King ragworm

Can an Englishman ask a rather impertinent question? Is it true, or is it a carefully constructed myth, that the west coast of Ireland is devoid of king rag? Looking at maps I see so many likely looking sites, mainly from Galway northwards to Donegal. If they do occur anywhere, I could understand you guys wanting to keep schtum about it, but I promise not to tell!

From what I understand it is not devoid of them, it is that they are just quite rare. Some of the westerners on this forum should give you some help.

[George]

Bigden , change your "notify me of replys" to no on your profile , as this will allow replys to be shown on the thread and on further threads you are involved in.

Last edited by George on Tue Jun 08, 2004 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks George. I've done that.

Based on anything I have ever read or heard, lug is the only worm that is commonly found in the west. I'm sure there are localised rag beds, but it would probably take a lot of searching to find them.

I reckon Kieran is the best person to ask (he's on holidays, should be back soon). Or has anyone else out there got any ideas on this?

It's murder finding Rag over here on the west coast. I live in Co Donegal and the only place I know of is in Redcastle. Even there, they are few and far between.

To my cost I have to buy them via the local tackle shop and they are sent down from Belfast or Larne loughs.

The mystery remains, but thanks for your replies. If I find any this summer I'll let you know!

How much do you pay for 20 Arthur?

Rag are very rare and are very localised in there distrabution along the west coast . Every time we go fishing on the west of Ireland we have to bring our own supply . However Lugworm are plentifull on the beaches . The lug beds are even signposted .

Over here on the east coast, we have loads. You could always drive over in the wee hours, have a dig and get back over to the west for an evening's fishing.

:lol:

They are in amongst the mussel beds here. :wink:

Does any one know where in Dublin is the best place to find Rag and King Rag?.

try the wooden bridge at dollymount/ down from the ramp at the yacht club or sutton, near the church.

Hi Bigden

Yep, they're as rare as hens teeth in the west of Ireland, in fact ordinary Ragworm are not that common, you usually only get small ones mixed in with lugworm. Mussel beds are definitely a good spot but most of these have been destroyed by excessive use or commercial picking. Another good spot is a sewage outflow but with the county councils cleaning up their act, there is little enough of this around, not that I'd be too keen on digging there anyway :? Anything that is shale based, even shingle is better for ragworm although I have found kings in incredibly oozy conditions - the ooze is only for the fist six inches (slippery muck!) and after that it was very solid and quite dry - exactly what they look for...

Around Dublin: - mb3 has listed most of them. Baldoyle (behind the church and up to the DART station) used to be excellent but since they laid the pipeline, it has been very poor (so I am told, nice to hear otherwise). The ramp at Dollymount as mentioned is a half decent spot. There used to be a spot further in the Baldoyle estuary but you would be bitten to death by the mosquitoes (which, incidentally are protected by law :shock:). I had a few long time ago over Loughshinny direction, near the pier. Any muddy spot in one of the harbours is often a good option.

I have to get the brother to bring them down from Dublin and the quality is very hit and miss. Cost a small fortune too...

FWIW...

How much do you pay for 20 Arthur?

€12.50 a Lb.


Shop in Sligo gets them from Dublin but they are small.

My local shop - Top Tackle in Letterkenny gets them from the north. Quality is variable - when they're good they are very good but when they're bad they're awful.

Hi arthurg,

Where in Sligo do you get them?

On the subject of driving from the west to the north east and digging some, there's a bloke called Vinty, who lives on the Shore road just outside Belfast , who digs Rag and sells them at £5 a kilo. I've bought them a few times from him and they are top notch as he arranges a time for you to call and digs them as fresh as he can for you. I'll get his phone number tonight and post it here for anyone who's interested.

Just FYI , a bloke called Vinty runs a small bait supply business on the Shore Road in Belfast. Supplies bags of Rag - 1kg for 5Kg - I've bought from him a few times and they are sound. I'll post his contact details tonight when I get home.

People are not that inclined to pass on good ragworm spots as these forum's are open to anyone to see and what happens is that the pro's send in their army of diggers and end up wiping out the area. Two weeks ago I dug rag in Dublin for a boat trip to Kilmore Quay and most were over 15cm long with at least one measuring 42cm (yes thats right forty two cm), it made a great photo take for the skipper of the charter boat. It's a shame realy as I know I struggled when starting digging first not knowing the right areas. The areas already covered do produce rag, some of the digging can be hard going but it's worth it at the end of the day.
Damien

Just wondering........

Would it be possible to seed a pound or two in a likely place to see if they could thrive?

Kieran

Yes, the type of ground you describe is typical king rag habitat - I think the other important factor may be slightly lower salinity; I've had my best digging for 'kings' in the Solent, the Menai Strait and at the landward end of some of the Scottish sea lochs, all of which have a high freshwater input. Lots of places on the West coast of Ireland look likely, but I guess if they were there somebody would have found them by now!

Cheers

Denis