re: mussels as bait

Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 6:32 pm

so i guess you can use mussels as bait from earlier replies but how would you use them?. and also i live near rocks and they are covered in medium sized mussels and other things, can i use them? can anybody help plz

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:22 am

Hi phildalt, mussels at times can be a very good bait, unfortunately when using as bait they can be hard to attache to the hook and not only that if you are casting any distance you want to know the bait is still there happy

I have used them over the past and can say they are not one of my favourits, I guess in your case why not give them a go yourself :wink: and see how they work for you etc :?: , I guess bait elastic would be a must.
Cheers
mrix

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:26 am

I think mussels are a very underated bait. Most of my fishing is done in the north/north east but at times I have found mussel outfishes anything. Best to use them as a cocktail with worm/squid and wrapped on with bait elastic they will cast well.
An Important point is to never wash them or part cook them in an attempt tp plump them out as the scent trail they leave is important. When buying them I find the ones that are skeined into their own juices are best. Just a quick smell of a bag of mussels should convince you they can work

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mrix wrote:

Hi phildalt, mussels at times can be a very good bait, unfortunately when using as bait they can be hard to attache to the hook and not only that if you are casting any distance you want to know the bait is still there happy

I have used them over the past and can say they are not one of my favourits, I guess in your case why not give them a go yourself :wink: and see how they work for you etc :?: , I guess bait elastic would be a must.
Cheers
mrix

yep< a good trick is to thread your muscles onto a bait needle, then elastic the whole lot into a sausage. Then just cut off the size you need and put on hook! 8)

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:56 pm

thanks too everyone helping me out! the rocks near me are litered with 100s of mussels so it will be handy for me to go and grab a bucket full every time i go fishing.
once again thanks

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:58 pm

thanks to everyone for helping me out!! i will now go and collect mussels from the rocks near me and have a go
thanks again

Occasional Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 144

i find mussels are also good for bulking out peeler crab if you haven't got many crabs.

i would have thougt that they would work well over/ near mussel beds.

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:37 am

musckes are great pklain and simple... everything eats them and best of all theyre free! One disadvantage i feel you've got though is you say there are muscles on the rocks? that could be a bad thing if you fish near them, in my experience i have found that not only do fuscles have a nasty habbit of cutting line if you fish and sort of bait near them after a rough sea nothing will bother with your hook simply because theres so much food that doesnt have a suicide letter in it (the hook:P) i advise moving about 50-100 yards from the rock if possible over mixed ground and casting slightly back towards the rock, u might think why not just stay slightly closer to the rock but the reason is fish can swim, cod often pick up muscle baits and ive had them take line so you want as little slack as possible