# CATCHING BLOODWORMS? HELP!



## bunburykayakfisher (Apr 26, 2009)




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## gcfisho (Oct 31, 2009)

Yes they do retreat qiuckly and deep , try an onion bag with some fish heads or whatever really ie cat food . Low tide and have a shell in your hand when they rise you need to slowly work the shell beside them then grab worm between shell and thumb holding firmly lift straight up . There is an art to it and practice makes perfect , good luck !


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

Here in SA we wait for the annual bloodworm run.

After spawning in the mangroves the bloodworms float out to sea enmasse to die and be eaten.

3 days ater the new moon in June/Jul/Aug on the outgoing tide at night, the bloodworms come out. All the eager little anglers sit out in their boats with lights and nets, and just begin scooping as the worms float past on the outgoing tide.

Within an hour or two we generally gather about a thousand or so (more than enough to last the year) then it's home to dry them out, bag them and freeze them ready for use.

It makes for a long night, but we have a ball doing it, and collect enough bait to last an entire year. With the cost of bloodworms these days it's well worth while.


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## bunburykayakfisher (Apr 26, 2009)

mugfisherman said:


> Yes they do retreat qiuckly and deep , try an onion bag with some fish heads or whatever really ie cat food . Low tide and have a shell in your hand when they rise you need to slowly work the shell beside them then grab worm between shell and thumb holding firmly lift straight up . There is an art to it and practice makes perfect , good luck !


thanks guys hahah does that really work? so to get it straight, do you use like a full mussel shell like tweasers or just half a shell and your fingers?


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## bunburykayakfisher (Apr 26, 2009)

Ranger said:


> Here in SA we wait for the annual bloodworm run.
> 
> After spawning in the mangroves the bloodworms float out to sea enmasse to die and be eaten.
> 
> ...


thanks ranger, well bunbury has some mangroves, so does that mean there will be an annual bloodworm run here in wa?


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

I would imagine bloodworms behave like bloodworms wherever they may reside. They all need to spawn and complete their life cycle, so I cant really see why WA would be any different but strangely you only ever hear about this event from Adelaide.

Google "bloodworm run" and you'll find quite a bit of info on it.


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## kas (May 5, 2009)

These guys are super fast & can cause lots of frustration on the shore line 

A couple of things that have worked ofr me are as follows:
*Catch bag filled with some old frames or flesh or the can method (either leash to ankle or use a pole to hold it at the top of the wash)
*On the bottom of the tide has worked better for me.
*Bait the little buggers with some fish flesh, make sure you let it over hang your finger by 20mm.
*Let them take the bait, you have to wait untill their head curls over before attempting to grab it (fingers or pliers). As they curl their head over, they let go with all their legs..... which means that one they react slower & two you will generally get the full length of the worm.

Good luck!


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

I've just been doing a little research. apparently the SA version are the species _Glycera americana_

Here's a really good article about the polychaetes worms and catching them: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Rin ... q=&f=false


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## Kitfox (Aug 13, 2009)

I have only recently read and article about a Sydney guy who is breeding various types of worms (including blod worms) and preserving them as bait. All reports to date are that they will be as good as the real thing due to the special preserving process. If this is true its going to make life a whole lot easilier for those who dig them themselves. Here on the Sunshine Coast we pay around $3.00 per worm which is about 3 whiting baits so it should be a whole lot more cost effective also. Funnily, I had a PM from a guy in Sydney who swears the can of dog food works. He actually thanked me for the idea so there you go


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

Kitfox said:


> I have only recently read and article about a Sydney guy who is breeding various types of worms (including blod worms) and preserving them as bait. All reports to date are that they will be as good as the real thing due to the special preserving process.


A simple way to preserve them is to lay them on newspaper to drain them of excess moisture, then drop them into methylated spirits for about one minute.
Stick them back onto newspaper to drain, then bag them up ready for the freezer.


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## bunburykayakfisher (Apr 26, 2009)

thanks alot guys for the replies, ill take all this into account and see how i go ;-) 
btw ranger, we have also used that method with methylated spirits and also add pollard aswell, which preserves them better


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

Pollard hey? Thanks for the tip!


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## RUG (Nov 25, 2009)

Found this site in a recent fishing mag. http://www.aquabait.com.au/

I brought some from their on-line shop. They are dried out and you soak them for 25min to re-hydrate. Don't know whether they work as well as the fresh/live worms. Will post an up-date once I've used them.


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## bajstarbrd (Nov 8, 2009)

bunburykayakfisher said:


> and also add pollard aswell,


Excuse my ignorance but what is pollard


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## Mainsail (Nov 3, 2009)

bajstarbrd said:


> bunburykayakfisher said:
> 
> 
> > and also add pollard aswell,
> ...


Please learn to use Google.....










Otherwise I have no idea what pollard is..


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