Beach worming dramas

[Bretto77]

A plan was made to to get some beach worms and try for some whiting. The "Frozen Fillets" section of the freezer was quite depressing. Particularly after one had gone away, then come back later to check again and still found it completely devoid of preferred options.
The kids were due back at their mum's place Wednesday evening 28/12, so it was off to main beach beforehand.  The girls could play and have a splash around, while @Kat and I tried for worms. No danger of returning them to their mother's place all sandy, as any remaining sand would surely be deposited in my car.
After arriving at the beach $17 lighter and armed with worming pliers, I quickly proceeded to demonstrate that I was no more proficient (if not less) at catching worms than before. Self awareness kicked in and I reminded myself that any tool is only as good as the one using it. So back in the pocket for the pliers it was. Fingers were the go, at least I couldn't hurl them into the sea in a fit of frustration.
With both of us trying to keep an eye on the kids (more so kat as she was doing the bag waving and facing the sea), we managed a meagre few worms in an embarrassingly long time. It wasn't for lack of opportunities either as there were plenty of worms there. We had some interested bystanders and luckily I managed a couple more so at least they could see what we were trying to achieve with all the antics.
Eventually a gentleman further up the beach took pitty on us and sent his wife and young daughter down with an offering of a worm he had caught with just a pipi.
Many cussings and just a couple more worms later, the whole situation got a bit tense. A surfer lost his board and was in trouble as things really were very messy out there. Another surfer came over to him but they were both getting churned up and dragged further out. We tried to keep an eye on them and sent the girls for a sprint to get a life guard.
The life guard returned and and set out. She reached them but shortly afterwards lost her board in the chaos as well. She was still managing to get them closer however. A by stander (another surfer who had not been planning on going out that day) took the life guards board back to her after it washed ashore. Eventually they all made it back, albeit very short of breath.
A couple more worms and we had to go and get the girls home. Some praise for their quick sprint and a little chat about just how quickly things can get very serious in or on the water ensued. It was a very eventful afternoon for them. Quite the mixture of fun and drama, with a squabble over who would get to tell mum at the end of it all.
We ended up with about 10 reasonable worms and I can safely say that I am quite the amateur wormer.

[Angry51]

You'll be grey before you know it.

They say practice makes perfect.

[Bretto77]

I am just working on embracing the emerging grey's, @Kat is a big help

[ellicat]

Doing an apprenticeship without a master is difficult. You'll have it down pat in a few more goes, is my prediction.

[Bretto77]

25 minutes ago, ellicat said:

Doing an apprenticeship without a master is difficult. You'll have it down pat in a few more goes, is my prediction.

I think I need the master... I feel like it's going to be a few hundred more goes at the moment. But I certainly hope you are right and a great epiphany occurs soon

[Bob9863]

Learning things yourself the hard way is never supposed to be easy, but sometimes it's just plain frustrating as hell. 

I'm sure you will work it out eventually. 

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Good story Brett, hope you master the art of catching worms soon.

[Andrew_P]

Worming tips this one helped me Brett

[Bretto77]

28 minutes ago, Andrew_P said:

Worming tips this one helped me Brett

Cheers @Andrew P 

[Old Scaley]

I have a mate who can get multiple worms at once like those pros. He has tried to teach me but I am still more like Brett than him. If I can get a few each session, I am happy. 

[Bretto77]

15 minutes ago, Old Scaley said:

I have a mate who can get multiple worms at once like those pros. He has tried to teach me but I am still more like Brett than him. If I can get a few each session, I am happy. 

I don't want to be able to commercially harvest or anything like that. I would however, like to get to the point where I can get enough for a session without requiring valium and a few tidal cycles

[Drop Bear]

They are tricky mate. You are doing well if you are only starting out. Well done. Where are you planning on using the worms? 

[Bretto77]

7 hours ago, Drop Bear said:

They are tricky mate. You are doing well if you are only starting out. Well done. Where are you planning on using the worms? 

We just used them up Coombabah creek. We are finding things a little scarce on the whiting front at the moment. Sometimes yabbies work better there, sometimes it's worms that account for the most fish. Lately however, we have not found whiting in numbers anywhere no matter what bait.

[ubnt]

10 worms are not too bad, right? Will last a few sessions i hope.

I have seen a few YouTube videos and they all make worming pretty simple and easy. One YouTuber Roger just use his armpit smell to get worm out and i am keen to try if i don't have anything with me.

Yabbieing with kids are more fun !

 

[Bretto77]

7 hours ago, ubnt said:

10 worms are not too bad, right? Will last a few sessions i hope.

I have seen a few YouTube videos and they all make worming pretty simple and easy. One YouTuber Roger just use his armpit smell to get worm out and i am keen to try if i don't have anything with me.

Yabbieing with kids are more fun !

 

Thanks for your interest. Yes Roger Osbourne makes it look really easy. Experience and practice. I did a lot better on  the following worming attempt. It made me think of @ellicat 's prediction. I am hoping he is correct. Plenty of worms did not equate to plenty of fish that night however...

[Bretto77]

@ubnt there has been plenty of treasurable moments with the kids gathering both worms and yabbies. The youngest daughter actually got a minor blue bottle sting on the day of this "Beach worming dramas". She just soldiered on. Losing a cheap plastic bracelet at the beach on the following worming attempt however seemed to be much more traumatic....

[ubnt]

On 17/01/2023 at 9:56 PM, Bretto77 said:

@ubnt there has been plenty of treasurable moments with the kids gathering both worms and yabbies. The youngest daughter actually got a minor blue bottle sting on the day of this "Beach worming dramas". She just soldiered on. Losing a cheap plastic bracelet at the beach on the following worming attempt however seemed to be much more traumatic....

Can I ask you how much time is needed to get 10 worms if there were no distractions? I am probably going worming tonight and don't want any dramas!

[Bretto77]

7 minutes ago, ubnt said:

Can I ask you how much time is needed to get 10 worms if there were no distractions? I am probably going worming tonight and don't want any dramas!

That's a difficult question to answer. It took me nearly an hour to catch my first ever worm I think! But the other day I probably got 10 in about 20-25 minutes I think. I didn't really take much notice of the time to be honest.

[Angry51]

You'll have to work harder Brett. 

No clock watching, otherwise you'll never get a job

full time worming.

[Bretto77]

2 hours ago, Angry51 said:

You'll have to work harder Brett. 

No clock watching, otherwise you'll never get a job

full time worming.

Maybe I need to be watching the clock more. Accurate catch rates/ effectiveness would be essential if one was trying to earn a crust doing that... However I would have rathered been doing that than this

[Angry51]

That fish in your avatar, is that the one Kat caught and let

you have a lend of?

[Bretto77]

22 minutes ago, Angry51 said:

That fish in your avatar, is that the one Kat caught and let

you have a lend of?

Yep.... That's the one....  You should have seen the daggers flying from her eyes I will never forget that look.