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I certainly don't have this done pat by any means, hell, only my 3rd go - over past 18 months So I filleted the Tommies and butterflied the Gar and put them in a brine of 1lt water, 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup of brown sugar and in the fridge for 24 hours+. Got my 'deluxe' Mojiko smoker ready but only had Samba Poultry/Pork chips, so they had to do. Smoke vent was only just open a tad and smoking well. Thought maybe 45 minutes but this 30 minutes in, so them off. Look over done to me compared to other that have a darkish tan, but they tasted ok - a little dry maybe.

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.ep

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?

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

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

Release them.

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...

They look damn tasty! It might be the oils in the tommies that help keep the smokey flavour in?

Nice job, controlling the heat is very hard in such a small smoker. I personally highly recommend a wet brine over night as it holds moisture. But i also love it when its over done and has some jerky chew too it. Each to there own! Practice, practice..

Nah whatever suits really. Whether that be half an hour or 12 hours...Happy medium seems to be roughly 3 hours.

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

Still don't look half bad, Doobie. Don't mind a bit of "fish jerky" myself when things are in a touch too long I've done away with the wet brine myself and just sprinkle with salt and sugar before smoking now, saves a lot of time and I don't notice the difference tbh.

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

Here is a video of a local guy (he supplies the Sheldon Gents to tackle shops) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqKG6XlMWYY

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.

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.

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.

There's a page of links, top right. Pages>SA fishing webcams

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.

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.

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

What you smoked gar fillets? Shame on you !!