Buying live worms?

[Harrison22 21]

Hi S&Hers,

Was wondering if anyone knows where I can buy live worms of any type (beach, tube, tiger, nightcrawlers) to use as bait for land based fishing around SA? I would love to get my own fresh worms but I am rather time poor and would prefer to maximise my time fishing. Either larger store or private sellers are fine as I know there a few people that advertise live tiger worms on gumtree etc.

(I have tried a couple of store by found they didnt last long and alot were dead already but i wont name names)

Thanks in advance and keep fishing ,

H.

[MIKECATTS 1,488]

I bought some live beach worms.. wont say where.. only got 10 for $10 in the tub and they were tiny/some dead.... wont be buying them again.. salted pillies/fresh squid always work for me and will stick to that.

[Harrison22 21]

17 minutes ago, MIKECATTS said:

only got 10 for $10 in the tub and they were tiny/some dead

Yes I have had pretty much the exact same experience, a bit disappointing really. I'm sure there must be some better poeple to buy them off out there. Pillies are always a good option but I fish the river too sometimes so worms or prawns (both live) are the go from my experiences.

[Softy 2,991]

I used to get my live beach worms from Brighton tackle or spot on Seaton. The later has now closed down.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[anchovy 150]

Ray Annes, when I lived in the suburbs they never failed me. They should have all those worms, don't know about nightcrawlers though.

You're better off learning to get you're own bait though, buying worms becomes expensive very quickly. It's also very satisfying when you learn how to obtain a new bait source, it's like learning to catch a new species of fish

[Underpants 1,543]

Setup a worm farm with your own tigers is pretty simple. I've even got a healthy population in my compost bins. Then when you want some bait turn the bin over a bit til you find them. Even easier to collect if its a worm farm. Store in a little plastic tub with a bit of compost or moistened coir fibre.

Sheldon's Bait does "Catchall Crawlers" which are available locally i think these appear to be bigger than tigers.

[Harrison22 21]

I honetly don't mind paying for worms, for me its more about getting out there and fishing when I can and make the most of it. I figure buying worms (as long as there are qaulity) is a hell of alot cheaper then taking up other hobbys like smoking or drinking haha But I do understand that everyone has different priorities and it can be an unnecessary cost. I have been out and got my own bait but usual when im on an extended trip.

Thank Softy and Underpants I'll look into those

[macmanluke 16]

Been pretty happy with tube and beach worms from ray & anns, not cheap but they almost always have them and are fresh.

[doobie 5,802]

Like Underpants says, tiger worms are quite simple to set up and continue to to good numbers/product.  But tiger worms will die very quickly if using in salt water.  I was desperate once and purchased tiger worms from a store to use in salt water - never again ... expensive and were dead quickly.

I wont buy tube/beach worms at all, just far too expensive for a couple of them.   Best to practice, practice and practice sourcing your own from the beaches.

Even seaweed worms are easy to get, just find very old seaweed sitting high on the sands and start scrounging through the weed to find them - excellent bait.

[David_C 768]

I would suggest Brighton Tackle and Bait or Fishing Wholesalers. 

I've tried beach worming but have onky got a couple in a few hours. In the same time, my mate will get 50+ - he doesn't miss many worms he targets.

I used to get tube worms near the subbase but haven't been there for around a decade! 

Seaweed worms can be plentiful but normally only look for them on yorkes.

The other option you have is to get a good quality bait pump and get some nippers. Fish love them and they are plentiful if you keep your eye out for their holes

[AuusieDave 765]

Sports Fishing Scene has great tube worms, I was reading a report recently of a guy that bought these worms and bagged out on YFW.

[anchovy 150]

I recently read a PIRSA document that says seaweed worms are the same species as garden worms. So I'm wondering if you could just dig garden worms and get YFW with them

By the way the easiest way to get worms is to dig under your compost pile if you have one. I can get worms in about 2 minutes from my backyard just by digging where my compost pile is.

[Underpants 1,543]

44 minutes ago, anchovy said:

I recently read a PIRSA document that says seaweed worms are the same species as garden worms. So I'm wondering if you could just dig garden worms and get YFW with them

By the way the easiest way to get worms is to dig under your compost pile if you have one. I can get worms in about 2 minutes from my backyard just by digging where my compost pile is.

