The subject of bait preparation and storage is always a hot topic of conversation amongst anglers, maggots, casters, bread, worms, pellets or whatever, we all have our own tried and trusted methods and secrets.
Lobworms are a favourite bait of mine and have caught me some great fish over the years, they are a superb big fish bait and one which rarely attracts the attention of small fish (with the exception of perch), they are an easy bait to use and relatively easy to obtain (except in my garden which seems to be devoid of them!). The big question is how does the angler store them in tip top condition?
Collecting worms is almost a sport in it's own right and something I may write about another time, suffice to say that it's good fun and I'd recommend it to anyone! When I had more time for such things than I have now I would spend hours collecting worms and when I had a sufficient amount I would fill a large rubble bag with soil to within four inches of the top, deposit the worms into it and lean it up against the back of our shed with the top open. This would provide me with enough worms to last me for a whole Winter's chub, roach and perch fishing on the river Leam. This simple arrangement served me well for some years and my supply of lobs never appeared to be any worse off for the experience.
Nowadays I use worms less frequently and therefore source them according to my needs, storage is now restricted to the confines of a bait box and my preference is to keep them in soil.
Now, here's the thing....My belief is that storage in soil allows the worms to continue ingesting soil and therefore continue to eat and as a consequence remain in the best condition possible. In fact by changing the soil I have kept worms for two or three weeks in a bait box.
Why then is there such a difference of opinion in the best medium for earthworm storage? Damp shredded newspaper is a popular one but other's swear by peat or even grass cuttings. When we were teenagers my mate Phil was told by his Dad (an angler of many years experience) to use moss for keeping his worms in, as a result Phil uses moss exclusively. And that brings me to this....
Last night I was reading a book called 'Perch: How to Catch Them' written in 1954 by Kenneth Mansfield and I came across the following passage....
"Scouring: Lobworms and Redworms can be improved by scouring for several days before use. They are placed in any suitable wooden or pottery container. The moss should be damp (but not sodden) and the containers should be inverted once a day so that the worms can work through the moss."
In 1613 John Dennys wrote this....
"The Pearch, the Tench, and Eele, doe rather bite at great red wormes, in Field or Garden bred, that have been scowred in mosse or Fennell rough, to rid their filth, and make them hard and tough."
It appears Mr Dennys, Mr Mansfield and Phil's Dad know something I don't!
Mine are stored in the soil they grow in. I have an old butler sink in the back yard full of peat compost that I've added loads of potato peelings and other veg waste to.
ReplyDeleteI grew a load of dendrobaenas on my allotment (given it up now) by dumping veg waste in a bottomless wooden box - they find anything edible like this and breed in no time at all. These were transferred to the back yard wormery along with a load of lobworms and now the worms are all breeding and producing hundreds of tiny worms !
On return from a session I just dump whats left back in the sink
Jeff - Reckon there's any milage in this scouring business? Seems like it was common practice at one time, does it improve the attraction of the worm or just make them easier to handle?
ReplyDeleteThe worms do benefit from being tough skinned. The ones that get limp, soft and lifeless are not very pleasant to use, they catch just as many fish of course if the fish are having worms that day, but I suppose if things are harder than usual then a good wriggly bait can't be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteActually I came across an observation of roach kept in a garden pond. The author stated that roach would flee into the weeds when he approached the pond, then he would drop a worm into the water where it would wriggle its way into the weeds and debris on the bottom and become completely hidden from view. When the roach came out from cover and relaxed enough to swim about they would sense the worm by feeling its vibrations and then go looking for it. One would eventually find it, grab it and then swim away with the worm half way in with all the others following it around waiting for it to drop a piece.
So, I suppose a lively worm is going to get found...?