# Keeping Blood Worms



## Ugly Hooker 26

Any tips out there for keeping my blood worms from dying? I was at PLO saturday night till sunday morning. We got alot of little spots and a few small blues. Park authority said there was some nice rocks caught by the light house and a red drum not sure of the size tho. Also a big skate around 45 to 50 lbs. on the rocks. But anyways i got some small blood worms from WALMART used them up fast. Then someone gave me 4 bags of huge blood worms.  which i still have. Im trying to save them for friday night. Hope they make it


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## ReelinRod

We (Surf Fishing team) buy 2 flats of worms every week for the tournaments and if it's a bluefish bite that leaves alot of worms . . . and way too much money to not try making them survive.

One of the most important things to do is to get the blood / body juices of the dead and dying worms out of the container. Blood and skuzz soaked newspaper, cardboard or grass has a snowball effect on the healthy ones.

We refigerate them of course but on Tuesday and Friday they are all removed from the grass, dead or dying ones disarded and the remaining ones are well rinsed in seawater. The grass is also rinsed and shaken out. The worms are returned to the grass, new wetted newspaper is put in the top and bottom of the box and put back in the fridge ASAP.

Be sure to rotate / flip the box / container every day so the worms stay in the grass, not soaking (and drowning) in scum and slime at the bottom.

I live 70 miles from the ocean so when it is my turn to care for them I fill a 28 - 36qt cooler with nice clean frothy seawater. Every day I drop in a frozen gallon plastic jug (sealed of course) to keep the water as cool as possible so as not to thermally shock the worms. That coolnes also helps keep the water relitively fresh.

It is a PITA but it is surprising how few die with a little care.


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## TunaFish

*In addition*

to what Sarge said, when some of them are dying and I know I won't be going fishing anytime soon, I pad dry them, then I sprinkle sea salt on them and put them in the freezer. They work just the same for me when targeting spots.


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## The Bucket

UH26,

Instead of hasseling w/turning your bag o'worms buy ya some bloodworm Fishbites  And no I'm not a product rep  

Go fish or fake it  

`bucket


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## Jamcaster

Another method, is to buy the marine salt water mix that is used for saltwater aquariums and mix a 1 gallon batch.You keep them in a small container with this solution and they last for a couple of weeks if you change some of the water daily.I think Sandflea had mentioned this method in a previous thread about this topic.


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## BubbaBlue

Jamcaster said:


> Another method, is to buy the marine salt water mix that is used for saltwater aquariums and mix a 1 gallon batch.You keep them in a small container with this solution and they last for a couple of weeks if you change some of the water daily.I think Sandflea had mentioned this method in a previous thread about this topic.


Yup. Instant Ocean is a brand I use. Thanks Flea.
Have kept them alive for over 2 months this way. Change the water when it starts looking yellow and slimy. Have experimented with different containers and it appears that a larger surface area exposed to the air is more important than the depth of the water. The salt water will wake up near dead worms too. Don't forget to use anti-chlorine drops.

I keep them in a cheapo apartment sized fridge in the garage. The family wasn't too keen about having marine predatory worms living next to their leftover pizza.   
.


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## ReelinRod

From 
http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16222



sand flea said:


> Those of us north of the Carolinas know what a good bait bloodworms are. Problem is, they're approaching $1 per worm. Everybody knows they keep in the refrigerator for up to a week, but after that they rot and die.
> 
> You can keep them indefinitely, believe it or not. Buy a small box of Instant Ocean saltwater mix at any aquarium store and mix up a small batch according to the directions. Keep the worms stored in this mix in the refrigerator and change out the water every few days.
> 
> I did this last spring and was able to keep large numbers of bloodworms alive for an entire month without losing a single one. Problem was, their color eventually washed out.
> 
> So I wrote the folks at Maine Bait and found out how to not only keep bloodies alive, but healthy as well. They suggest putting in a few drops of Kent Marine Micro*Vert Invertebrate Food for Fine Filter Feeders, two or three drops per gallon.
> 
> There you go--for about 15 bucks, you'll have enough salt and food to keep as many as you need all season. You just need to get used to a mass of writhing, predatory worms in your refrigerator, linguini as imagined by H.R. Giger.


I'm going to give that a try, sounds like less work.


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## Green Cart

*Three Weeks Max*

I dunno - I have tried keeping bloodworms in the refrigerator using instructions from Maine Bait, Sand Flea, and BubbaBlue. It seem to me that 3 weeks is the most I can keep the bloodworms alive before they start dying and falling apart. During these 3 weeks, I weed out the bloodworms that died to keep them from affecting the live ones.

I have tried this experiment several times, but 3 weeks is the longest. I don't see how I can keep them alive for 2 months, let alone all season!!!


