salting lugworm

there was a thread going a while back about lug preservation. ive salted a batch of blacks for interest sake. i was just wondering if you salt them and leave them in the tub covered with salt or do you remove them from the tub after you have salted them??

I was involved in that thread. I have just started this salting thing . At the moment I am leaving them covered in salt.

Kev

ya i'm the same. noticed that directly after i had salted (as in 5 mins) they went extremely tough.i wonder could you try salting them just before you cast to toughen them up. or is this a bit too much trouble..

leave them covered in salt for a week and then take them out an put them in a tub and there ready for action, there like strips of leather but re-hidrate when in the water and become juicy again!!

Do you gut them first ??????????

I don't bother Colin.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Buy your salt from Lidl (or Aldi) 20 cent a box.

Kev

how long would the lug keep for when salted :?:

used salted lug tonight, got 2 pin whiting on them.didnt compare them to fresh lug so it probably wasnt the best comparison. what i will say is that the lug was easily baitable and i did get a bite oin every cast with them and i had no problem with them comin off during the cast. i wouldnt say they were a roaring success but there was alot of positives..... further research needed tho..

Howdy, i was just wondering if rag could be salted?

dave

anyone try them ?
salted/pickled some lugs today will give them a good trial the next time theres a few bass about.

have tried them a few times now.have had plenty of whiting and coalies on them but the jury is still out on them.only really effective for 5-6wks though

i have been preserving them in alcohol (ethanol) , have been working with both lug and rag. The rag in particular seem to preserve really well, the lug are good too.

have not had a chance to use them myself but gave them to a mate who had flounder on the lug and wrasse on the rag.

the alchohol solution is reusable too so its not wasted. happy with the results so far. have some tests to do in the lab in the next while to check how much fluid and proteins/lipids etc are lost into the liquid and also to see if the oils and proteins in the worms are degrading over time.

interesting what you say about the lug not preserving as well. i found that after the first month the lugworms tissue appeared to degenerate and loose any structure, in the end after 2 months basically resembeling mush. these were black lug as well which appear to be tougher.

yeah they seemed to loose a lot of liquid to the preservative, i will test that in the next while, it might be that they have a lower osmolarity than the rag so the salt or alcohol is sucking the water out of them.

they are still ok after two months but they did crumple a bit with 70% alcohol or any of the alcohol glycerol mixes, i am trying 60% alcohol to see if that helps

i find that when they start to rot and go a bit sticky is when they are best, if you cut them down the middle and spread them out like a sheet and then cut them into sections about 2cms long, feed this up the hook and tip off with either rag or mackeral. i have caught most species on this eg codling, whiting, flounder, dab, plaice, dog, coalie ......

will they taste/smell of alcohal?
i used salt/brine as i have seen bass traped in lobster pots that had been baited with salted fish and i think salt would be better at dispersing the scent+ its more natural

I heve 20 lugs salted from 5 months ago at home im gona bring them out with me this weekend and see what they can do!!!

hi cortaz

when you take them out of the solution yes they will smell of alcohol, but i have checked, the alcohol being so strong evaporates very quickly, and if you dip them in water for a minute or two then they just smell of lug or rag again.

because its a good solvent having the worms stored in alcohol should, if anything, increase the scent trail by making oils, scents and lipids more soluble when thet get in the water.