Secrets of the Matchmen Revealed

Instalment One:

Along the east coast possibly the best winter bait for all species is.............
White Rag.

During the Winter Festival which is fished in January and has a large attendance of ex internationals from both here and the UK, the vast majority of them will be using white rag to great effect. The black juice they give out is irresistible for fish and if you use them you are bound to see your catch rate increase dramatically, especially during the winter.

Instalment Two will follow soon, so stay tuned...........

i cant wait wait for installment two buddy as installment one overfowed with good info dont keep us in suspense please! in fairness to you id say white rag would be a killer in winter - but its nearly impossible to get decent size worm in any quantities! hope instalment two is a little more realistic bud.

guys,

Is there any chance that people can log on with a proper nickname. Even if it is something mad as long as you use it every time people will know that the posts are coming form the same person.

Kev

Hi

You see this is exactly the kind of sardonic or sarcastic humour that can so upset people, guest1. There may well be lots of people out there who do not know what a white rag looks like, never mind that its an excellent winter bait.

:D If you can;t say something positive, stop typing! :wink: Thanks

Guest1 large white rag are available in the Dublin area in fairly good quantities.

However, they do involve a hell of a lot of work to get them. If your good I might let you know where, so less of the snide remarks...... buddy!

GUEST

GUEST THANKS FOR THE ADVICE I HAVENT REALLY HEARD MUCH ABOUT WHITE RAG UNTIL NOW I THOUGHT THEY WERE ONLY USED IN THE ENGLAND.

DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHERE CAN THEY BE GOT IN IRELAND.

Hi all I've been fishing for years and I've never even heard of them before :oops: . That post intriqued me though and I'd really like to get my hands on them to give them a go.
p.s. I actually am looking forward to installment two

White rag are just ordinary rag spray painted

Fished with white rag now on a couple of occasions to no effect.
not worth the amount of work digging. used king rag on a rod beside them and the king wins hands down.

Where are you likely to find white rag, I've had mixed results with king rag. Over Christmas I am hoping to fish with some fresh bait but I don't really want to collect bait at inappropriate times. Is there a problem with digging at this time of the year?

One thing I noticed in the posts about baits is that their effectiveness is very much based on the marks. For example in Youghal and Cork harbour crab is your man, according to the experienced anglers. Because I'm too mean to buy crab I have used lots of other baits, especially in the harbour, with mixed results. In other posts on this site I noticed that mackeral strips were successful in taking flounder in Waterville, Kerry. One more example is mussel. It seems to be popular enough on the east coast marks but I have come across very few anglers recommending them in Cork.

I recommend that when people post information on baits they should also specify the marks where they are effective, or at least give the general area.

Rag are breeding at this time of year - that's why you shouldn't be able to buy any from the tackle shops. There is an unofficial ban on digging them for a couple of months.

I thought white rag were maddies??

I have often dug the odd small white rag when digging lug. I am sure that the large white rag beds are rare enough and towards sheltered low spring tide marks. I cannot say that much about them as I never got enough to seriously test their effectiveness. On the east coast match scene are they used as tipping baits or wholly with a good few on the hook, like how they use maddies (small harbour red ragworm). Another point of interest in the UK most flounder anglers swear by bunches of small harbour rag, over here most people tend to use crab, larger rag and mackeral as the prime flounder baits. Are we missing something and been to lazy to dig enough of the damn things to use in a session or is it that they are not so effective in our estuaries.? Any ideas?

Firstly, white rag are completely different to maddies or harbour rag. I have seen them up to a foot long and if looked after properly you can keep them alive for months on end. But they do need an awful lot of care. So in this regard they are an important bait in the match fishing circuit both here and especially in the UK.

Secondly, the 'white rag' you get while digging for lug are not really the bait I am referring to. 'Real' white rag are as I have said huge and are very very active (they wriggle like a snake swimming in water). They have much more juice and scent than the ones you get while digging lug or rag.

As for digging the little gems, it is very hard work and time consuming, but if you do get a supply they will keep for ages. Also they can only be dug on the lowest of spring tides. As regards where they can be obtained...... there is a bed located near Howth. However, cars have been known to get mysterious flat tyres while 'outsiders' are digging, so beware if you do venture out!!!

I dont know of anywhere they can be bought so I think digging is the only way to go. However, I have heard they can be imported from the UK.

Finally, I would like to emphasise the quality of this bait, on its day it will outfish any other bait by a huge degree and is well worth keeping a look out for. I'll be killed by the matchmen for telling you these well kept secrets.

Toodle Pip for now.......

