piratepom 3,197 Posted November 28, 2014 Report Share Posted November 28, 2014 Good day all, I've got a few live tube worms that I can't use this weekend. Has anyone got a good method to preserve them. I thought salting them would be good, but not to sure of the best way to do this. I've preserved bloodworms in metho previously, but wasn't to impressed with the way they turned out. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brooker4.1 1 Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Is digging up tube worms on the section bank still legal here in SA? I thought it had been outlawed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brooker4.1 1 Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Oh and i used to just salt and freeze my tube worms. I only used the method for blood worms as they lose all their guts if you just try to salt and freeze them. piratepom 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brankim 945 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. piratepom and Brooker4.1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hobbo_510 70 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 I've had plenty of luck catching YFW on worms preserved in metho, just a quick dip and pat dry then pack em and freeze em good for the next session. Had a mate with smashing them too on preserved blood worms. They can be picky some days and do prefer live and fresh. Brankim and piratepom 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hobbo_510 70 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Is digging up tube worms on the section bank still legal here in SA? I thought it had been outlawed. There are areas that have been declared a sanctuary zone(no take zones) for molluscs,invertebrate and other critters, but there are still areas where you can get them. The Fishing Guru 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keenfisho 1,416 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. Brankim and piratepom 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brenton 637 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 brining them in a salt solution overnight then placing them on absorbent paper and freezing the worms on the paper in lunch bags has worked for me on the YF. cheers b piratepom and Brankim 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doobie 5,802 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 I caught a few beach worms a few weeks back and with the left overs after fishing I put half in a salt solution for a few minutes and the other half I sprayed lightly with wd 40 (as I didn't have any metho on hand). I pat dried them and froze. When used next, they were ok but nothing to write home about as far as toughening up etc. This is the first time I had tried doing this, so could have mixtures a little out of whack. Still got small bites from undersize fish on both baits. But, after catching more worms last Saturday and using them Monday, I had left part of a worm on the jetty boards. It was a 30 degree day and windy, and of course the part worm dried up on the outer skin and the middle was not as soft but very slightly dry. This got me thinking for the next catch of worms for preserving, to put one aside and cut into some pieces and dry it out in the sun (but not shriveled up). Leave sections out for certain time each and then freeze - and then see which portions are better from drying out from different lengths of time in the sun. I'm presuming at this stage the worm portions will still be a hardened when defrosted. It may even benefit in being re-hydrated in salted water. But thought it had some merit to try (could be total failure as well though). piratepom 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Underpants 1,543 Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. I'd generally agree with you there Keeno. However I know Brandkim usually fishes metro (which i never have..yet), different structures likely feeding patterns. Dunno but id have to gauge from his observations for metro over our 'usual' grounds. piratepom and Brankim 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
piratepom 3,197 Posted December 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Thanks for the replies lads. This is an old post from 2014. The worms that I preserved this year turned out pretty good using the metho method. Thanks Brenton for the brining over night method. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brankim 945 Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Fishing can be like that sometimes... It's kind of like any carp fisho will tell you corn is an excellent bait! And I've seen plenty caught on corn.... But I have yet to catch a single carp on corn myself? and I've tried corn a good 30-40 times! Only ever caught 1 catfish on it... I got no idea why, and if I didn't know better, I'd say it wasn't even worth trying... It just goes like that sometimes?! Guess you just never know what will work for you until you try it yourself... Maybe the ones at my spots have just been spoilt by me always using fresh live worms? Have had days when I've had salted and frozen worms, and seen them coming up to my baits, but then stopping short and swimming away in abit of panic... Every other species seems to eat them without hesitation... But I'm convinced I'm just waiting my time going without livies where I go... doobie 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luke5600 61 Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Not sure how tube worms would go but I recently tried salting down a seaweed worm that I had caught and managed to catch 3 shitties on one piece of the worm bait before needing to change it, also had a school of shitties and a single mullet and the mullet came in and smashed the worm before the shitties could get a look in so salted might be the way to go. Right now I'm trying to salt down some of the worms enough so that I can keep a few of them in the car in a ziplock bag with some dessicant, bit of back up bait I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns!They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. Out of curiosity mate, what size jighead are you using? and are you using a stinger hook at all? i've given it a shot slightly with the plastic worms but hadn't found the hook up rate to be real good, might just be down to the size of the whiting that were around at the time though The Fishing Guru 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brankim 945 Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 mullet and shitties eat anyghing bream love salted, frozen... infact, I dont think ive cahsed fussier fish than metro yellowfin! I get 4-5 days outvof my worms before they die. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brankim 945 Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 best bait going... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keenfisho 1,416 Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 Not sure how tube worms would go but I recently tried salting down a seaweed worm that I had caught and managed to catch 3 shitties on one piece of the worm bait before needing to change it, also had a school of shitties and a single mullet and the mullet came in and smashed the worm before the shitties could get a look in so salted might be the way to go. Right now I'm trying to salt down some of the worms enough so that I can keep a few of them in the car in a ziplock bag with some dessicant, bit of back up bait I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. Out of curiosity mate, what size jighead are you using? and are you using a stinger hook at all? i've given it a shot slightly with the plastic worms but hadn't found the hook up rate to be real good, might just be down to the size of the whiting that were around at the time though Generally a 1/16th or 1/20th and I bite about 3/4 of an inch of the turtle back worm off. By doing this it has made a huge difference to hook up rate. I have thought about running a stinger but have just been to lazy and never done it yet. I must change my position on fresh worms as I forgot you mainly fish metro and yes would agree metro fresh is best Brankim 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Fishing Guru 239 Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Not sure how tube worms would go but I recently tried salting down a seaweed worm that I had caught and managed to catch 3 shitties on one piece of the worm bait before needing to change it, also had a school of shitties and a single mullet and the mullet came in and smashed the worm before the shitties could get a look in so salted might be the way to go. Right now I'm trying to salt down some of the worms enough so that I can keep a few of them in the car in a ziplock bag with some dessicant, bit of back up bait I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. Out of curiosity mate, what size jighead are you using? and are you using a stinger hook at all? i've given it a shot slightly with the plastic worms but hadn't found the hook up rate to be real good, might just be down to the size of the whiting that were around at the time though Dessicant? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Luke5600 61 Posted December 12, 2015 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 Not sure how tube worms would go but I recently tried salting down a seaweed worm that I had caught and managed to catch 3 shitties on one piece of the worm bait before needing to change it, also had a school of shitties and a single mullet and the mullet came in and smashed the worm before the shitties could get a look in so salted might be the way to go. Right now I'm trying to salt down some of the worms enough so that I can keep a few of them in the car in a ziplock bag with some dessicant, bit of back up bait I gave up on that 1... Can preserve them well enough, but when it comes to yellowfin whiting, you're better off with frozen peeled prawns! They turn their noses up at worms that aren't live in my experience. The small ones don't mind them sometimes, but mostly it's not eaven worth going fishing for them without live bait! Or very fresh frozen prawns/shrimps around the new moon especially. Sorry mate would have to disagree with you this time. Years ago I used to use frozen and persevered worms with no change In catch rate compared to fresh. For the last fee years I've barely used bait on yfw, If they wont hit the popper I change to a gulp turtleback worm and they smash them harder than bait I recon. Out of curiosity mate, what size jighead are you using? and are you using a stinger hook at all? i've given it a shot slightly with the plastic worms but hadn't found the hook up rate to be real good, might just be down to the size of the whiting that were around at the time though Dessicant? The stuff you get in packets of things like yiros wraps and stuff mate, its the little satchets that absorb moisture Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Underpants 1,543 Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 After an unsuccessful July Run.... i lamented at the seasons old, mushy brown worms in my chest freezer and decided see how well the would 'brine'. http://www.strikehook.com/index.php/topic/27859-what-could-possibly-go-wrong-a-tale-of-the-wannabe-bloodwormers/ The Lads who offered assistance when we broke down said that was how they preserved them. Ive always used the 'metho' method as if you place them straight in brine/salt while they are alive they split and spurt blood everywhere. In this case they had been been 'metho-ed' 2 seasons ago, and some had even been re-frozen. Most were unusably soft so I decided to brine the lot. Standard brine mix; boiling water with as much salt as could be dissolved. worms all defrosted and dried on a bit of newspaper then into the cooled brine and freezer. After a couple of weeks in the freezer i pulled a few out and left them to thaw. They came up nice and firm and should hold on a hook well. Much better than dumping them into the burley pile......if August's Run doesnt work for me BarneyB, wilda and Tinker 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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