# Mussels as bait?



## GhostCrab (Sep 5, 2006)

I know we use clams (e.g. for spades) but can mussels work too? Has anyone tried it? Was just at Costco and it was a few $'s for a huge bag...


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## SeaSalt (Apr 29, 2002)

1. Put mussels in sink
2. Take clean brush and wash with cold water
3. Put mussels in a pot with water
4. Add garlic, ginger, salt 
5. Turn off heat when mussels open up, add spring onion...
6. Serve warm...


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

GC, I was thinking about that, but when I tried, it didn't work out very good.

Clams: The benefits are that they are cheap, and come in a variety of sizes (i.e. chowder size). The foot of these bad boys, especially when salted, are tough and are easily hooked.

Mussels: The size of these guys makes the actual "meat" pretty small. Even when salted, it makes a small bait. Also, I believe that you can get more baits/dollar out of clams than you can mussels.

Give it a try though, but I would recommend you salt them so they end up really tough. 

Also, SS had a good idea, but make sure to have butter for dipping


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## RetroYellow (Jul 21, 2006)

*Wouldn't the Tog take 'em?*

I would think the Tog would be fans of the mussels, no?


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## BubbaBlue (May 11, 2004)

Ummm... a tog seeing a nekkid muscle hopping by might think it's a tad suspicious?   

I tried them years ago down at PLO and caught perch... bout it.
.


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

RY, considering ever place with tog has mussel beds, I'd bet they would be good. But again with bait/dollar and usage difficulty. I think you can get a quart of sandfleas for about $4.50. That is enough bait for the entire day. Plus, no extra labor, just hook em and go. Mussels on the other hand, you gotta crack em, salt em', and they are all gooey when you gotta hook em. From my experience, if the tog are biting, they don't care what you throw at em' as long as they are crunchy


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

BubbaBlue said:


> Ummm... a tog seeing a nekkid muscle hopping by might think it's a tad suspicious?
> 
> I tried them years ago down at PLO and caught perch... bout it.
> .



Hehehe, kinda like a weighted metal hook with pink plastic attached to it?


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## BubbaBlue (May 11, 2004)

fingersandclaws said:


> Hehehe, kinda like a weighted metal hook with pink plastic attached to it?


   
.


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## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

blue cats like them. Catch em from now til fall with red, raw gums and hard pot bellies that are red and raw from 'grazing' in the muscle beds.........as for saltwater applications...no ideer


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

fingersandclaws said:


> Hehehe, kinda like a weighted metal hook with pink plastic attached to it?


You mean dancing bubblegum (with no wrapper) right ?


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

Mums the word.


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## MANDINGO (Apr 4, 2004)

*Mussels Are Good*

For Freshwater Fishing. Used To Grab Them Out Of The Creek And Bluegill, Perch, Catfish Would Tear Them Up. Just Split Open W/ Ya Knife And Apply To Hook . Tight Lines On That.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

Thought I would chime in on this one. I tried using mussels as bait 3 times, twice with decent results. I hoped mussels could be a cheap, effective alternative to blood worms. At the time they cost about $4.50 per bag containing about 40 mussels.

The problem is getting them hard enough to stay on the hook. My method was nuking about a half a bag of them at a time, for at least 15 minutes each. You want them to become "leather hard" but not dried out. But when they get to this stage they tend to smell a little burnt. On one end of the cooked mussel is a moderately "tough muscle”. Run your hook through the meat of the mussel so that the point comes out through the middle of that little ball (or do that in reverse). 

The first time I tried them I was in a boat, using a high-low rig with size 6 J hooks. Three others were using blood worms. The only thing any of us were catching was white perch. In my quasi-half-assed scientific experiment, I caught maybe 3 or 4 more perch than anyone else. Basically they only stay on the hook for 2 or 3 quick tugs from a fish, so you have to be quick.