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## BubbaBlue

Green Cart said:


> I dunno - I have tried keeping bloodworms in the refrigerator using instructions from Maine Bait, Sand Flea, and BubbaBlue. It seem to me that 3 weeks is the most I can keep the bloodworms alive before they start dying and falling apart. During these 3 weeks, I weed out the bloodworms that died to keep them from affecting the live ones.
> 
> I have tried this experiment several times, but 3 weeks is the longest. I don't see how I can keep them alive for 2 months, let alone all season!!!


Dunno what the difference is. Maybe temperature shock? I mix up a gallon of salt water at a time and then keep the extra in the fridge with the worms. That way when I change out the water, the new water is the same temp. 

I also keep the bait fridge cold, ~38deg.

I've kept them for 2 months and they were just as healthy as when new... but like Flea said, they do lose their color over time. Tried the Micro*Vert stuff, but it caused the water to get rancid real fast. Never have found anything they like to eat. They're so cold they probably won't eat anything anyhow.
.


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## Green Cart

*I Tried That*

I premixed 5 gallons of water, but kept a little bottle of pre-mixed salt water in the refrigerator a day ahead to keep the bloodworms under the same temperature. The only variable left is the actual refrierator temperature. Will have to take the refrigerator temperature.

Yes, I agree about the bloodworm changing color, but I find it hard to believe that not one bloodworm die during one or two months storage. 

You and I probably buy the salt at the same pet store in Glenn Burnie across from the Light Rail.


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## BubbaBlue

Green Cart said:


> Yes, I agree about the bloodworm changing color, but I find it hard to believe that not one bloodworm die during one or two months storage.
> 
> You and I probably buy the salt at the same pet store in Glenn Burnie across from the Light Rail.


Lost maybe one worm every two weeks or so. Not many. The bigger ones hold up better. After experimenting with tanks, trays and other things, I found that those little short square (~5" square, ~1.5" high) ice box dishes work best for me. Like I said above, the more air surface area the better. Less than an inch of water with the bottom covered with a single layer of worms.

Yup, got my Instant Ocean at House of Tropicals. Big container of it. Enough for the rest of my life.  

Also, for folks getting ready to try this... before you go fishing with them, you need to toughen them up. They are real soft and tender after being in the water for awhile. Take them out and put them in an *empty * similar sized container with a dry paper towel on the bottom. Leave in the fridge overnight and they toughen up. 
.


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## Green Cart

*BubbaBlue*



Green Cart said:


> You and I probably buy the salt at the same pet store in Glenn Burnie across from the Light Rail.


I just thought of something. I checked the brand of my salt purchase - Crystal Sea. If I recall, it was cheaper than the other brand. I don't remember what it was, but I would not be too surprised if it was Instant Ocean (your purchase). It may be a case of you get what you paid for.  Anyway, I will have to buy Instant Ocean and give it a try. I was not too happy with my bloodworms not lasting more than 3 weeks.


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## BubbaBlue

May be... dunno. I got the Instant Ocean because flea recommended it. Never saw the other kind.

When you set it up again, try the small flat containers like I mentioned above. They don't need much water, but they do need a large surface area for the O2 to exchange. They are O2 hogs. Almost tried putting an air pump and a stone in the fridge until I happened upon the small flat containers. 

Change the water out when it gets yellow and greasy.

Good luck.
.


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## Green Cart

*BubbaBLue*



Green Cart said:


> I dunno - I have tried keeping bloodworms in the refrigerator using instructions from Maine Bait, Sand Flea, and BubbaBlue.


I already tried that. See above . However, did you leave the containers open? I closed mine with plastic lids as my wife was not going to put up with open containers in the refrigerator.


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## BubbaBlue

Green Cart said:


> However, did you leave the containers open?


Yes, they have to be open so the O2 can get to it. 



> I closed mine with plastic lids as my wife was not going to put up with open containers in the refrigerator.


Why do you think I went to Wally World and got a $60 apartment sized fridge for the garage.  Turns out, it's also kinda handy for keeping the brew cold and handy. 
.


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## Green Cart

*Ahhhh*

Looks like we narrowed my problem down.  

I don't know what my next step is going to be. I only have 2 choices - to leave the bloodworms open in my wife's refrigerator or buy my own.


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## sand flea

Yeah, you asphyxiated them. You can put the lid on--just don't pop it shut and put it on slightly offset so there's a crack for oxygen exchange.


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## BubbaBlue

Yeah, give them air.

Another reason to set up a 2nd fridge. After a while, they get a distinctive... odor... make that "stank"... about them. Even with changing the water frequently, they do smell if you have a few dozen or more of them. They also somehow exude the smell in an oily form into the air. In other words, everything in the fridge ends up with a fragrant greasy coating. :--| 

If you're planning on keeping them in open containers in the normal food fridge... seek a good lawyer first.  
.


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## Dyhard

Blood worm FISH BITES! I predict that the price of blood worms will plummet when everyone finds out about Fish Bites.
I believe they put out more scent than the real thing.
Keep them in its ziplock bag.
They've convincingly produced for me.


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