whelks

[mrrayy]

i found a few whelks washed up on the beach where i was digging,are they any good for bait and if so what species.......

[Pelamid]

Tried them many times. Had a couple of codling on them but lug always worked better.
Crewed a couple of times for a friend who longlined off Felixstowe. He would use them only if a line was to be left for 24 hours.
His usual trip would only be fishing the lines for about 6 hours. Then he would use lug.
Whelks are tough enough to slow the crabs down though!

[mrrayy]

thanks...how did you prepare them?the ones i got are quite large,also if you know is there an easier way to get them out of there shell,i used a hammer but it was a bit messy..........

[Pelamid]

I used the hammer as well. Sorry, no sophisticated tips.

[Bass-ic Instinct]

They do catch wrasse and are ok to tip off for flatfish. Not a great bait really, although razorclams that can get washed up are a superb bass and cod bait at the right times.

[mrrayy]

do i just use whole on the hook?

[Bass-ic Instinct]

Yeah, you can use them for tipping or thread a few up the hook. Best hooked through twice to stop them slipping over the hok point if you get what i mean.

[mrrayy]

thanks guys,one more thing to add i see buckies or winkles on the rocks,are they worth picking up?i enjoy the odd platefull myself but cant see how fish would develop a taste for them as access to a pin might be difficult....

[Rajabatis]

thanks guys,one more thing to add i see buckies or winkles on the rocks,are they worth picking up?i enjoy the odd platefull myself but cant see how fish would develop a taste for them as access to a pin might be difficult....

A fishes stomach juices will dissolve out the inside with no problem and get the goodness out of a welk or buckie. We often find them in Cod's stomachs along with grit sand rocks etc. I guess they just hoover it all up along with the food they are targeting.
I found some fresh whitish eel like things in a 6lb Cod I caught from Johnshaven harbour. No idea what they were. It also had a length of coarse white string that looked identical to the eel things. I often wonder if it just made a mistake.

[mrrayy]

nice one i never thought of the digestive juices,whole new train of thought going on now,thanks for that as im just away to bed,hope YOU all have a good nights sleep........