GUEST

The White rag or 'Herring Bone' as they are sometimes called on the East coast are often a bi-product of digging normal ragworm. The area along Sutton as well as a 'secret' location i would not print here does produce them. They are never found in huge numbers but lets just say the are found around areas of broken shell and where this leads into finer sand. Those of you who dig in the North Dublin area will have a good idea of where i'm talking about. They do tend to be thin and scrawny and should be used as tippers and left alive on the hook to wriggle and used with normal Ragworm. I am willing to tell but only over PM... :wink:

A quote from a baitdigging website:

'Snakewhites are 25cm in length and 1cm diameter, bronze white in colour. They are very quick to burrow in sand and are as agile as a small eel. They have been known to change hands on the match circuit for as much as £2 each, but at some fishing matches they are banned because not everyone has access to this species.'

These are not the thin scrawny white rag Dirty Fecker referrs to.

Hi,
I've come across small white rag a couple of times while digging lug. Once in Mayo and once in Dublin. They were pretty farty little things and didnt even bother with the ones in Dublin.
In Mayo I put 2 onto a single hook and caught a dogfish while the lug was ignored. They are obviously attractive to fish but their small size makes them difficult to use as a bait and tend to come off in a decent cast.

Conor

glad you love it mate...
the white rag beds around dublin have been dug out for a few years. only the occasional one can be dug on the very lowest tides ( if your lucky)

___________________________

"Guest", please use some common sense when adding a signature.

Snake Whites are an overated bait!

Wriggleys are a great tipping bait though. I had a nice patch out behind the burnt out dinghy club in sutton. It was infested with whites the first time I dug it but sadly me and a few others dug the place out in about a two months! So don't bother trying.
As for the place in Howth where the snakes are you need to dig them at a low spring tide, with the water in a certain place at 8ft :wink: (A tip I got off a pro bait digger.) They usually have to be dug in about a foot of water. Don't get too excited about the snakes GUEST!

Ok, so I know all you folks have been eagerly waiting for Instalment Two of The Matchmens Secrets Revealed, especially two registered users who I won’t name…..but you know who you are!!!!

Instalment Two:

To strike or not to strike……..that is the question.

One of the most annoying things that I regularly see on beaches whether match or pleasure fishing is anglers striking fish when they actually shouldn’t. Striking, for those of you who do not know is when you pick up your rod after getting a bite and lift it quickly and aggressively over your shoulder to try and hook the fish. However, as I will inform you, this option is not always advisable, it depends on the venue, the target species and if the fish are hungry or not.

So the first species Dogfish is where all the fuss starts. Match anglers have been debating this for years without ever really getting a definitive answer. But from my many conversations with the guys in the know it seems that not striking is the way to go. Obviously there are the exceptions. Say after three casts you have received three doggie bites but not caught any….then is the time to start striking. Doggies are notorious for ‘playing’ with bait, picking it up and then spitting it back out, a good strike should hook him for you or at least increase your chances. Also after a blow dogfish seem to fill themselves on all the nice fish, crabs etc that have been churned up. So you will often find that after a blow dogfish don’t take and will need a strike to hook them up.

Flounder and most types of flatfish have the same tactic. If you want to catch flounder never, ever strike them. Flounder if you can imagine them on the sea floor will come and hover over your bait and suck it into their mouths. They will of course give a ‘slack liner’ if they are hooked. However, it is best to fish on time rather than bites when targeting flounder. Once one flounder is hooked, more often than not you will get a second and even a third.

Whiting and most other round fish such as cod do not require a strike to hook them. They are the hoovers of the sea and once they see or smell your bait they will take it no matter what, hooking themselves in the process.

Bass on the other hand are a different kettle of fish! They can often play with a bait testing it before they actually take it. Once you get a hit from a bass it would be wise to hold your rod and on the next hit…. strike!

Finally to Tope and Smoothhound. Tope are one of those clear cut scenarios where there is a tried and tested technique for hooking. You will get a first few tentative bites from a tope when it is interested in your bait. He will put it in his mouth without actually swallowing it and take a run. This is where most anglers go wrong… never strike after or before the first run of a tope always wait till after the first bite and then after the first run. What happens is the tope comes along picks the bait and runs; this is basically to kill it. Once his run is finished he drops the bait and only then starts to eat it…..now being the time to strike and strike hard.

Smoothies on the other hand will viciously attack the bait first time and more often than not will be hooked before you pick up the rod, however, a strike just after a bite often does the trick.

Obviously people will have their own techniques on striking or not striking and maybe some more pieces of advice. This is just what I have picked up from numerous experienced matchmen. The floor is now open………

Until next time…..

FLOUNDER KING