frozen black lug question

As a novice I thought the method in link below for baiting frozen lug is really good.

http://www.anglingaddicts.co.uk/2012/ho ... black-lug/

What species would this bait and presentation work for at this time of year?

Cod, Whiting, flats, dogs. I usually use only 2cm of blacks and tip it with a square of mackerel or squid when I'm fishing for Whiting in competitions.

I have used it a few times when I was too lazy or didnt have the time to dig fresh lug. Dont bother with it - far better to use fresh lug, there is no comparison to a few big lug oozing juice on a hook compared to a bit of dried out worm skin.

Frozen blacks are an excellent bait. It's like everything else;

1, you have to know where to use it,
2, you have to know how to use it,
3, you have to know what species to target with it.

Every bait you will ever use will fall into those 3 categories. Nothing in angling is ever a 'one size fits all'.

Thanks lads for reply's

Going to use it to target flatties primarily in an estuary. Probably use a 1-up 1-down rig, and experiment a bit and see how it goes.

it can be a good bait and always handy to have in the freezer. you can refreeze it too and it will continue to pull fish. catches on it own but using a small piece of mackeral to tip it with seems to add to its appeal. small hook shank lenght pieces usually best for small fish and flatties with large whole worm taking cod.

that said it wouldnt be first choice for targeting flatties in an estuary.

Frozen black lug is a fantastic bait when used in the correct manner and for the right species.

I wouldn't bother with it unless I was badly stuck wouldn't rate it at all fresh lug is better hands down its juice more scent etc and iv been digging and keeping worm years

Thanks lads for reply's

Going to use it to target flatties primarily in an estuary. Probably use a 1-up 1-down rig, and experiment a bit and see how it goes.

Fishing for flats in winter on the east coast I find frozen blacks far outfishs fresh blow lug when combined with mackerel or maddies most days.
However if your going to target flats in a estuary peeler crab would be a better bet,
A 1 up 1 down with size 2 hooks would be fine,
Now is a good time to target big flounder in estuarys,

Black lug is a top bait, Full of scent and from the open beaches will outfish fresh blow lug most times.
It wouldn't be a good estuary bait though as mentioned I would stick with crab, Like most baits you need to know how and when to use it.

Frozen blacks are an excellent bait. It's like everything else;

1, you have to know where to use it,
2, you have to know how to use it,
3, you have to know what species to target with it.

Every bait you will ever use will fall into those 3 categories. Nothing in angling is ever a 'one size fits all'.

great reply...clear, precise,and applicable every time I fish,competition or pleasure

Frozen Black Lug is one of the most important baits in an anglers bait box.
Personaly i would not go to a beach or estuary without it at this time of year.

Frozen blacks are an excellent bait. It's like everything else;

1, you have to know where to use it,
2, you have to know how to use it,
3, you have to know what species to target with it.

Every bait you will ever use will fall into those 3 categories. Nothing in angling is ever a 'one size fits all'.

Spot on.
What is lost here is the fact that comments posted are from an individuals point of view and the type of angling they are doing.
Black lug would be an important bait for the match angler in scratching out small fish but when you look at it from RockHunter's point of view you must remember Frank is not a match angler and he is spot on in his comments.
I would never bother with it when leisure fishing the East Cork beaches. A bucket of lug and crab and rigs with 1/0 hooks and I happy.

So OP use your black lug along the east coast but if you ever venture down this neck of the woods for some big fish then leave them at home

Black wraps are the new black!

I have used frozen black lug a number of times but did not find it a good bait. But maybe that could be due to my style of fishing. I don't have any interest in catching small flat fish. I tend to use large baits and large hooks, 3/0 or 4/0 and even up to 6/0 when trying to target the bigger cod in the Blackwater Estaury.

One time I did a comparison, I used frozen lug on one rod and fresh lug on a second, both with the same type of rig and cast to about the same distance. I caught nothing with the black lug but had reasonable success with the fresh lug. It been a few years now so I cant remember exactly what I got on the fresh lug but I think it was at least two bass and a few flounder and some coalfish.

Another time when fishing an East Cork beach I used frozen black lug on one rod and frozen razor on the other. It wasn't a great session but I blanked with the frozen lug and caught one bass and a few coalfish on the razor.

So for my style of fishing I would now never use frozen lug, fresh lug would be my preference for beach fishing, along with razor and crab depending on the location.

By the way I also did a similar test with fresh lug and crab on some of the East Cork beaches and the fresh lug significantly outfished the crab apart from Youghal Red Barn where the crab was the best bait.

When I did winter cod fishing in the English Channel - boat angling - I felt very, very unprepared if I did not have black lug on board. If we couldn't get fresh we were quite happy with frozen, that and squid were the mainstays of our baits for months at a time.

I've seen a lot of cod caught on black lug, that includes a lot of double figure cods taken on a single lug.

A time and a place for everything.

Frozen blacks are an excellent bait. It's like everything else;

1, you have to know where to use it,
2, you have to know how to use it,
3, you have to know what species to target with it.

Every bait you will ever use will fall into those 3 categories. Nothing in angling is ever a 'one size fits all'.

Hi could you shed some light on your reply please.

1, In general where would it best used. Surf beach , calm estuary , mixed ground . Ect.

2, this question has me puzzled. So any info would be good.

3, what species would this work for or is there different ways of using this bait to catch different species.

I have used it in the past when I used to fish often but it never shined any brighter then any other bait.
So any help on this one would be good. Thanks

A good debate has opened that's getting lots of attention and good replies bar your first one and mine so I don't see why you feel this discussion is below a certain level. For the reccord I often use black wraps and always have a few packs in the freezer. I think it's important to hear all sides of the debate whether we agree or not, everyone has a right to contribute and should not be rediculed if we don't agree with what they say.

i used frozen lug before and i tought it was pure sh.te
fresh lug always outfishes any other bait whenever im fishing

Frozen blacks are an excellent bait. It's like everything else;

1, you have to know where to use it,
2, you have to know how to use it,
3, you have to know what species to target with it.

Every bait you will ever use will fall into those 3 categories. Nothing in angling is ever a 'one size fits all'.

Hi could you shed some light on your reply please.

1, In general where would it best used. Surf beach , calm estuary , mixed ground . Ect.

2, this question has me puzzled. So any info would be good.

3, what species would this work for or is there different ways of using this bait to catch different species.

I have used it in the past when I used to fish often but it never shined any brighter then any other bait.
So any help on this one would be good. Thanks

That's called experience, from a few years of trying and testing it over different situations. Angling is a long curve and as long as you are at it you will always be learning.