RAZORFISH PHOTO.

[JOHN1]

this is what 300 of them look like.

[petewex]

hi john
a lot of bait alright are they for sale or just to get boycie excited

[MikeQ]

Had more or less the same amount today in Cork, fantastic big top quality razor. I kept 260 an left loads of small ones behind. You couldnt have asked for a nicer day to be out collecting razor, not a bit of wind an beautifull sunshine to boot, It was fantastic - and on top of that free bait that will last for months!! Now all I need is a reliable spot to dig Rag an im sorted! lol, so if any of ye know one an wanna share the info id love to know! Might go back down tomorrow and see if I can get some on tomorrow's tide. If anybody in else in Cork is going out tomorrow pm me an ill meet up with ye.

[boycie89]

thats nothing john , i had 500 right beside you lastnight !!

[JOHN1]

thats nothing john , i had 500 right beside you lastnight !!

i can tell you,
you were not beside me last night did you ever hear the saying have car will travel
show us a pic to let them see what 500 is like

done near 1000 3 years ago but i don't have a pic to prove it and i had my daughter picking up after me and she loved it before anyone jumps the gun.

she was very disappointed i got this lot without her but she had lane coaching to do so maybe next time she is good at picking lug rag and crabs aswell

[boycie89]

there in two big pollestyrene box's mate waiting to be collected !!! but ill take a pic of the box's for ye.

[Dave Jolly]

Post's like this really pi*s me off..
as an example the razors in cork harbour are got in a very small area, and yet people go down there and pick up hundreds and hundreds, one angler got 1000 on tues it ranks right up there with guys catching 50 or 60 mackerel of the rocks, when they only use 6-8 themselves.
100 razor will give you enough bait to bring with you on several sessions espescially if only tipping off with it.
and I bet that most people do not even know how to prepare the bait properly before freezing it.. thereby wasting it.
Please only take what you want, for your own use without being macho about it, if your "buddies" want some, let em get them thereselves, there have been many bait beds destroyed by guys "collecting for a few buddies", think about what you are doing, if you are digging rag for a boat comp you will not use more than 30-40, so only dig 30-40, not 100-200,
1000 razor.. thats 20 a session for 50 trips ??
come on Lad's... THINK about what you are doing, take only what YOU need, stop acting like commercial fishermen.

Right, rant over..
Dave

[nthclare]

I agree with the last post!! take what you need not what you want

[boycie89]

i did take what i need dave and i still need another 600 , but your right john1 should not have taken that many

[JOHN1]

:lol: , but your right john1 should not have taken that :

what are you on about i only took 300 this time.

we must have better razor grounds up here so.
but you have better fishing grounds and it really pisses me off when I'm stuck up here with nothing but razor on the sea bed.
when all i here about is boxes of fish being caught in cork

you cant have your cake and eat it.

when i do go to cork i bring my fair share of razor with me so that might help the cork beds to recover

when i gather razor its not just for me i have a fishing family me a wife and a son and daughter
but i also give to needy friends that don't get there own,
and that applies to all the baits i gather digging 200 rag or lug is not uncommon for me for a trip, especially away from my home port with the boat of course

[boycie89]

i agree john1 !! when i go in dublin all i come back with is razor , but when i come home from cork i bring back box's of fish ! mmmmm..... cork cod

[herefishyfishy]

Lads just jumping off the topic a bit i see John said preparing the bait correctly for the freezer. I have some in the freezer the way i have is wrapped in about a bundle of five in tinfoil is this a waste or not? I don't gather my own but did buy hand picked razor a while back. can you please let me know if i have them froze correctly or not. I only have a small freezer that is also used for food in the house so i wont have anything like 300 razor in it i'd say 30 at most. cheers Lads.

[stevecrow74]

i think the best way to freeze them is by slightly cooking them under the grill first to toughen them up and also open the shell!! only for a minute or so, then pack them 5 - 6 razor per bag for convenience, and make sure the missus is away from the house for the weekend while you do this

[Dave Jolly]

The best way I have found to freeze razors is the following, it was shown to me by a scottish international, and having tried many different ways, this way works best.
hold the razor upside down, and sliding a knife into the top of the shell, run it all the way down, done properly the shell will open, and the foot will fall out, open the shell, and using your index and middle finger insert at the top of the shell and slide down one finger each side of the foot, this will remove the foot, and the thick piece of flesh its attached to.
throw this into a sieve over the sink, and keep going. once you have a layer done, sprinkle well with salt, you will see the razors tighten up, repeat in layers.
when you are finished mix them all together in the sieve and leave to drain for a couple of hours.
get a bucket of water, and a supply of small ziplock bags.
put 5-10 razors side by side in the bag, and press out as much air as possible, seal the bag until there is only a cm or so not sealed, put the bag into the bucket of water, forcing it under the surface (except for the corner still open) this will force all the air out, and seal the final bit before taking it out of the water. this gives you a handy vac packed grab bag for a session.
I always keep a glass chopping board in the freezer, and I put the packs flat on this, 1 layer thick only, and they freeze in 2 hrs or less.
done this way they are an incredibly effective bait, and tough enough so you don't need to use bait elastic unless powercasting.
keep em in a freezer box, and any left over after each session will refreeze well, and I find the scent gets better after a couple of freezes and defrostings espically for flats.

Dave

[JOHN1]

never heard of grilling them

they are very easy to remove from shell.

i would pack them in 5s and 10s after removing from the shell.

and spread them out on racks in the freezer for quicker freezing.
smaller amounts freeze quicker
there is no reason to do them all at once as if i look after them i can keep them alive for a couple of weeks if i want or if i have to many .

[herefishyfishy]

Cheers lads so does this mean you have to take them out of the shell before freezing or just good practise. I have them frozen in their shell does this render them useles or are they still alright. So it seems to be standart practise to deshell them and lay flat and pack them then. I will do this in future. Thanks again for your help.

[JOHN1]

they take up far less space when de sheled

as for freezing in the shell ok for the short term, its harder to remove air from packs and they tend to get freezer burn after a while.

[Timbo]

Take the shells off them, get frying pan a little oil, garlic and onion. Fry them for about 5 mins on low heat DELICIOUS

[eric]

i would't eat them from dublin bay

[petekd]

I deffo wouldnt eat them from Ringaskiddy..... The bass love them though. Gathered a handy few myself on Tuesday, good from the boats too for bits and pieces, plaice, dabs and cod particularly.

If you're going to use them, fair enough, if you end up wasting them, shame. 250 last year took me through about 3-4 months, they are my bait of choice on the beach down here for bass, I suppose a pic of 300 looks bad alright but I know I wasnt long going through my last haul. I hear you though Dave, its an awful small area we have down here and an awful lot taken off it in a short period of time. Might be worth having a scout around in some other, less trampled areas in the future. Interestingly, when we fished a comp in Youghal beach recently after a big blow, the whole shoreline was absolutely carpeted in empty razor and cockle shells so theres obviously a hefty population of them around that area somewhere.

Dunno about shelling and stuff as have never tried it, must give it ago next time. I have a 6 foot chest freezer at home so space is not an issue (its mine, the missuses oven chips, frozen peas and weightwatchers ready meal crap will not take precedence over my bait!)