how to collect lug

[grady]

hi, lads i was at beach at low tide try dig some lug. had a small garden fork and dug about 9 inches deep around the entrance, but unfurtuly didn't ritch them beasties, how deep they are this time of the year and what proparly tools i have to use i want to get some for next weeks night session, can somebody advice me please thanks Very best of Easter

[saving private brian]

hey buddy u will need to go deeper than 9 inches.u need to go more like 40-50 inches haha.it depends on the lug too.type your subject into youtube and theres lads in england who show you exactly how to do it with the garden fork.also u will see lads with the bait pumps which saves the digging.as far as i remember u r up around donegal/derry direction so big juicy cahounas of luggies should not be a problem.i get mine here in the more soft and bluey sand rather than the glaurey/muddy type sand.just be careful digging and keep ur eyes in the hole the whole time for sights of the lug.try ur best to not break or burst them also keep an eye on the sand u throw up.you could find ur self digging to australia and then realise hes up in the stuff u threw up ealier

[d.kane62]

hi grady ,we normally dig lug and rag in clontarf you are better of locating agood few casts together and then dig a trench couple of forks wide working your way back try and get a slightly longer fork than normal ,1 hours digging = 45/50 lug , hope this helps ,damian

[kaylemf]

use a garden fork and dig a foot or two down, dig a trench along the sand, go as close to the water as possible without your hole filling up with water, a lot of the lug will be in the sand thrown up, also if you puncture them dont keep them unless your using them straight away as they release something which will kill the other lug!

[grady]

Thanks lads, for advices they will be used indeed. Just I sow in reports as u had good catch, but I still can't get into that. So I though I have no proper bait for it. I went mullaghmore harbour sun morning with no luck at all what I doing wrong why is that Indeed I'v fisht daylight, may supouse to fish more in night sessions I'd most heading to donegal and sligo I don't looking for top spots just please advice me to get a start. Thanks lads

[baitdigger]

If you can find one the best forks are flat tyned potato forks, they are more suitable for moving large quantities of sand. On clean sand a trenching spade is good but you are more likely to split the worms until you get used to it.
Lug depth can start of from just a few inches to about four feet. There are many reasons for this, Weather, air pressure temperature and type of lug are just a few.
Black lug tend to be deeper and generally leave a single curl of sand as their signature on the surface.
Common or blow lug are easier to dig as they are often found in clusters. They leave larger mounds of sand in untidy spirals, not far from these will be a blowhole, a small round dipression in the sand. The worm lives in a U-shaped tube between these two point.
To single dig, draw and imaginary line between the spoil and the blowhole, then move about 6 inches back from and parrallel to the line, dig down one forkfull and throw to the side of the hole, if you dont get the worm with the first forkfull you will need to go down a second or even a third. when you get the worm its good practice to backfill the hole, many dont bother with this.
If you find a good cluster of cast together you can trench dig. Start off as you did for single digging but continue your hole into a trench. Once you find the depth of the worm most of them wil be around that mark. I often do a single trench then dig more trenches to form a square, backfilling the first trench with the spoil from the second and so on.
I use one large container with another smaller one inside. I partially fill the larger bucket with water, this helps you sort the worm and stops the bucket blowing away on windy days. Put any damaged worms into the smaller container and the good ones into the main container. Dont throw damaged worms away they can make great baits, but as was stated earlier they will sour the water and kill off any healthy worm. They do need to be seperated so put them in the smaller container.If you put newspaper in this it will dry them up. If you get any rag at the same time they need to be seperated aswell. Before storing the worm they need sorting to remove any that are bleeding, but try to keep handling to a minimum.
I always store any worm I intend to keep in clean sea water which needs to be changed every day. Worm need to be kept in the fridge. Keep a supply of clean water at the same temperature as the worms themselves. The day before you intend to use the worms put them into some dry newspaper. This will toughen them up. If the worm are looking a bit floppy bounce them in your hand a couple of times before hooking them.
Broken worm need to be used as quickly as possible but good worm can keep for up to a couple of weeks, although at some times of year they may only last a few days. Some of the larger worms I am collecting now are blowing within 24 hours.
On open beaches the worms can move around with tides and storms so you will have to find out where they are through trial and error, quite often I find good worm where sand meets shingle and the digging is easier than you may think.

Hope this helps

NEIL

[The Austrian]

fair play to you Neil, this is one of the best tutorials on the subject I came across ever

[hugo]

Save your back (and scarce fishing time) and use something else: crab, sandeel, squid, mussel, etc etc etc.

[EricH]

Great post Neil, very useful.

[d.kane62]

great reply neil ,very helpful on keeping the worms at their best and up to 2weeks ,save alot of digging and worms . tanx damian

[trout hunter]

great info bait digger

[zoolio]

hi guys,

i have built my lug Pump today:)
Works Great, will try it on wednesday
i'll try to attach pics 2morrow...

Costs about €8 :d


cheers
Zoltán

[baitdigger]

great reply neil ,very helpful on keeping the worms at their best and up to 2weeks ,save alot of digging and worms . tanx damian

You have to really love those worm to make them last two weeks, as I said sometims they dont last more than a few days. If you take them out of the fridge and wrap them in paper dont try to put them back into water they just dont like it. I didnt mention when you do your daily water change take out any 'sick' looking worms.

[Whippersnapper]

Great post on keeping worms - mine always decayed after a couple of days...

[byq44]

y can buy lugworm on ebay, quite cheap

[Clinker]

Hey everyone. Some great advice contributed on this topic. Cheers lads.

One further thing I'd like to ask about. I was out in Dollymount digging for lug for the first time a few weeks back. Every hole I dug filled instantly with water .I had to give up in the end and took some muscles home with me instead.
Is there away to avoid this happening? I was in a good spot too because there were others leaving as I arrived and they had buckets of lug!

Cheers

[lampard]

Good elbow grease will do it!

[kaylemf]

Hey everyone. Some great advice contributed on this topic. Cheers lads.

One further thing I'd like to ask about. I was out in Dollymount digging for lug for the first time a few weeks back. Every hole I dug filled instantly with water .I had to give up in the end and took some muscles home with me instead.
Is there away to avoid this happening? I was in a good spot too because there were others leaving as I arrived and they had buckets of lug!

Cheers

you might have been there while the tide was starting to come in, try digging there when the tide is on the way out, this might be while the others were leaving when you arrived, hope this helps

Regards Kaylem.

[acidflash]

Fantastic post baitdigger