["My God Cod"]

Hi all
Going out fishing Wednesday but bait man has let me down and no longer can supply! I have about a half lb of lug that I hope to keep alive till then, all my past attempts have ended in slush! have tried keeping in fresh seawater changed daily. Kept some barely alive for two days once, kept in newspaper changed daily and kept in fridge. Can anyone shed any light on this or offer up some bait numbers for Grimsby/Cleethorpes way who may have fresh bait available.
Regards, P.R man

 

[bigads]

Is it blacks or standard lug you have?

If it blows and yellows have you tried salting them?

 

["My God Cod"]

Its standand not black (think its also called marsh worm?) but yes have got some salting which will be ready for Wednesday but I would like fresh if poss. Any ideas on keepiong what I have fresh?

 

[big guy]

the main thing you need is a fridge. also a cat litter tray and fresh sea water. put up to 100 worms in a tray, just covers them in sea water (not so they're swimming). put in the fridge, pick out any sand and dead ones and change the water daily. it's best if the fresh water thats going to be used is in the fridge.

are they english worms? my local tackle shop's got some in from holland that keep best in damp newspaper. so you have the tray, damp paper (dampened with sea water), worms, damp paper. and also in the fridge.

 

["My God Cod"]

Hi big guy
Am told they are from spurn head? I did just as you said with some last week but they mushed the next day even though it was fresh sea water and the worms and water were in the fridge. At mo they are in a fresh change of newspaper on the bottom shelf of the fridge, but still 3 days to go! any more suggestions appreciated mate. Regards P.R man. P.s have fresh sea water in the fridge in case I did something wrong last time cos am told they will keep for upto two week!

 

[SHARKIE]

I had a small polystyrene box off a fishmonger, keep it in the fridge with a small amount of sea water and they last for days

 

["My God Cod"]

Cheers pal will sort that now, thanks for the input. P.R man

 

[big guy]

i can keep mine well over 2 weeks if needed, they just shrink the longer you keep them. i can't see why they died on you, you done everything right.

just wondering if has anyone else has had any probs with worms from the spurn head area?

 

["My God Cod"]

Hello again
Maybe overfilled the tray? it was a gardening type with deeper ridges so only put in water half way up the worms width ( about 5 mm ) so the ridges were deeper, about 10 mm. Will try again and hope for better results.

 

[big guy]

you can keep 300- 400 in a small cat litter tray, for a few days. they just keep better in smaller numbers. the water level was about right, i find that if you put too much water in they seem to blow more.

you need to take out as much of the sand as you can and take the dead ones out. maybe try changing the water twice a day and see if that makes a difference.

 

[crazyplums]

i had a better result recently by turning down the temp on my fridge, i found if it wa too cold, even the sea water started to freeze, which doesnt do the worms much good, i've no idea what the temp is, but it's on its lowest setting now !

another thing i do do, aswell as changing the water daily, is to keep a bucket of sand from the same beach, a handful in with each water change helps to soak up any nasties that the worms might give out, kept my last worms well over a week like this,

always keep the spare water in the same fridge too !


i have considered making a very basic filer system, running the pump from a fish tank, via the internal light electrics (disabling the off switch of course ! ) seeing if it makes any difference.

 

["My God Cod"]

Hi all
An update on my attempts to keep alive lug, once again I failed, Despite my best efforts they turned to jelly after two days. Did everthing I was advised to do and used fresh sea water which was also kept in the fridge. Maybe next time will just keep in newspaper changed daily as have managed to keep "some" of a batch barely alive for three days. P.R man

 

[KNIGHTPROWLER]

I HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP LUG ALIVE IN TRAYS FOR 2 WEEKS IN THE FRIDGE, JUST A SMALL AMOUNT OF SEA WATER, ABOUT HALF WAY UP THE WORMS, NEARLY AS GOOD AS THE DAY THEY WHERE DUG, CHANGE WATER DAILY IF YOU CAN, AND REMOVE ANY DEAD OR SICK WORMS, THE MAIN THING I FOUND WAS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE FRIDGE, TO COLD AND THEY DIE, TO HOT AND THE SAME HAPPENS, OPTIMUM TEMP SEEMS ABOUT 5 DEGREES,
HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP- Graham

 

[crazyplums]

i agree about the temp of the water, makes quite a difference to longevity,

 

["My God Cod"]

Sorry guys
Back to this old chestnut, got 12oz of lug and 6oz of rag, in this age of recycling and reusing! I am gonna newspaper them (seperately) overnight ready to transport to South Shields Thursday evening. Can't fish till Friday or even Saturday so will do the same over each night again. I won't risk the tray and fresh seawater for a fourth time! I just can't get it right. It's got to last till Saturday surely?
And before you say tight bass Ted! I have fresh bait ordered in Shields also but you can never have enough bait sometimes. Will it last in newspaper or should I salt and have done with?????
Any help please. P.R man

 

[billfish]

only thing i can think of m8t is- do u know how long the lug was in the shop
b4 u got it?? ive never had any probs keeping lug in trays in the fridge,
just half coverd the worms with water as the lads say.
or i keep mine in tanks with air filtre, i mostly dig my own & collect the water from were i got the worms. dont get water near any river outlets or pipes.
normaly when i dig my own i put them in the tanks & they blow themselves up &
get rid of all the sand, then i transfur 2 the fridge with no probs.

 

["My God Cod"]

Think you may have solved my problem keeping lug alive in water/fridge here Billfish. I had been topping up with fresh sea water kept in the fridge but collected from the Humber estuary!

 

[billfish]

that'll do it m8t

 

[millser]

The only problem I have found with keeping a lot of lug in one tray is that if one or two go off they can often kill the rest in the tray. My prefered method is to use the clear plastic carry out containers that takeaway food comes in and put 10-15 worms in each tray each with some sea water. I have kept lug in the fridge for nearly 3 weeks like this with occasional water changes and the fridge is only opened when it needs to be to prevent any changes in temp.

 

[C0DDY]

just keep them in seperate trays ,not too many in each ,ive found colder,the worms lie dormant ,and seems to last longer,not at freezing point.kept plain lug for upto 3-4 weeks and check for sloppy ones or bad ones ,and change the water every day or 2