The Baits & Flavours Column

He is affectionately known as Dave the Flave due to his love affair with baits and flavours and is a self-confessed flavour junky.

Part 1 – The Humble Worm – A close Look From Both Ends

I followed the discussion on the Fishingmagic.com forum where thehumble worm rated quite a few questions, such as, ‘can I keep differentworms together?’ And also, ‘how do I keep worms?’

So I thought it would be a good idea to base this month’s baitarticle around the different worms useful to the angler and how tokeep them in top condition and suchlike, after all not only are theseexcellent creatures responsible for many of my better fish but alsofor me getting into the fishing trade, setting up a business and eventaking them as my logo. So the least I can do is make sure they arewell looked after!

In these days of new super baits that you can use straight fromthe packet; boilies, wonder pastes, an endless choice of flavouredcorn and soft pellets, does the humble worm still get a look-in whenmost anglers are selecting their bait armoury for a session?

There cannot be many anglers who have not at some point in theirangling career used a worm of some form.

The slow almost hypnotic dance of a lobworm below a Chubber floatwill have perch and chub throwing caution to the wind as they leavetheir normally secure lair to dash out and grab the irresistiblemeaty morsel. Cruising carp and tench can be stopped dead in theirtracks by the very same bait hovering just off bottom when all othermethods have failed.

The redworm or dendrabena can have the same effect but with adifferent style, none of the slow steady movements of the lobworm,just frantic jerking movements that signal their freshness andgoodness to all in the vicinity.

Many a time I have set up the quiver rod during the hours ofdarkness and wiled away a couple of hours on a damp night collectinglobs ready for first light and the chance of a marauding perch ortench. Often by dawn I have collected enough for a couple of goodsessions – and all for free!

I still carry a box of worms in my box or bag on nearly everyoccasion as I have done ever since I started fishing a good few yearsago now. On many waters they are still my first line of attack,especially if it is a water that is new to me as it is still a baitthat is totally non selective (unlike a lot of specialist baitstoday) in what it attracts, and so can give you a good idea of whatis in front of you and can sometimes provide you with a good day’ssport when everything else in your bait bag fails.

Although the merits and attraction qualities of the worm regularlyappear in many articles in the magazines, it still amazes me how manypeople mention to me that either “I haven’t used worms for a longwhile now” or, “I used to use loads as a kid but I don’t bothernow,” when they stop bankside and have a chat with me and ask whatbait I am using.

I still chuckle to myself when I think of an event andconversation I had a few years ago. I had set up in a swim on ourlocal river Stour that had always produced a good head of perch. Ichopped a few lobs up and fired them around the bridge stanchionwhile I set up with a closed feeder filled with chopped worm and abig juicy air injected lobworm for the hook. Lobworms injected in thehead section will waft enticingly in the water and it also keepstheir head out of the silt.

I had already banked around three or four perch when the tip shotround and threatened to take the rod in with it, this was no perchbut a big chunky common that had found this non-specialist baitirresistible.

There followed a fight that will remain in my memory for years,for each time I had to relent and give line I had to fight back forit inch by inch, each time catching a glimpse of the fine fish beforeit took me back to square one again and again.

Anyway, just as I thought I finally had the carp beat and over thenet, with a flick of its tail it turned and dived, pulling the hook,while I could only watch.

The reason I mention this is that word of me losing a good carpquickly spread down the bank to the extent that when the bailiff cameto check my ticket he mentioned it to me, telling me that he hadfished this swim overnight without a touch. So when he asked what Icaught it on and I said lobworm I sat stunned by the reply, “youwon’t catch them on worm down here”! Apparently he had sat all of theprevious night with boilies on both rods without a touch! My pointis, don’t underestimate the humble worm!

I thought for a start we would look at the life of the variousearthworms and their basic requirements for existence. Not onlyshould this information prove helpful to the angler wishing tocollect and keep worms but it should also help you to understand thembetter, so improving the mortality rates of your worms.

Although the three worms commonly used for fishing requiredifferent habitats for their survival they share a common bond intheir make up.

To make reference easier I have laid the following information outin a questions and answers format.

Do worms breathe oxygen?

Yes, they do, and this is most important to remember when keepingthem for fishing, the container must have air holes.

Worms breathe oxygen by diffusing along the moist tissue of theirskin throughout their whole body. They also expel carbon dioxide byusing the process in reverse, another reason to ensure they haveample ventilation in their containers.

Whilst we are on the subject of diffusion through the worms skin Ifeel it vital to mention their need for moisture. Most worms areanything up to and often more than 75% water, so if their bedding isallowed to dry out either through sunlight or neglect they willquickly die.

Most anglers will know by experience just how quickly one deadworm can kill the lot! So always check your worms regularly for anythat look below par, often thinner than the others due to water loss,and sling them out.

Do worms have eyes?

No they don’t but much in the same way as they absorb oxygen theyalso absorb light, through their skin tissue. Anyone who keeps wormswill soon see how they react to both sunlight and artificial light,they will immediately shy away from the source and try to digthemselves down away from it.

This reaction to light can prove a disadvantage to the collectorof worms but can be easily remedied and a bonus to the worm keeper asa light placed over the worm bin will stop the more active wormswandering and can make harvesting your worms a lot easier (explainedlater)..

Do worms have teeth? How do they eat?

Worms have a mouth located on the first segment (see diagram), themouth has a small protruding lip called the Prostomium. When the wormis foraging this is protruded and used as a food sensor.

Worms don’t have teeth they actually grind their food in thegizzard using muscle action. Worms can only take in very smallamounts of food at one time and can eat up to half their bodyweightper day. Micro organisms must work on the food before worms are ableto eat it, the worm takes in a small amount of grinding material suchas sand, grit or topsoil with its food so that the muscular action ofthe gizzard can do its work.

Once the food is ingested it is passed to the intestine where itis broken down further where the goodness is absorbed into thebloodstream. Undigested food is passed through the body as a wormcast. This is an excellent by product much sought after by gardenersfor their plants as it is high in nutrition, disease free and isquite highly priced in garden centres.

In fact it has been scientifically proven that worms carry nodisease at all.

How do worms reproduce?

The worm has the romantic parts in life pretty well sussed outtoo. During a warm damp evening with little wind, greens, parks andwalkways will be visited by worms on the lookout for a littlecourtship. This is where they have it sorted, worms arehermaphrodites this means that they are in fact both sexes in thesame body. Although they have all the bits they still need a partner,though the selection process is greatly reduced.

No dusting themselves down with plenty of pong and hair gel forthese boys/girls they simply hang around until they bump into anotherworm in a romantic mood and change sex to suit!

A worms maturity is clearly visible in the form of an enlargedband about a third of the way down the body from the head end, thisis called the saddle.

Well I think that covers most of the commonly asked questions thatshould help you understand the worm more, especially if you plan tokeep them in any numbers and even breed your own.

Next we will start to look at the individual species most commonlyused by anglers, these are the Redworm, Lobworm and the newerDendrobeana, How to collect, keep and feed them and a troubleshootingsection.

If I can come up with enough information the series will alsoinclude marine worms for the sea anglers among you.