[scott dempster]

Hello everyone,i live in southsea and thats where i fish most of the time,convenience really,i normally go to the tackle shop to get a fivers worth of rag and then down to the fish market at camber dock to get some fresh fishy offerings for bait-now every time i walk in there i see a big basket of whelks, really livelly looking,firstly i know these things will stay on your hook as they are as tough as old ladies ear lobes BUT do they actually work as a credible bait,i have often wondered but never seen them mentioned in any bait reference sections nor heard anyone gasp"OOOHH WHELKS,KILLER BAIT FOR BASS THEM MATE!!" can anyone shed some light on this matter,thanks in anticipation ,Scotty

 

[KNIGHTPROWLER]

Hi Scott

Re:Whelks, never tried them but ido remember seeing longliner baiting there hooks some years go, up the east coast, tough so must of stayed on the hooks well, they must have had some result otherwise they would not have used them,
scott,would they mind if you gave the whelks a quick ook over, bound to be a few hermits mixed in, most fish will take hermit crabs whole straight out of the shell, smoothounds- etc-etc
or the soft part only, plaice have liking for, i believe

Cheers
Graham

 

[scott dempster]

What a good idea Graham,never occured to me to have a gander for" hermans hermits" im a bit cheeky so ill have me a little rummage next time,think ill just buy some whelks,see how they go-positive feedback on a bait helps keep your interest level up whilst your waiting for something to take though,thanksScotty

 

[blueskip]

Far too tasty to be bait! bootiful with pepper & vinegar! they make very good cod bait, & I have caught plaice & dabs on pieces of whelk, as has been mentioned they are poplular with longliners
blueskip

 

[Mike]

I live in the North-East, I'll give em a go and post back.

 

[kentangler]

I have used whelks, but caught nothing, but then I have use rag, lug, mackerel, squid, mussel, razorfish, limpits, pouting, artificials etc, and have caught nothing!

 

[ChrisP]

Nothing to do with whelks as bait.

There are 2 boats that fish the bay here exclusivly for whelk, they are landed on shore and taken to a 6 acre onshore fish farm to grow on, then they are exported to Korea. Apparently they are worth their weight in gold over there.

Wouldn't give you a penny a ton for them myself.

End result the hermit crab population has all but dissapeared here. This combined with the commercial collection of shore and velvet crab, 7 tonnes per week, to me means no food for the smuts. No wonder I havn't seen one or heard of one being caught for 2 years when they used to be common.

 

[viper525]

it's great to see some one trying different baits,nice to know im not the only one to try the local fishmongers and still blank(not often tho!)read an article once about women catching bigger fish than men,apparently it's something to do with hormone's(my ex would'nt let me have any,so i would'nt know what they are!)one angler in scotland around the turn of 1900 insisted on rubbing his salmon flies on his wife's under wear before going fishing and swear's blind he caught bigger and better conditioned fish!.
(all i need now is the ex's knicker's,fresh crab's to boot!)

"COME ALL YE YOUNG REBELS,AND LIST WHILE I SING
FOR THE LOVE OF ONE'S COUNTRY IS A TERRIBLE THING
IT BANISHES FEAR WITH THE SPEED OF A FLAME,
AND IT MAKES US ALL PART OF THE PATRIOT GAME."