Ive never studied any biology so don't understand how the whole 'species' thing works!

Your common garden worms  live in a non-salty environment...your garden.

Seaweed worms have evolved to live in, eat, etc composting seagrass at the high tide line = rather salty.

Sure you could probably catch yfw on  garden worms however they will die almost instantly in salt water and turn to mush as the salt passes thru their skin. 

[anchovy 150]

I don't think so if they are the same species then they are the exact same animal, doesn't matter the environment they are found in they have the same characteristics.

gents don't turn to mush or die instantly when they hit saltwater yet they haven't 'evolved' to specifically live in a saline environment (not that I believe in that...).

here is the document by the way (NRM not PIRSA my bad)

www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/files/sharedassets/northern_and_yorke/coast_and_marine/yp_2014_assets_-_part_2_-_marine_ecological_assets_-_section_5_-_mudflats_and_sandflats.pdf

doesn't have the scientific species name but on page 10 last sentence of the paragraph says

Quote

Seaweed worms (garden worms) are also found in the area, where dead seagrass is washed up, and also have a similar role in nutrient recycling, and as a food source for birds and other fauna.

 

[Kelvin 2,200]

Seaweed worms belong to the phylum Annelida subclass oligocheata. I suspect the term "garden worm" is used to denote the subclass oligocheata and differentiate them from the polychaete subgroup (tube worms, beach worms, blood worms etc).

 

 

 

"Aquatic oligochaetes are closely related, and quite similar, to earthworms. There are over 3100 species of terrestrial, marine and freshwater oligochaetes worldwide. Ten families of freshwater oligochaetes occur in Australia, represented by over 90 species. In South Australia, there are at least 35 known species."

https://www.epa.sa.gov.au/files/8543_critters.pdf

 

 

 

[Territory Lad 1,137]

Mic drop....................

[Harrison22 21]

On ‎15‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 6:50 AM, David_C said:

The other option you have is to get a good quality bait pump and get some nippers. Fish love them and they are plentiful if you keep your eye out for their holes

I have thought about getting a bait pump, how effective are they around the metro areas though?

Also thanks everyone for a biology lesson on worms

[doobie 5,802]

I've found them pretty good, but a better quality one is better than the cheap BigW/K-mart ones etc.

I also washed them down when getting home due to some sand being left inside the tube.

What does annoy me though, was after only using it for about 4 sessions and then stored for about 8 months, I found the rubber part around the washer had crumbled.  I was annoyed with this, so contacted Wilsons and they sent me 2 replacements (nice of them seeing I purchased from BCF?).  But they said the washers do not last long anyway, but buying replacements are not expensive.

[Harrison22 21]

Are there many critters around metro beaches Doobie? I have used a bait pump one but it was up at yorks and we did pretty well.

Also do you have any tips for times and what to look for when looking for bait with a pump? I am a noob when it comes to bait pumps haha

[David_C 768]

Low tide is best but really depends on the area. I get them around outer harbour but have heard of people getting them around somerton park (south).

They do work well metro but spots are kept as secret as possible, as they can be overfished very easily

[doobie 5,802]

1 hour ago, Harrison22 said:

Are there many critters around metro beaches Doobie? I have used a bait pump one but it was up at yorks and we did pretty well.

Also do you have any tips for times and what to look for when looking for bait with a pump? I am a noob when it comes to bait pumps haha

Like David says, low tides are best for finding them and just look for all the holes in sand - a youtube video should help understand the 'hows'.

I've got mine down Moana way only as I live this way and not tried anywhere else.

 

https://www.fishingtackleshop.com.au/products/wilson-30-inch-bait-nipper-yabby-pump.html

I'd suggest to buy the longer ones as it makes it easier to down into the sand and of course more depth.

 

[Harrison22 21]

Thanks very much David and Doobie, I'll be sure to update you with pics when I eventually get time to go for them.

Do they keep well? Say if I wanted to get them one day and fish the next couple of days?

