Frozen lug-is there any point ??

Hello all

I work in a biology lab and today the left overs of an undergraduate practical were being thrown out, namely about 150 good quality lugworm.

Rather than let them go to waste i wrapped them in damp news paper and popped them in the -30 degrees freezer. Now i know that they will go a bit mushy when thawed and that they wont be quality, but rather than waste the whole lot i was wondering if i can put them to any use at all,as i wont be able to use them within the next couple of weeks.

Maybe as an emergency bait or in groundbait for wrasse or mullet? I dont expect them to compare to fresh bait , but do they have any uses? Has anyone used similar.

any input appreciated
ADAM

Frozen lug is a very good flatfish bait. Flounder and dab love frozen black lug tipped off with a tiny strip of mackerl belly. You have to gut the lug then wrap them in newspaper, making sure that they are not touching, then freeze them down. By freezeing them down all together you end up with a good ground bait, so never chuck them in the bin...

Hi jakes

Thanks for the reply, fortunately the worms were already gutted for the practical , so that shouldnt be a problem, hopefully they will keep well and i will try them for flatties in the summer.

Thanks again
ADAM

Frozen black lug ( or wraps as they are known) are the in bait in east coast match anglers buckets. Welsh sourced blacks , about 10 inches long are selling for about seven euro for 10 worms. The worms are used, as suggested, in small sections, tipped off with maddies or small whites and a thumbnail of mackerel.
At times, they can be devastating but there are many occasions where they are inferior or just as good as fresh blow lug. They do tend to score on atlantic surf beaches off the south and west coasts for flounder and small turbot. Dabs are the species most likely to respond on the east coast but all species will take them.
There are some tough lug here that although not blacks are suitable for freezing once gutted. They need to be dried off, wrapped individually in a couple of layers of newspaper and forzen. take them to the beach in a food flask and dont remove too many at a time.
As a bait, they do tend to droop when thawed and keeping the presentation right is the most difficult aspect. A droopy bait can be sucked from the hook shank by a fish without going near the hook point. The tip off bait of mackerel is required becasue of this tendancy. I have seen anglers whipping blacks to overcome this and this does work.

I have used frozen black lug with mixed success at Cobh, Co. Cork. On both occasions they took small codling. On the first occasion they also took two 30cm whiting (while the chap fishing next to me on mackerel was taking 20 cm fish). When I returned a few weeks later I took small Whiting only.
I might give them a go for Dab over hte next few weeks but as far as I'm concerned the jury is still out on this bait.

How do you gut them, and why? (what's left - the outer skin?)

No gutting required when you buy them!!!

No gutting required when you buy them!!!

erm i don't know about you lot but i dig my own lug. wrap them in news paper(dry) put them in a container (while still on site) take'em home and freeze em, no gutting.. best bait i use tipped with a bit of squid

i know wrapping them on site is time comsuming but it is worth it in the long run... i always have them frozen for as l;ong as i can while fishing and try to put them on the hook frozen... never had any problems but have had loads of flounder, brill, plaice and dab though....