Bait Fridge Temperture

I am just wondering at what temperture people are setting their bait fridges at, mine is set at 2 at the moment.

Also when I dig bait I collect sea water in bottles for use in my atomizers and also for storing crab etc. Basically Im wondering does this water go off and is it bad for the worms. I might have a bottle of sea water in a fridge for the whole month before I would use it and would this be a no no. Obviously the fresher the better but would stored stuff like this do damage?

don't know about fridge temperatures. have the info somewhere but no fridge for bait so didn't pay much attention! have used seawater stored in bottles and it has kept worms healthy for up to 3 weeks. you are just keeping the worms wet- not submerged. problem with older water is that it is likely to hold more bacteria which is not good i suppose. fresh is good if you have the time.

I have used water stored for over a month to spray crab with no ill effects. The important thing is to have clean water to begin with. A lot of weed in the water will rot and contaminate it. Having the water at the same temperature is probably more critical, especially with white rag.

Twenty years ago, when I had no car, I kept lug, rag , mussel and whites in a dustbin of seawater for months on end. With an aerator attached, the important point was to check the bait every day, removing any sickly individuals. The water was never completely changed unless I experienced a mass kill. Bacteria in the water was probably beneficial in providing food. I would top up the bin with some fresh sea-water most times i went fishing but otherwise it was a relatively stable environment.

Those with long memories may remember the articles written by John Walton in the Sea Angling Monthly in the early 1980's when he published his pioneering techniques for tanking sea-baits. I have them in a scrapbook and might scan them.

Please please do post them.The longer we can keep bait healthy and alive the cheaper it will be on the sport
Colin

how did you seperate the baits??

The different baits were kept in bait tubs drilled with holes, the large margarine tubs were ideal.

cheers. have a friend in wexford that does something similar. has kept rag for months on end. is their a specific aerator that is better than the other corrosion wise? is that even a problem??

I used the aerator advised in the articles at the time - Rena 301. It was capable of running two wormariums if required. I ran one dustbin with two airstones.

As all containers were plastic, there was no problems with corrosion. Keep the tank in a shady area away from extermes ot hot or cold. I actually kept mine in the house when I was first married !. We were only using one bedroom and as we had no money to do up the other room, I had the bin on a concrete floor for a couple of years. As the kids came along I was forced to move it out into the shed. It served me well for about eight years until I had a car and was able to collect bait more regularly.

sems like a great idea(maybe not the 'in the house bit!'). i hate throwing 'hard to keep' bait away at the end of a session. in particular baits that don't get used becuase the fish don't want them on the day- it's so wasteful. it is at the stage now where i return certain unused baits to the beds i dig 'em in! it takes so much time.

i will be sussing out the pet shops over the weekend! thanks for the wonderful tip.

Hi ,
Do you need to feed rag while they are in storage ? If yes , on what , please ?
Many thanks
Nick