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Post by squideyebarnes on Sept 17, 2008 13:10:12 GMT
Rag worm do they seem harder to get these days or is it just me as every time I want some there sold out.With all the restrictions being imposed on conservation of our estuary's and beaches will it finally leave us with no choice but farmed worms   Just wondered what people pay for a pound these days and do they find them hard to get as here on the I.O.W they can be a bugger to get hold of at times. My thoughts our there going to get much dearer as demand keeps increasing and there is less and less places to dig. Look forward to your views and thoughts Andy |
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Post by The Codfather of Sole on Sept 17, 2008 13:12:50 GMT
Barney is good for quality, give him a bit of notice though. £11/lb
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Post by Sunny on Sept 17, 2008 13:15:45 GMT
I still see plenty of guys digging in Gosport and saw some up the Hamble last night.
In fact I also saw a whole gang of lads...a family of two dads and 3 lads going onto the shore at Hythe the other week...so don't think there are any restrictions as such.
Reckon more people have less time to go and dig their own...so maybe that could be putting pressure on shop bought supplies ??
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Post by cuckoo on Sept 17, 2008 13:25:31 GMT
Ragworm always dries up this time of the year , a bit earlier than normal this year , they are a lot harder to dig in the winter , looks like farmed rag earlier than usual |
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Post by squideyebarnes on Sept 17, 2008 13:27:33 GMT
Barney is good for quality, give him a bit of notice though. £11/lb good price that thought most tackle shops were £12 a pound |
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Post by squideyebarnes on Sept 17, 2008 13:28:51 GMT
I still see plenty of guys digging in Gosport and saw some up the Hamble last night. In fact I also saw a whole gang of lads...a family of two dads and 3 lads going onto the shore at Hythe the other week...so don't think there are any restrictions as such. Reckon more people have less time to go and dig their own...so maybe that could be putting pressure on shop bought supplies ?? Your lucky with southampton water and portmouh we dont have as much digging area here. Andy |
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Post by The Codfather of Sole on Sept 17, 2008 13:30:59 GMT
Barney is good for quality, give him a bit of notice though. £11/lb good price that thought most tackle shops were £12 a pound I suppose thats the idea, a quid under the competition... and the competition only has farmed usually  |
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Post by greysfanboy on Sept 17, 2008 13:52:42 GMT
Not being able to get worms easily doesn't bother me too much. 1) The only times I use them as bait are sole fishing or when scratching around. That said there are always bigger, better fish to be caught round the IOW on big baits, whatever time of year it is. 2) If I really need some, I know places I can dig them on even the smallest neap tides. What actually bothers me about worms being hard to get hold of is the whole ecosystem being screwed over by greedy twats with a bucket and fork. I know someone will be on here in a bit defending commercial bait diggers but I know for a fact that some diggers just hit spots without a care for the future because all they are seeing is £££s. I'm definitely not the only one who knows of this too. I can see only two possible ways of allowing the worm populations to recover. 1) Anglers drastically reduce their reliance on worm baits and use more squid, mackerel etc and try to catch bigger specimens (I wish  ) or 2) All anglers dig their own bait (just as much as they need) and watch the arse fall out of the market for selling dug worms. Then it will not be economical for the greedy professional diggers to do it and they'd be forced to get other jobs where they have to pay tax etc  |
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Post by raythebluefish on Sept 17, 2008 14:29:49 GMT
on point 2 I'd rather be fishing than digging worms sometimes it's easier to go out and buy them
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Post by greysfanboy on Sept 17, 2008 14:40:45 GMT
on point 2 I'd rather be fishing than digging worms sometimes it's easier to go out and buy them Not disputing that at all and some people are forced to buy their own bait because they are working etc. I know for a fact that I can probably earn more money in an hour than dig the equivalent £££ of worms in the same time plus in my job I don't get backache, covered in mud etc so buying for me is the attractive option if I need some. However, we always talk about promoting catch and release fishing (most forum members here are very good at it) but we can't forget that the bait is just another link in the food chain. C&R fishing will be harder without bait in the first place |
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Post by stevieboy on Sept 17, 2008 14:46:32 GMT
Not wishing to hijack the thread or owt, but does anyone have first hand experience of fresh dug rag outfishing farmed rag? I'd always take fresh over anything, but does it make that much difference with rag?
Steve.
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Post by solehunter on Sept 17, 2008 15:03:52 GMT
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Post by greysfanboy on Sept 17, 2008 15:09:16 GMT
Despite farmed rag having been around for about 10-15 years now, they have only quite recently been sold in tackle shops on the IOW I think. I always used to catch more when I was a nipper using fresh local dug worms but then maybe that's not the bait, but the fact that the fish are getting more scarce too? |
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Post by michael1923 on Sept 17, 2008 15:16:53 GMT
I agree, with most things these days, we need to start looking after them before they disappear all together.
However i don't blame a comercial digger at all, he's doing the sameas the rest of us. Earning money to get by.
I'd rather earn sh*t loads of money an hour and pay part of that to the digger to dig me an hours worth of worms.
I don't earn loads but we can all dream.
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Post by squideyebarnes on Sept 17, 2008 15:43:47 GMT
Adam has a point but you have to remember some people can't dig due to work or health and the diggers only dig to sell by demand so would be same impact on the worms just more people digging not just the bait diggers which is a sh1te job.No a certain bait digger pays his diggers £6 a pound last I new.
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