Paul Garner
Why it’s all about worms at this time of the year
WORMS will catch just about everything that swims, and they have a knack of producing the goods on tough venues, or when conditions are particularly poor. In fact they can be too attractive and will draw in fish of all sizes. If you are fishing for carp this can be a problem because of the constant attentions of small fish.
On the right venue, however, especially at this time of the year, worms can be a fantastic bait – far better than maggots.
DENDROBAENAS
The worms most commonly sold in your local tackle shop are dendrobaenas. They are relatively small, very easy to keep for several weeks and quite cheap to buy.
Dendrobaenas are commonly sold by weight of neat worms. Around 250 grams is enough for a day’s fishing, without breaking the bank. I always ask my tackle shop to put plenty of peat in with the worms and as soon as I get home I transfer them to a larger container and add some soil, before finally making sure that the mixture is damp. Stored like this, and checked every few days, I have kept dendrobaenas for many weeks at a time.
You can buy them in several different graded sizes, depending on the fish are you are after. The small to medium worms are ideal for fishing on commercials. Medium worms are ideal for a size 14 hook, and can be easily chopped. Large dendras are ideal for bigger fish, especially as hookbaits on a size 10.
I have caught everything from double-figure carp to 1lb-plus roach on dendrobaena hookbaits, but perch are more discerning. You will catch plenty of stripeys on these worms, but they have never proved to be as reliable as the bigger lobworm for me.
Dendrobaenas are always worth using in combination with other baits. Worm and caster is the classic combo, and can often bring a bigger stamp of fish, but maggots are also worth using. Feeding these two baits together gives you the chance to use either, or both, on the hook.
LOBWORMS
Unless you collect them yourself, the chances are that you will be using the American night crawler instead of the the British lobworm, but the two species are very similar and the fish don’t seem to mind the alien interloper!
Lobworms are a much larger and generally more substantial worm than the dendrobaena. They are also more difficult to grow and store, hence the higher price that they demand.
Despite this, they make a fantastic hookbait, so you won’t need to buy many. Fifty worms, often combined with some