The second time I was using small circle hooks on a high-low rig at Sandy Point. Again the only thing being caught was white perch. I seemed to be catching as many as anybody else, but who knows how many of them were just using night crawlers. 

The third time I was someplace with TunaFish. I think we were catching spot or croakers. He was using bloods and as usual he was out fishing me. But I think he was farting on my mussels when my back was turned. If so, he would have contaminated all of the rigid environmental controls I had set up for this particular trial and sullied the slightest hope of achieving any objective, quantifiable results. However, Tuna may have proven a different hypothesis - that fish can detect and will refuse flatulated bait. 

Anyway, I got caught up in a tail wind and rambled off the subject. Salting them is a good idea fingersandclaws. If you steamed them for about 5-8 minutes to open them up and then salted them for 2 or 3 days, they might stay firmly on the hook. This way they’d smell more natural (I’m referring to nuking them), as well as be a more authentic presentation in the water. I think this is worth another try. But I think I’ll wait till the next time I fish with Huntsman, so he can keep an eye on Tuna.

Blue Heron

No hard feelings Tuna and Happy Anniversary!


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## TunaFish (Aug 16, 2001)

Blue Heron said:


> The third time I was someplace with TunaFish. I think we were catching spot or croakers. He was using bloods and as usual he was out fishing me. But I think he was farting on my mussels when my back was turned. If so, he would have contaminated all of the rigid environmental controls I had set up for this particular trial and sullied the slightest hope of achieving any objective, quantifiable results. However, Tuna may have proven a different hypothesis - that fish can detect and will refuse flatulated bait.


Thanks ole Bubba for the wishes!!!
Now, I think I outfished you because I had my 2 lines in the water an hour before you got yours in. Fart on the mussells, heck no, the smell of your nuked bait made me hungry. In fact I was going to eat them myself. 

Now, what's a "*flatulated*"?


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Tuna,

Flatulated Bait = Bait that's been farted on.

Nice trick!


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## okimavich (Nov 13, 2006)

gross. :--|


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## TunaFish (Aug 16, 2001)

fishbait said:


> Tuna,
> 
> Flatulated Bait = Bait that's been farted on.
> 
> Nice trick!


Man, you're not putting me on right??  

Ohhh, Blue H, make sure you do not fall asleep next time we fish together my friend!!!


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

Tuna,

You can try my trick. When Fingers falls asleep, I pee on his bunker. He has yet to catch a single fish at AI! Shhh... Don't tell him I told you......


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## fingersandclaws (Oct 17, 2005)

As it seems with all the posts on the MD board, Mister JackA$$ needs to go on a tangent. Funny thing is . . . I know about the pee, that's why I've been peeing in your RedBull for payback. Maybe that's why you think it tastes funny


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Shame, shame, shame ... What would GC's son think of this forum if this was the first thread he read. 

GC ... I apologize for these guys thread-jacking you. This behavior happens to those that don't catch fish on a regular basis.

Mussels is one thing I do not eat anymore. I used to and then a friend and I caught our own at IRI once and we took them home and cooked them. I go so sick (not sure what it was) but now I don't want to eat them. That associative memory thing gets in the way now.


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## GhostCrab (Sep 5, 2006)

LOL - I started this thread so Jr. and I could go back and catch more of these (see below). And, I was hoping mussels would be like candy for them spades (clam works fine though). As for the thread jacking, no worries. Now I know to watch out for them WBB boys when they’re suspiciously crowding around my drink with their hands around the zipper  (j/k fellas).


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## SeaSalt (Apr 29, 2002)

i've heard you can tip sabaki rig to catch spades... is that true? If it is, my worry is what happens if you catch a big one. I think sabaki rigs are made for smaller fish that doesn't fight as hard as spades. I might be wrong on this but...