[anchovy 150]

17 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Seaweed worms belong to the phylum Annelida subclass oligocheata. I suspect the term "garden worm" is used to denote the subclass oligocheata and differentiate them from the polychaete subgroup (tube worms, beach worms, blood worms etc).

 

Could be, but I think it would be strange to put garden worms in brackets if they potentially belong to a completely different order, family, genus and species.

So what is the Genus and species of seaweed worms? I have not been able to find that information anywhere.

[anchovy 150]

18 minutes ago, Harrison22 said:

Thanks very much David and Doobie, I'll be sure to update you with pics when I eventually get time to go for them.

Do they keep well? Say if I wanted to get them one day and fish the next couple of days?

No they don't keep well at all. if you want to use them live you have to use them pretty much straight away. if you have an aerator you can maybe keep them alive for a couple days.

[doobie 5,802]

2 days tops and return the real small ones and any females with eggs (males have a bigger claw).

Try and refresh with salt water every couple of hours and if overnight, yes an aerator helps as is provides oxygen into the water.

Keep in a cool place with wet/damp towel around and over container.

But in saying that, leaving them in water for a long period is not the best either and some say having them fine sawdust is better - so trial and error.

[doobie 5,802]

Here is a video of a local guy (he supplies the Sheldon Gents to tackle shops)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqKG6XlMWYY

 

[Harrison22 21]

Cheers fellas, Might have to make a full day out of it then, catch bait then fish. Will also give me a chance to test tube worms against clickers

 

[anchovy 150]

17 hours ago, Territory Lad said:

Mic drop....................

Ok whatever  ... I never said I was certain about anything if you read my post I said "IF they are the same species"

In any case they are heaps similair this is a photo of a terrestrial genus Lumbricus 

It looks almost exactly the same as a seaweed worm. I still think you could POSSIBLY (not definitely) catch YFW on these it's not like they know biology. but maybe it would smell different enough that they wouldn't take it. worth a try though, nothing to lose and if it works then getting bait for YFW would become a hell of a lot easier and cheaper. just throwing it out there

[Harrison22 21]

Haha anchovy following the golden rule, never talk in certainties. They will remind you

[Fatso5 1]

From my experience I've never caught a yfw on seaweed worms on metropolitan beaches or jetties but using them on the flats they work fine... you'll be out done 10/1 by beach or tube worms metro...

[Harrison22 21]

Thanks for the tip Fatso good to know as I am heading to some flat areas soon, haha wow that sounds mean when I read that back 

[Kelvin 2,200]

Not sure what species seaweed worms are. I agree they look very similar to common earthworms, and hence I am quite sure they are in the class oligocheata. I have used garden worms (tiger worms and earthworms) for bream successfully in the salt but haven't got any whiting on them yet.

 

These days I catch my own beach worms usually. It is a steep learning curve and it took 10 trips before I could get my first one. I can usually get 8 to 10 worms an hour.

[southie THE BANGA 2,304]

On 15/01/2019 at 6:50 AM, David_C said:

I would suggest Brighton Tackle and Bait or Fishing Wholesalers. 

I've tried beach worming but have onky got a couple in a few hours. In the same time, my mate will get 50+ - he doesn't miss many worms he targets.

I used to get tube worms near the subbase but haven't been there for around a decade! 

Seaweed worms can be plentiful but normally only look for them on yorkes.

The other option you have is to get a good quality bait pump and get some nippers. Fish love them and they are plentiful if you keep your eye out for their holes

Fishing Wholesalers Stopped buying Live worms quite sometime ago... Long story.........

[Harrison22 21]

Yeah I have watched a few videos of people catching worms to try and get an idea of what is involved before trying it. Looks like it could be a bit of fun too.

I dont suppose anyone on this site sells worms privately? I've seen a few people in the adelaide area advertise them on guntree.

[Zorgs 141]

I've used sea weed worms recently for YFW with really good results.

Yes they do look like gardens worms, I find them a bit more fiddly to setup on the hook. When they're biting though I've found the go to presentation doesn't really matter, I've caught YFW with it looking like a ball of bird shit and most of the hook showing!

I found a couple of tubs I have bought were a bit tight on numbers though.