblender such as those made by Braun works well for mixing the ingredients. For brining fish we like to use rectangular plastic containers that are four inches to six inches deep. These can be purchased at restaurant supply stores. As long as it is not wood or metal, any type of container is acceptable.Place the fish in the brine solution ensuring that all pieces are completely submerged. Place plates on top of the fish to maintain complete submersion. For short brining periods (three hours of less) in cool temperatures the brine may be at room temperature if the fish is well chilled before placing it in to the brine. If the fish is not well chilled and/or the ambient temperature is warm, place the brine and fish in a refrigerator for the duration of the time of brining. Alternatively, you may place bags containing ice in to the brine mixture to cool the temperature.

Hey guys and galsWell some of you may have noticed that the Cranka website had not changed in over a month.This is because we had trouble with the site builder.But thanks to Aarron we have changed over to Joomla a much better setup.So we have been busy doing this for the past month, there are still a few bits and pieces that need finishing but I have put it up anyway.I would like to thank Aarron for his help and advice during this projectCheck it out at www.cranka.com.auRegardsDan

Sorry Guys been offline most of the week due to the dreaded flu.Problems with small kids they are little gem factories.Will get back onto it this weekend and get them lures out.Once again sorry for the delayRegardsDan

cant get it to worki will talk to AarronRegardsDan

Hi GuysHere is new official colour chart for the shadsThe one that has been about has been a temp oneAny vote of the temp chart are still valid and notedRegardsDan

Hey guysWe have over 30 registered for the comp.I want to get a min of 30 colour choices before starting So those that have not given a choice yet could you please do so asap so we can get this underway this weekRegarddsDan

Hi guysSorry for the issues with the poll.Aarron has been unable to fix it.So please leave your colour of choice on this thread, Thanks for you patienceRegardsDan

Hey guys will get Aarron to check it out see what the problem isBut you need to vote for the pass the lure comp if you are in it.The highest ranked 2 of each vibe and shad will be the colours in circulation during the comp. so it important that you vote if you are registeredRegardsDan

hi guys the poll is up.you will find it on the bottom left of the forums page.There is one for shads and one for vibes, so please choose in both.RegardsDan

I am always happy to give out info on bream as i know a bit about them as i have had plenty of failures while learning to get it right, I have a mate that works with them in research and interesting things are always popping up.Like a 63cm bream caught in the Tamar river aged at 24yrs old, unfortunatley it was killed but that is life, it was mounted and it quite impressivehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoN2JYaHm3AThis is a link to some underwater video, of bream being fed inside a tank at the hatchery some years ago.I dont have the underwater video anymore as vandles broke in and smashed it up.Kids have a go at breaking in every school holidays, over the past 3 years we have had over 6 breakins. They should be out fishing instead of recking thingsRegardsDan

Hi GuysSome nice reds there, Interesting the few comments about snapper sizes and age.I have a bream hatchery we run a few months of the year to aid stocking a local river.The manual on bream also covers snapper.They grow quite fast in comparison to bream, 63 cm is prob at best 6-7years old.Also it is probably in its last years of spawning, snapper unlike bream start spawning from 4 years old and are finished by the time they are 10yrs old, although some continue to spawn the eggs are no longer viable and generally wont fertilise.Last year i went to the fremantle university and had a tour of there bream and snapper hatchery, and was quite interested to learn that they only spawned for 6-7 years unlike a bream which continues on till its death.Bream also become mature after 2-3 years and it is the maturing that stunts the grow rate , as all the spare energy goes into production of sperm/eggs.Where snapper mature a little later meaning they can grow faster until this time, so around 40cm in a few years, they then slow down for the next 6 years but still maintain a better growth rate then bream due to the fact they eat more fish then bream which is higher in protein.Bream spend most of there time eating mussels and cockle, oysters etc.Why???? because you are what you eat, shellfish are 70% roe (egg or sperm) so all the goodies are there for them to create there eggs.So it is really important to protect these fish in that period from 30cm to 70cm mark they are the breeders,But I also believe that the bigger fish involve themself in the spawning activity maybe from protection against predators that try and eat the eggs, or the smaller spawners.I am not expert on snapper, but from watching the bream in there breeding activity and as they are juveniles i have noticed one thing that had repeatedly suprised me, they larger older fish will swim with fish only 40mm in lenght, and never try and eat them, for some reason they know there own and leave them alone. Yet is a bait fish comes to close they will eat it.Anyway just some info i thought the snapper capital of oz might like to know.Some may not agree, but this information comes from a hatchery who have researched these guys alot.RegardsDan

Hey mate no you only need to send the email.Just posting it helps keep the thread current so that more people get s chance to see it.If there are many out there like me, I got straight to recent post and often miss things.RegardsDan

sure mate but prefer if you email is working that you use the email, as it is much easier to organise that wayRegardsDan

Cool guys yes got quite a few emails now, I will go through them all after i finsh work today.I will talk to Aarron today so we can get those poll questions up.RegardsDan

I will reply to all emails, but might not get to them all in one day.RegardsDan

I thinks it will be great, for allDan

Hi allIf you could just post email sent on the thread as you doit, this will help keep it up in the recent activity so people wont miss it.RegardsDan

Hi AllHere is the email address you can register at.passthelure@cranka.com.auPlease provideName.AddressTownStatePostcodePhone number (not required)I will get the poll up for colours by the weekend and early next week we can send out the first of the lures to the first 3 registeredRegardsDan