Catching beach worms

[rinkerdink]

Hi,

I've been reading river to reef and the section about catching your own beach worms. It says to wash some bait in the receeding tide until you see them start to pop up then move the bait closer to them to get them to poke out before pulling them out. I was thinking of having a go at this tomorrow and just wondered if anybody had any tips on where I should try and baits to use? I was thinking of fish flavour cat food or maybe some raw chicken? I was going to try the beaches margate and redcliffe.

What do you reckon?

[Bill_V]

Usually I catch them on open beaches with a bit of surf and I use a string bag with fish frames or a 1kg of pilchards. Receding tide is a must. If you waft the bag around as the waves recede then you will see them stick their heads up. At this point I grab half a pillie and try to get them to latch onto it. Once they have a grip you will see them arch their backs, this is when I grab them between my thumb and fore finger and pull up in one constant motion. This is alot trickier than it sounds and you will miss alot of worms before you actually get one. Once you get your first one you will get a feel for it. It takes a fair bit of practice to get it right.

I don't reckon you will get them at the beaches you mention as you want a bit of surf and constant movement of water. My favourite places to go worming are Teewah and rainbow beaches and Fraser has really big worms but obviously takes a little more effort to get there to get them.

Good luck,

Bill

[rinkerdink]

Cheers for the reply bill, i'll give the fish frames or pillies a try! I've had a look at those beaches and they are too far from me given the time I have tomorrow, do you know of any other places closer to northside of Brisbane where I stand a chance?

Thanks

Chris

[Bill_V]

Hey Chris,

I am not really sure about close to north side of brissie. I have always had to do a bit of a drive to get them and it can be a mission to get to them. I usually drive my 4wd up the beach to find them. I find that you have to get away from heavily populated areas to locate good sized ones. You could try Bribie, I have never tried there before but they might be there. I would think a ferry ride over to the surf side of straddie might also be worthwhile but once again I have not tried over there either. Some one else here might know. Sorry I can't be much more help there.

When you do find them just remember that it requires alot of persistence and patience to get the technique right and it can be quite frustrating. They are quicker and stronger than you might think........you will see what I mean when you find them. Just remember to grab and lift in one smooth motion and wait till they are latched on to your bait and arching their back, they seem to release their grip on the hole when they do that arching motion.

If I get out for a day trip to chase them I will let you know but pretty busy now till after Chrissy.

Cheers,

Bill

[stewie]

The beaches around Redcliffe don't hold beachworms, more other types (rockies, blood). I would have thought the ocean side of Bribie would hold them, but have never tried. I think that would be your closest Northside spot.

We used to spend most weekends in Yeppoon catching beachworms using tinned sardines with a couple of holes in the bottom to bring them up and then used a piece of cheese in the shape of a wedge. As the worm raises its back we slowly placed the wedge in front of it and it gradually crawled up the wedge. This is a little easier to get your fingers either side of the head / body ... especially for beginners.

Good luck,

Stewie.

[Torium50]

Great info guys!

[cboy69]

Here are some videos that I think are reasonably good. this first one uses a stocking filled with bait. I've read somewhere the worms get their pincers tangled up so they can't make a quick escape using this method.
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aERk5gAHJe0

This video shows a real pro doing it one handed. Not an easy method for beginners but food for thought and other good info in the video
/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bshfvU-LbsU

Already lots of great info given by other members, my only additional suggestions would be regarding.

1) Touch - try to move your fingers in the sand only when the worm is moving. Much like a pickpocket has an easier job in a crowded train where everyone is rubbed up against one another. You want to be the pickPocket and use his movement to disguise yo slowly sliding your fingers in contact with the body, touch but don't squeeze even the slightest until you are ready to pinch and pull

2) Timing for the pull - on another youtube video (which I can't find) they made a very good analogy. Once the worm has bitten the bait it will arch its back then try to pull the bait under the surface. If you think of that motion as the build up to a sneeze. You have to pinch and pull just before the sneeze. If you have the touch right then you can easily feel the worm arch and expand between your fingers prior to the pull.

I hope that helps.

[stav]

I have had the best success with pippi's and basa fillets as bait for beach worms.I mainly use Pippi's though for beach worms since there are usually plenty of them at low tide, I only go for basa fillet when there are no pippi's out. although if you are going to go for the basa fillet I recommend putting it in a stocking other wise it will flake away very quickly.You will be able to catch plenty of beach worms walking up and down the beaches along the gold coast if your willing to travel the distance.

Hope this has helped. Good luck!

[Angus]

Pipi's are my fave as a bait to hold, but bury a net bag on the beach if over at stradbroke island for a few days. The smellier the better, it cannot be to rotton.

I will try and get some images/film this weekeend although the above vids pretty much cover it.

The other massive piece of advice is this...

You could watch 1000 awesome worming videos and it will do little to assist you. I lost dozens of worms on my first go before getting one out. It requires time, patience and them some more time and patience. The feeling of the worm, what you need to wait for and what they feel like pulling away is just not something (in my opinion) that can be out into words or even shown in film. You need to be in the sand, a wave hitting you, feeling the bigger between thumb and forefinger to really understand what you need to know.

Angus

[aussie123]

Shark is the best bait for worming.

All the commercial wormers used to take all my shark heads and fill their freezers with them.

They would split a head into 4 pieces and use a fresh piece every day.

Main thing when worming is to allow the worm to relax and go soft before pulling it out.

If you do not wait you will rip its head off.

[lach1e]

hey boys do u know if bribe holds any beach worms?

 

[Hweebe]

I find that where there are Pippies to be found (Bribie has them) then that is a good sign that beach worms will be around.

Definitely Teewah / Noosa Northshore hold good beach worm populations.

I've seen catches on Gold Coast but this is only on beaches that have not been impacted by erosion (which they have all been impacted be recent storms / floods)