Catching beach worms for bait

They’re rarely seen, only surfacing to feed on pipis, dead fish and other washed-up food sources using a pair of fangs to latch on. They also have numerous small “legs” along their body.

There are two different types of Australian beach worms, referred to as “greenies” or “pinkies”.

Greenies, which feature a bronze or gold sheen, are short, thick, and strong, grow to around a metre and harder to catch. The more common pinkies are long, red and skinny worms that can grow to 2.5 metres.

You will often find greenies and pinkies on the same beach.

They also make one of the finest and most reliable baits for both estuary and beach fishing.

Beach worms are blind but have a tremendous sense of smell.

Worming is tricky, but basically involves just two steps: locating the worms and bringing them to the surface, and then enticing them to seize a bait and come far enough out of the sand to grip and pull out whole.

The method that I use is both basic and affordable. I use a keeper net, which is around $5 from your local tackle store.

It always starts with examining the tide to see how much sand will be exposed.

Just like crabs, anything that smells will attract worms. I use whole mullet or fish frames, putting them in the keeper net and swishing it around at the water’s edge.

As the waves recede, a vee-shaped ripple appears where the worm’s head pokes out of the sand.

I use local pipis as finger bait for the worm to latch onto as they are tough. You can also cut off a piece of mullet.

Waves will make pulling the worm difficult, as they tend to make you rush the job and grab the worm in a hurry while trying to beat the gushing water. The worms are easily scared and once you've had a shot at grabbing them and missed, you’ll struggle to get the worm to surface again.

The best bet is to locate the worms furthest from where the waves are breaking, giving more time to attract and then extract. You also won’t get soaking wet!

Once you see their head, place a pipi about 1cm away, holding it firmly between your finger and thumb, and let them have a nibble.

Wait for the worm to curve its neck up onto the bait, then with your other hand carefully pinch behind its neck, holding tightly and pausing until you feel it relax.

People often will try to pull the worm out while it is still pulling down, snapping off the head, so it’s important to wait.

You can then just put the worm in your bait bucket and look for the next one.

Once you’ve collected a few worms, try your luck with wetting a line.

You can catch many species on worms, but the main ones I manage to land are bream, flathead and whiting.

If I have live worms on hand, I generally will always target whiting.

Whiting is beautiful to eat, they put up an aggressive fight, and find fresh-caught worms irresistible. I use a size 4 gamakatsu long-shank hook to rig the worm, leaving about 2cm off the end of my hook to let them have a nibble first before striking.

Follow these helpful hints and have a fun day out catching worms, and maybe even some whiting!

As always, abide by state size and bag limits.