Farmed or dug rag?

[PaddyB]

Looking to gauge people’s opinions on Farmed rag?
I have bought stuff before from Colraine, however the boat trip that particular weekend was called off so I didn’t get to use them. I have access to fresh Rag, but the reality is they are becoming harder to get, and im having to spend longer digging to get enough to last a day on the boat, and for the likes of a two day festival, I’d struggle to get enough over one low tide digging session! I've heard comments like 'farmed is gran, but fresh stuff will outfish it all day long', I want to know what others experience of using the farmed stuff was like?
Main species that I use them for are Wrasse and Gilling for Pollack.

[twinkle]

paddy i have never caught anything on the farmed rag. they dont seem to give off any scent .you cant beat freshly dug rag
yes its hard digging but worth every backbreaking worm. plus not as exspensive. it would be like free range eggs they look the same until you taste them

[petekd]

No issues with either Paddy to be honest although the size of the farmed stuff (huge sometimes) would put me off. The worms I dig or have been dug and sold are usually of a more suitable size. Rag for Pollack is a visual bait and they will have no issue nailing a gilled farmed ragworm. For wrasse, I cant say I have noticed any difference in catches using farmed or fresh, they go mad for it.

[PaddyB]

No issues with either Paddy to be honest although the size of the farmed stuff (huge sometimes) would put me off. The worms I dig or have been dug and sold are usually of a more suitable size. Rag for Pollack is a visual bait and they will have no issue nailing a gilled farmed ragworm. For wrasse, I cant say I have noticed any difference in catches using farmed or fresh, they go mad for it.

Hi ya pete, this crowd in Colraine can get them in three different sizes, I got the medium ones last time and they seemed to be perfect size wise.

Twinkle I dont mind the work digging them, its actually quite rewarding, digging worms, catching fish, and then eating said fish, must be the hunter gatherer in me But my concern is that I have about a 5mile stretch of shore which has patches of Rag. There is spots along that stretch that I dug 3 years ago, and the stocks of rag in that area are still nowhere near what they used to be!
If at all possible I would like to buy Farmed at least 50% of the time in order to maintain stocks locally.

As for them not working at all, surely for comps like the MA where all bait is provided, the organisers must be using farmed rag, as there is no way they could dig enough worms for 80 odd anglers?

[petekd]

If you can get it in graded sizes I would have no issues at all with using it from the boat. Maybe a difference in scent may make a difference from the shore where that factor is important, I dunno, but it makes sod all difference from the boat where the visual attraction is much more prominent.

[twinkle]

the few times iv bought boxes of farmed paddy iv blanked. i also find the minute it hits the water all the colour goes out of it. it goes very limp on the hook as opposed to freshly dug rag which stays the same colour and texture after a couple of casts. this is shore fishing im talking about. out in the boat as pete said might not make any difference as its more a visual lure but if thats the case why not just use jellies? im going to test this out on the boat and try both on 2 rods and il post the results at a later date

[immunecfg]

I have used both and dug rag deffinatly performs better than farmed.

One i think the fluids from the dug rag is much more potent and wriggle much more. Tho on a conservation point of veiw farmed rag is great.

[petekd]

out in the boat as pete said might not make any difference as its more a visual lure but if thats the case why not just use jellies

Live rag (farmed or fresh) will consistently outfish jellies for the most part (not all the time) for pollack. There isnt a jelly/soft plastic made that will outfish even shitty rag for wrasse.

[twinkle]

out in the boat as pete said might not make any difference as its more a visual lure but if thats the case why not just use jellies

Live rag (farmed or fresh) will consistently outfish jellies for the most part (not all the time) for pollack. There isnt a jelly/soft plastic made that will outfish even shitty rag for wrasse.

im laughing here to my self thats my pet name for farmed rag lol

[petekd]

im laughing here to my self thats my pet name for farmed rag lol

We need to conduct an experiment....

[PaddyB]

Well im fishing the Rathmullan festival in 2 weeks time, so I'm just going to take both with me.
The tides suit to dig this weekend, and I'll be getting the farmed stuff on the Friday before the comp, you'd think that the farmed stuff should actually have an advantage over the stuff lying in my bait fridge for a week.

[twinkle]

paddy when i used to be going on holidays to wexford and the only place at the time you could get rag was in the town its
self. i would dig enough for 2 weeks fishing. i had bread boards i would spread the rag on newspapers and cover them with kelp i would fill 2 bottles of seawater and sprinkle them every day in the fridge i had a sac cover over the kelp iv kept it alive and kicking for 12 days they would be the redest rag youve ever seen also make sure the fridge is not up to high as this will kill them around no 3 is fine

[PaddyB]

Cheers for the advice twinkle, Ive no problems keeping them alive for 2 weeks, its just that ye know yer self stuff in the fridge for a week isnt as good as stuff dug the day before a trip!

[twinkle]

under the right conditions they are. the main cause of them losing condition is the fridge too high and the sea water keeps them hydrated should be very little difference if kept right as i said earlier they would be really red and alive and kicking even healther than when i dug them