Ever found yourself at the end of a slow session with a load of leftover ragworm and wondering what to do with it?
Perhaps you’re getting out fishing again in the next couple of weeks and want to save it, In which case you can reasonably expect to be able to keep ragworm fresh and alive in the fridge in shallow trays of seawater for up to a couple of weeks. Its worth it, as long as you tend to it with daily water changes, discard any dead/broken worms and all the while maintain adequate levels of tolerance from a very understanding Mrs as to why it’s a good thing to keep live worms in the kitchen fridge rather than waste them!
When that seems like too much effort though, most of us are inclined to offer any left over bait to other anglers at the end of a session or, when all else fails, release it back into the marine food chain from whence it came. There are the tight fisted amongst us however (ahem) who genuinely lose sleep over the idea of throwing away good bait.
Unfortunately bunging leftover ragworm straight into the freezer isn’t the best option. When defrosted, you end up with a sloppy brown mush that seldom resembles it’s former glory. What’s more, it’s virtually impossible to bait a hook with unless you’re cocooning it with lashings of bait elastic. In fairness, this will still catch fish, probably based more on scent than visual presentation, but most anglers tend to shy away from it as far more consistent results can be gained with fresh, live bait.
There is another, more debated option (debated in terms of its propensity to succeed in catching fish that is) and that is preserving left over ragworm by salting it. For those of you curious about the results that this alternative bait can bring, I’m going to keep the bottom of this post up to date with a list of species (and photographs) I’ve caught with it and you can judge for yourself if it’s worth your time and effort. I’ll talk first though about how it works and what my preferred methods of salting ragworm are.
How it works
Using salt as a preservative is hardly a new thing. Meat products such as ham, bacon, salami, prosciutto, corned beef etc. are all derived from using salt to cure and preserve meat and such practice dates back centuries. Without getting too scientific, salt acts to remove moisture from the meat (or more specifically the water contained within the cells of muscular tissue). The reduced water content and increased salinity creates an inhospitable environment for food borne pathogens and the bacteria responsible for spoilage – thus preserving the meat.
Now In the food industry there are other parameters to consider in order to make things safe to consume, but the general principle here is the same. This is the process which we look to take advantage of when attempting to ‘salt’ leftover ragworm. And you have two choices:
Dry salting
OR
Brining (my preferred method)
Both are pretty easy but yield quite different results.
Dry salted ragworm
Dry salting is literally adding a layer of salt to a container, such as an empty tupperware tub, adding your leftover worm on top and then covering it in an additional layer of salt. You can build up several layers depending on how much worm you have left over. And that’s essentially it – you can then leave this in a garage or in your fishing box and use it at your leisure.
The end product is reduced in size quite significantly as moisture is drawn out of the worm, so this method perhaps isn’t the best with the smallest of maddies. The lack of moisture though makes the worm extremely tough and easy to head hook.
As the caption suggests, I’ve found dry salted rag to be best for messing about with ultra light gear when species hunting. The worm rehydrates in the water and becomes softer and probably less enduring to the constant pecking of small fish than a live worm would be, but it’s still accounted for plenty of action for me on impromptu sessions when I’ve literally only got an hour or so to grab.
Rocklings, blennys, coalfish, codling, whiting, pollock etc. (usually juveniles) have all been obliging for me in the past on dry salted rag.
My only reservation with the dry salt method is the end product doesn’t closely resemble the real thing. Threading a full worm onto a larger hook is tricky, and once it rehydrates it’s doesn’t look the best. Head hooking is the best way to present, and I find this limits the options in terms of what you might fish for.
Brining ragworm
I started doing this as I wanted to be able to preserve ragworm that was left over, but have it look as close to the real thing as possible. This is where salt bringing comes in. And the biggest benefit with this method is that you CAN store the finished product in the freezer and it won’t turn to mush!
The difference with this method is, rather than applying dry salt to the worm, you immerse the worm in a ‘brine’ – I.e extremely salty water. I’m not talking sea water – I’m talking water that has been completely saturated to the point where it literally will not dissolve any more salt. For context – 1L of water will dissolve around 375g of regular table salt, give or take.
You brine the ragworm for 24 hours in this solution, and then package it in whatever medium you prefer and store it in the freezer. A simple ziplock bag is enough, or cling film or even wrapped in newspaper in the same way you would black lugworm.
When defrosted – you’ll be amazed at how much it still resembles a live ragworm (albeit it’s not wriggling).
You’ll need:
- A plastic container to brine in – use plastic rather than metal, which is corroded by salt and can release impurities into the brine.
- A measuring jug – with 1L of warm water (warm water dissolves the salt quicker than cold)
- Approx 375g of regular table salt
- Leftover ragworm. The worm should still be fresh and lively – if it’s dead and snotty it’s probably worth just chucking
- Newspaper or ziplock bags – for storing the ragworm in the freezer AFTER it’s been brined.
Add the 1L of warm water to your container and pour in all of the salt. Use a spoon to stir the solution until all of the salt has dissolved. TIP if there’s still a little salt that won’t dissolve, keep adding an additional half cup of water and stirring until it’s all gone.
Put the brining solution in the fridge to cool (you don’t want to add ragworm to warm water – trust me)
After an hour or so (when the brine is cold) you can add your left over ragworm. Again the fresher the better – you can brine old sloppy ragworm but it’s condition won’t really improve, so it’s better to do it in a separate container and save for mini species if you can’t bear to get rid.
Once you add the live worm to the brine they will die quite quickly. You’ll probably notice the worms float in the solution and after a minute or so they may start to fizz as they expel moisture (lovely stuff!) Put the container in the fridge and leave it for 24 hours, after which you can remove the worms from the brine, pat them dry and store them in ziplock bags, or wrap them in cling film or newspaper in the same way you would black lugworm. Now you can chuck them in the freezer ready for your next session.
Why I prefer brining over dry salting
While both methods will produce a bait that will catch fish, for me, brining is hands down the best of both worlds. The reason I prefer this method over dry salting is because the end product very closely resembles a live ragworm in both appearance and texture – and you can bait it in exactly the same way you would normally. This is an added advantage, in that you can use it exactly as you would live ragworm. Unlike dry salting, which pulls all of the moisture out of the worm, brining essentially ‘transfers and replaces’ it. The moisture inside the worm is pulled out of the cells, to be replaced by saltwater, thus preserving it. Again, similar process’s are used to produce commercial bacon and ham (I wouldn’t recommend putting cured ragworm on your fried egg sandwhich though!)
Whats more, unlike fresh ragworm, this ‘brined’ ragworm can now be frozen. The saltwater that’s now inside the ragworm prevents ice crystals from forming and breaking down the worms cell structure in the same way it would if it was fresh. Defrosted, the brined worm still looks as if it was fresh!
Now to be absolutely clear, I’m never going to suggest that this brined version is better than fresh bait. At the end of the day, fresh (or fresh frozen) bait is foolproof, if the fish don’t want it, they’re not hungry! But having a reserve of brined worm in the freezer for use in a pinch is the main advantage, as you can get out fishing at a moments notice and not have to worry about sourcing fresh bait.
Give it a try – I’d be interested to hear about anyone else’s results