preserving lugworms

I just pump this wormes from my local beach but i dont know what kind of wormes this are.Are they black or blow lugwormes?Can anyone tell by looking at this photo.I was tolld that if this are blow wormes i cant gut and freeze them as they wont stay on the hook.If you have any tips very much appreciated.

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They look like yellowtails, standard fishing lug.
They'll preserve pretty well. Blow is a smaller softer worm which is harder to hook cos it's so soft.

Gut them,salt them and then pop them in the freezer, unless of course you want to use them fresh.

I find that gutted and put in a take away tray outside in the sun for a day to let them get a bit sticky and smelly then salted and frozen they make a great flatfish bait.

They look like yellowtails, standard fishing lug.
They'll preserve pretty well. Blow is a smaller softer worm which is harder to hook cos it's so soft.

Gut them,salt them and then pop them in the freezer, unless of course you want to use them fresh.

I find that gutted and put in a take away tray outside in the sun for a day to let them get a bit sticky and smelly then salted and frozen they make a great flatfish bait.

Thank you for the tip.Just one more question.After i gut them how long do i put them in salt for.Thank you for your time.

They are your bog standard blow lug not yellow tails. Yellow tails are a different lugworm they burrow straight down and have much thicker skin and would in general have a much darker body. Snip the head with a scissors and squeeze out the guts leave on newspaper for about three to four days until they start to go off. You can wrap them in newspaper for short term use and selafane plastic for long term.And of course freeze them.

So the yellow tail on them doesn't make them yellowtails?

I was pretty sure that blow lug are small lug that don't hook up well.......

google says I'm wrong hmmmm, ah well sorry for bad information there....

Nope! sure does not just because they have a yellow tail does not mean that they are yellow tails if you seen a real yellow tail you would know what i mean. i dig loads with yellow tails but they are only blow lug believe me. Blow lug put on newspaper for a couple of days tends to toughen up and will hold better on your hooks

In all fairness would you call a black vw golf gti a black car a gti or a golf looking at them the look like they have yellow tails from here you can get juvenile worms too you know :lol:

WEbby, You did say "pump"?. I was under the impression that only Black lug could be pumped, which of course these are not. How did the pump cope?, did you loose many? or was it fine to use? Anyone else use a bait pump for common lug? Cheers

I thought they are yellowtails as well. I dig loads of them myself ... Ah you always learn something new here. :?

Hi contender.I only used the pump and it worked fine.Lost some but not to many.I pumped around 100 in around 1 hour and 40 min.I have seen a lot of people in the same beach just using the pump and everyone gets good wormes.I am new to all of this.Thank you to all the replies and tips..Regards.

Seems there are mixed opinions on what a yellowtail is, did a bit more googling, one report says common lug are yellowtail and another says that black lug are also known as yellowtails.

Blow lug are short and soft and very hard to put on a hook I'm pretty sure they aren't blow.....

Anyone else out there got some insight on this one, who hasn't already been involved in the discussion?

Maso is right, the true yellow-tail worms have a tuffer and thicker blackish body with gill hairs, their tails are a bright yellow and the juice from the tails stains your fingers for ages.

The tails on the worms in the picture are light probably because the sand they have been in is light in colour.

Tom.

Hi.I did gut this wormes and when i finished my heands have black stains which after a lot off washing have not gone.I think i maybe got 2 kinds of wormes.Some are about 5 to 7 inches very light colour and soft some are dark green/black much harder,thiker and bigger.I only used the pump for all the wormes and it was't to difficolt to get them.

All the yellowtails that I have ever used leave a yellow stain on your fingers. IMHO there is no mistaking Yellowtail Lug from any other lug worms when you see them.

Others may have used longer worms, but the Yellowtails I used to get were alway between 3" to 6" long when tight with a slight curl to them.

I found a picture that may help, it looks like a Yellowtail to me, but the tail isnt thin at the end....its not far out though, perhaps others may comment further.

Tom.

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the yellow stain from lug, is it iodine?


once your frozen lug has defrosted, can it be refrozen?

I think it is Martin....similar anyways....horrible stuff :( but thats fishing :lol:

Never seen your second question.....I would never freeze any bait that had thawed out once.

Tom.

use shaving foam to remove the stains :)

the yellow stain from lug, is it iodine?


once your frozen lug has defrosted, can it be refrozen?

i would say definitely - now some may say im a flukey/lazy angler with the blank saving flounders - but the refrozen lug - 2,3 times no matter - always catches for me

i dont gut them, just wrap 10-15 in newspaper with some salt and freeze them - they go real leathery

so next day out, throw a bit of salt water on them to rehydrate them - or even better if your gutting a mack plonk them in on all those juices on your filleting board

may be the ramblings of a mad man - but it works

the yellow stain from lug, is it iodine?


once your frozen lug has defrosted, can it be refrozen?

i would say definitely - now some may say im a flukey/lazy angler with the blank saving flounders - but the refrozen lug - 2,3 times no matter - always catches for me

i dont gut them, just wrap 10-15 in newspaper with some salt and freeze them - they go real leathery

so next day out, throw a bit of salt water on them to rehydrate them - or even better if your gutting a mack plonk them in on all those juices on your filleting board

may be the ramblings of a mad man - but it works

must try that.


Hi rockhopper, i tend not refreeze bait anyway but i keep frozen bait in a cool bag and its usually still frozen 3 hours later, was wondering if i refroze then, would they be useful for dabs as they seem to like worse lug i used in the pass

Martin, my answer was only my opinion.....I know guys who put black lug on the hot radiator to make them stink more and get fish on them.

My son keeps all his unused black lug until it stinks and swears by it.....you have to remember I am part of the old school of anglers, not up on such revolutionary methods :wink:

oh! what Corby doesn't tell you is that part of the scent trail from his bait has the smell of the drink on it from the night before :evil: :lol: :lol: :lol: Deadly!!! :wink:

Tom.