Southsea 2 Me 0

[Les Paul]

Tried again today and believed the BBC online weather that wind would be about 15 mph, however came up against wind that was more like 30 to 40 mph coming in off the sea. I struggled, and so did other anglers just impossible to get out more than about 25 yards. Nobody caught; A days fishing then reduced to about 1 hour behind the wall near the Blue Reef cafe!

While I am here whats the opinion on hooking Ragworm? Some tell me just hook through the head and others say they thread the worm right up the hook and onto the line? I tried hooking through the head with mixed results, usually not much worm left on when reeled in? Though never saw it shear off on the cast. I couldnt get the other method to work ! I guess that could be inexperience. So Is Ragworm a feasible bait for long beach casting? Would like to hear some opinions and maybe some suggestions for bait that will stay on the hook when beachcasting. I note mackeral tail is good for staying on.

Anyway I`m not giving up, have a virgin Abu reel and rod that WILL see some action sooner or later .

regards to all.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Welcome to the fishing forum

I always use a bait needle and thread the rag up the line and tip the hook with a piece of squid - works for me

[wellyfish]

i prefer to put a few rag on using a baiting needle(keeps it tidy and less chance of tearing it up too much).....,try using a clip down rigg and one with a bait stop ,keeps it all neat and it dosnt move about and fly everywhere when yer casting,you may want to tip that off with a thin strip of squid...kev....you always pass failure on the way to success....enjoy

[wellyfish]

Originally Posted by Fishing Forum Admin

Welcome to the fishing forum

I always use a bait needle and thread the rag up the line and tip the hook with a piece of squid - works for me

great minds think alike

[Simon TorbayFishing]

What if you're scared of needles?

[Ben]

i usualy thread 1 up onto the line, 1 just so the head is just above the eye (holds it on the hook) and then either 1 head hooked or add a strip of squid
or i find whole squid with acouple of rag and then add bait elastic

[wellyfish]

Originally Posted by Simon TorbayFishing

What if you're scared of needles?

then be scared of hooks too

[FlyingFox]

Welcome to the forum buddy!

just my view on hooking rag worm.....

king rag i would use a needle to run one up the line then thread one up the hook just past the eye of the hook then clip it down for long casting but if only flicking not bother with the clip!

white rag i would hook them through the head so i have a bunch of 4 or five and also use clip for long distance and not bother for short distance!

Red rag are one of the worst i find to use for distance fishing as they are smaller and alot softer so i would say you need to hook these through the head to get a nice bunch of 5 or 6 small ones or 3 or 4 big and not bother with trying to belt these out even with a clip as they wont last the distance or the impact on the entrance to the water so i would surgest only casting these maybe 70 yrds with a nice soft tip rod!! one other tip for red rag is to dip them into the water so they stick together to make them a bit more casterble!!

hope some of that helps bud!

Ollie.

[kiwimarty]

Just two tips I would like to add...

When fishing with worm, I like to use the Mustad hooks (small packet) designed for worm baits. The difference is that the hook has two very small barbs on the shank and it does make a difference in holding the worm away from the barb.

Second tip is... Try to get hold of the impact shield bait clips for clipping down the rig. In fact these help with all delicate baits.

Hope this helps.

Kiwi.

[andyg]

I like to use 2 rag:

Squeeze 1st rag up past the eye of the hook so that it is completely on the line

With the 2nd rag I feed 3/4 of it up the hook and onto the line then pierce the hook point through the belly and leave about an inch hanging - I always break the tail off.

Then I squeeze the 1st rag back down and keep it in place with a powergum stopknot behind a sequin and bead(s) on the snood.

This gives a nice big bait with lots of juices coming from worm 1 and worm 2 wriggling about on the hook. Sometimes I tip with squid, sometimes I tip with half a peeler.


When I use 1/2 peeler I find it easier and more effective if I wrap it in bait elastic before I put it on the hook, rather than actually trying to secure it to the hook with the elastic.