looking after me lugs...

[mark]

not having aural problems at the mo, but I\'m away up NW sotland again in a fortnight, and as there are jut so many luvely fat worms to be had, I figure I\'ll fill a bucket on the last morning and bring em back. So, It\'ll be a mixture of enormous (12\" plus!) blow lug and black lug. Ok the blacks will freeze ok, but it is likely to a be good 12 hours before they get anywhere near my freezer, so any transport tips to keep the little bugga\'s happy.

How do blow lug freeze?? or is that a big no no, if they don\'t, any tips for keeping em going.

I had thought about gutting and salting the black lugs immediately, wrapping them up in newspaper and then freezing em when I get back, or will I just end up with lots of foul smelling mush in the car (must seee a doctor about that)

[tonybax]

MARK, KEEP THEM IN WATER TILL YOU GET HOME THEN SORT THEM OUT, WHEN YOU DO THE BLACKS BUST THEM, SALT THEM AND GET THEM IN THE FREEZER QUICK AS POSS.

[Harold]

Personally would gut the Blacks and wrap in newspaper, store in a coolbox for the journey. When you get home, re-wrap the worm, then wrap in clingfilm or freezer bags (stopd them getting dmaged by frost) and freeze.

When gutting Blacks dont squeeze all the blood out, they freeze well with the blood (not guts) still inside. When thawed the worm oozes blood and attracts fish immediately.

For smelly worm, try taking a packet of frozen and defrosting 2/3 days before you need them. Re-wrap and store in fridge, excellent for Dabs and Whiting!

[mark]

I reckon I\'ll try half and half! just to be on the safe side, half salted immediately, half in water till I get home. Any ideas about the rest tho, I\'m likely to find as many huge blow lug as I do black and a fair number of good sized harbour rag as well, any suggestions for keeping em alive as long as poss (I take it they don\'t freeze well), or am in to marine aquarium territory

[ollie]

the harbour rag and blow will not freeze well,turn to mush as soon as they thaw out .i would salt the blacks after gutting them .i would do that before travelling mesen ,best way ive found is to gut then place on newspaper in a litter tray salt then drain off the water then salt again with fresh salt and new paper, then drain again by which time they should have tougened up then roll individual in newpaper pop them in a freezer bag and bung in the freezer ,i have even taken em with me on trips ,not used all of them ,and refroze them with no probs at all .hope this helps ya

[5150]

Pick up a battery powered aquarium pump from a pet shop, not sure who sells them now as i\'ve not seen them in a while... length of airline and an airstone, this will keep the water oxygenated and moving....

couple of cool blocks frozen up beforehand might come in handy to keep the water cool too.

[mark]

Ok chaps, Gut the blacks and keeps the blow going as long as poss. Always being one not to look a gift horse an\' that, I\'ll probably end up bringing tons more blow back (blowbacks who mentioned blowbacks) than I can possibly use, so if thats the case, I\'ll start a thread when I get back and If any body wants some, come an get em! Owt for Nowt as they say. The blow lug are the biggest I have ever seen up there, especially when you compare them with the weedy little things that get flogged in the local shops. The biggest I found in august were a go 12 to 15 inches and tough as old boots, and theres literally millions, right in front of where we stay. They are pretty hardy too, I left a dozen in one of the bairns plastic buckets in the sun, for 2 days and they were still alive if not a bit smelly!