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## Gnatman (Sep 15, 2005)

*Hey Cyg...*



cygnus-x1 said:


> Shame, shame, shame ... What would GC's son think of this forum if this was the first thread he read.
> 
> GC ... I apologize for these guys thread-jacking you. This behavior happens to those that don't catch fish on a regular basis.
> 
> Mussels is one thing I do not eat anymore. I used to and then a friend and I caught our own at IRI once and we took them home and cooked them. I go so sick (not sure what it was) but now I don't want to eat them. That associative memory thing gets in the way now.


...I don't know if this had anything to do about it, but when harvesting mussels - you must be sure to only harvest ones that are still submerged, even during the lowest tide. You DON'T want to eat any that have ever been
hi-and-dry.


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

Gnatman said:


> ...I don't know if this had anything to do about it, but when harvesting mussels - you must be sure to only harvest ones that are still submerged, even during the lowest tide. You DON'T want to eat any that have ever been
> hi-and-dry.


Since we did not know what we were doing I am sure that is what we did. Someone needs to write a sea side survival guide for those of us that did not grow up on the shore. thanks gnat!


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

fingersandclaws said:


> As it seems with all the posts on the MD board, Mister JackA$$ needs to go on a tangent. Funny thing is . . . I know about the pee, that's why I've been peeing in your RedBull for payback. Maybe that's why you think it tastes funny


So is that why you brought that case of red bull last time?  No worries guys. We're just playing around!

GC, All them spade pics have somehow struck an itch in me to go catch one of those babies. They're really pretty fish. Are they good eating?


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## cygnus-x1 (Oct 12, 2005)

fishbait said:


> So is that why you brought that case of red bull last time?  No worries guys. We're just playing around!
> 
> GC, All them spade pics have somehow struck an itch in me to go catch one of those babies. They're really pretty fish. Are they good eating?


Coming from a man that drinks 'Red Bull pee' I'd say pretty much anything would be tasty


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## GhostCrab (Sep 5, 2006)

fishbait said:


> GC, All them spade pics have somehow struck an itch in me to go catch one of those babies. They're really pretty fish. Are they good eating?


Yup, very tasty white flesh. I'm not much of a cook so I just salted then and fried them. I think next time we will grill them...


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## SeaSalt (Apr 29, 2002)

fishbait said:


> GC, All them spade pics have somehow struck an itch in me to go catch one of those babies. They're really pretty fish. Are they good eating?


fb, lets do a spade trip down in va beach!!


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## fishbait (Nov 11, 2005)

I'm up for that! Mind if I bring the boys along?


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## okimavich (Nov 13, 2006)

when?


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## lazy fisherman (Jul 1, 2006)

cygnus-x1 said:


> Since we did not know what we were doing I am sure that is what we did. Someone needs to write a sea side survival guide for those of us that did not grow up on the shore. thanks gnat!


Look up _Stalking the Blue Eyed Scallop,_ by Euell Gibbons. Old book, but probably still in print. Lots of good information about sea side foraging for fish, shellfish, and edible plants. Both well known and common, but less commonly used species are included. Not only identification, but finding, harvesting, and preparing instructions are provided, with lots of recipes. Especially good for the northeast, but tons of info for southerners and left coast people too. I never go to the beach without it.


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## lazy fisherman (Jul 1, 2006)

Lots of info on mussels, BTW. From Gibbons: "During the summer and autumn, the mussels along the Pacific Coast may ingest certain poisonous, microscopic plants along with other food they strain from sea water...Mussels are quarantined along the California coast from May to October." (I don't know if this has any application to the east coast, but it's good to be aware of this possibility)

Also- "...bivalves are peculiarly apt to pick up pollution of human origin and pass it back to the same species who was responsible for it being in the water in the first place. These creatures continuously draw seawater through their siphons and strain everything edible from it, and some of the things a bivalve might consider edible would horrify you." 

And- "One should never eat any kind of shellfish that is not perfectly fresh. A mollusk that is dead and beginning to spoil is dangerous... See that the mollusk you intend to eat is not only fresh, but actually alive when you start to prepare it. A raw mollusk that doesn't resist your efforts to open its shell should be discarded."


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