Over-digging bait :(

[Grumpy Angler]

What's the story with the rag worm in sutton(dollymount side)? I used to dig bait here(it's where i live) in the 70's and 80's.i started fishing again this year and i also started digging here again in the late spring. things were pretty much as i remembered them to be,pretty productive that is.this year the area opposite st fintans school has been pulverised by digging. somebody targeted this area around june this summer and over the course of a few weeks left it looking like a moonscape. this person/people have ruined it for the likes of me. they've totally fleeced this resource. the bast*rds that done this kept digging through the spawning season around the autumn equinox too. i'd say it's going to be YEARS before it's back to normal...

Also,what's with all the tyres left here by the mussel beds? is this the same people hoping to harvest all the crabs come spring...hope not.
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[roryodonnell]

Very grumpy

[JOHN1]

every rag bed in Dublin is near destroyed, they dont give anywhere a chance. i can only give you one bit of advice if you find a spot to dig a few worms for your self tell not a single person not even fishing friends i have learned over the years to keep my mouth shut the tyers are crab traps, i said it before and i will say it again they might own the litter/tyres but they dont own the crabs untill they have them in there own bucket the early bird catches the worm and all of that

[Grumpy Angler]

for sure,i think ill get rid of the tyres...

[Theking]

Maybe it is just more people collecting ad they are trying to save money .

[Grumpy Angler]

no this was the work of two/three guys. the place was dug up methodically,like a grid.

[paul skelly]

The over digging is a joke alright but I wouldn't go moving peoples crab traps unless you want trouble .

[kstaff]

That's a well known and handy digging area and Rag is a popular bait in summer, more demand more digging, plus lots of anglers digging their own now too so extra forks on the beds.

No great mystery really. Lots of people want bait lots of lads digging it.

[danbrosnan]

Lads honestly this is a so called problem everywhere, can you stop people digging, no! Aren't people better off doing something rather then sitting on there holes doing noting...?

I wouldn't touch the tyres either, there hard work putting them down and even harder work minding them and protecting them... Lads with tyres are usually match anglers who travel the length and breath of the country to different matches, spending hard earned money on fuel etc... Putting money back into the economy...

Also tyres create very good reefs for marine wildlife also, when weed grows around them you won't even noticed them...

[corbyeire]

Cadmium Lead and Zinc are released from the tyres as they break down over time, they may be an anchor point for some weed at the start but the worms you dig ingest all this - then it bioaccumulates in the fish that feed on them, that you are then catching and presumably eating - not great in the long run

More neutral materials like breeze blocks much better for the environment

[ste c]

lads dont even go there winjing about tyres and crab traps your happy enough to pay for them and use them for cod,bass and the hounds they dont fall out of the rocks into peoples buckets traps have to be layed to collect them!!

and to the original poster saying your going to move peoples tyres? best of luck with that dont forget to wear your riot gear

[donal domeney]

CRABS + TRAPS + TYRES = PROBLEMS

Posts on this topic usually get locked because they descend into unsavoury posts so please avoid comments on crab traps you come across while gathering bait.

[JOHN1]

and to the original poster saying your going to move peoples tyres? best of luck with that dont forget to wear your riot gear

you must have missed the wink smiley at the end of his remark,i don't thint he was serious when he made the remark.
i heard of owners of traps down there getting more than they bargained for when two of them tryed to intimadate the the wrong lad you could say it seriously backfired on the two of them

[Eoghan]

This will probably annoy you all but "open the lure box, select a small jig head and small worm immitation, cast and slowly twitch it along the bottom. Flounders, dabs". They are all predators as you know. If the bait is a problem try embracing some of the soft plastics for fishing. It might not be the answer you want but im afraid Kstaff has it in one. We used to be 50/50 ratio between bait and lure fishing about 10 years ago. Now its 95/5 i'd say. Too many times we were back broken for a 1/4 bucket of worms. But think of it this way, no back breaking digging, no disappointment when ye have a handful of worms for a lot of effort. So much less gear to carry about. Its just something to think about. Have a look at the vid below.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48PPcBpUrMs

[fisherman59]

and to the original poster saying your going to move peoples tyres? best of luck with that dont forget to wear your riot gear

you must have missed the wink smiley at the end of his remark,i don't thint he was serious when he made the remark.
i heard of owners of traps down there getting more than they bargained for when two of them tryed to intimadate the the wrong lad you could say it seriously backfired on the two of them

ah yes i remember it well