king rag.

[roryoc]

hi lads,
what is the best way to keep king rag and how long can they be kept for ??
thanks rory

[beachcaster]

best kept is sea peat just damped with fresh sea water.will keep up to a week if looked after,must keep the peat just damp and remove any damaged worms.

[bigsod]

I keep my rag in a plastic tray in the fridge, i use about half an inch of sea water in the tray and change the water every 2 days and and remove any damaged or dead worms twice a day.

[PaddyB]

I keep my rag in tubs of Vermeculite, with around 20 per tub, in the fridge, I have kept freshly dug rag for 2 weeks this way, with very little casualties.

[roryoc]

thanks lads

[fishingquinn]

your better off with the water in trays in the fridge at 2degrees changeing the water regulary
Dont dump any after your day out back into the tray of water in the fridge and continue to change water
Vermiculite is ingested by the worms and after a while they will fizz up and explode when the get some water,
Sea peats grand as a short stop but after a few weeks the rotting weed will eventually kill them aswell

[roryoc]

thanks

[corbyeire]

your better off with the water in trays in the fridge at 2degrees changeing the water regulary
Dont dump any after your day out back into the tray of water in the fridge and continue to change water
Vermiculite is ingested by the worms and after a while they will fizz up and explode when the get some water,
Sea peats grand as a short stop but after a few weeks the rotting weed will eventually kill them aswell

ive always wondered about that fizzing up of the rag - interesting

[EricH]

If you dont want to keep the trays of water you can keep them in newspaper with seaweed. Get soft seaweed, not anything that is rough because it will tear the worms.
Throw in a good lump of weed, put 20 or so worms on top and fold the paper up.
Keep a spray bottle of sea water in the fridge, spray the worms and change the paper every few days. Look for any dead or dying worms and remove.

Have kept worms like this in my bait fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Have read that vermiculite isnt great for keeping them long term, like the lads say they fizz up and ingest the stuff also.

[fishingquinn]

ragworm feed by heat detection where they live thats 1 reason when you handle them they try to bite,the vermiculite being warmer than the worms surrounding area triggers their feeding mode the worms being stored in the vermiculite know no better and feed on it,if you have to use it get bags with as big a particules as you can the worms mouths are not that big but they eat the fine dusty stuff,
Rag can live for quite a few weeks if looked after by keeping your fresh sea water in your fridge ,ive experimented for a few years and around 2 degrees seems to be the best for me anyway it is,

[PaddyB]

All of the above makes for interesting reading. I can honestly say I have never experienced this fizzing or bursting that you's are on about? I dig my own worms, take them home sort by size into tubs with vermiculite, bout 20 to 30 per tub, and put them into my own bait fridge. I have never needed to store them longer than 2 weeks, and maybe I've been lucky in that the vermiculite that I have bought is the bigger grained stuff? I never spray with sea water or mix in sea weed or anything like that. One thing I have noticed is that when they are in the fridge for a day or two they dont move. Then when you take them out of the cool box on the boat they start going buk mad