Are you an avid fisher? You need to learn how to store bloodworms so that you can take them with you on the next trip. Here are a few ways to do it.
You can store fish bloodworms in a wrapped damp cloth, a potato, a cucumber, a cabbage, and in the refrigerator.
Bloodworms are a popular bait among anglers, and you must store them if you frequently go fishing.
Stored stacks of bait come in handy in sudden plans and are cheaper than buying bait every time you go fishing.
They are also great fish food, and if you have an aquarium in your home, it’s good to know how to keep them fresh for a long.
What To Know Before Storing Blood Worms
Bloodworms are more complicated than other common fish food and bait when it comes to storage. Here are a few things you should keep in mind about them.
- The larvae of bloodworms secrete a substance that is poisonous to themselves!
- Dead bloodworms spread poison to healthy ones through contact.
- Worms cannot survive long if exposed to constant sunlight and air.
As you can see, there is a lot to be careful of when storing these worm larvae.
Different Ways To Store Bait
Over the years, fishing enthusiasts, aquatic pet owners, and anglers have found the best ways to make sure that their fresh bloodworm does not end up poisoning and killing itself.
- You can store bloodworms in a flat plastic container with a bit of water in the refrigerator. Make sure to maintain a constant temperature and change the water once daily.
- You can store the larvae within a stocking attached to your toilet cistern. The place has a regular cold water supply, which ensures that healthy worms remain, but the dead ones get removed on flushing. However, you should also sort out dead bloodworms every 2 to 3 days to keep a healthy colony.
- You can also freeze the larvae. Frozen bloodworms are often sold as food supplements for saltwater fish, so it’s a safe way to use them.
- You can wrap the larvae in a damp cloth and store them in a cool place. Wash the napkin daily to avoid contamination from any microbes.
Traditional Methods Of Blood Worm Storage
Most anglers like to store their bait bloodworms in their house, so they do not need to run to the store whenever they decide to go fishing.
You can keep bloodworms in various old folk methods mentioned below.
Potatoes And Cucumbers
One of the most common ways of storing blood worms includes putting it inside cavities of vegetables such as potatoes and cucumbers.
Follow these steps to keep bloodworms in this way.
- Wash the potato or the cucumber in half. In the case of cucumbers, the cut should be vertical along its length. Do not peel the tuber. Keep the shorter half for later use.
- Take the bigger or broader half and scoop out the contents of the potato or the cucumber. Make sure you leave the vegetable walls at least 1 cm thick.
- Now, lay the bloodworms along the potato or cucumber cavity.
- Join the two halves and secure them with a rubber ring.
- It would help if you stored your bloodworm potato or cucumber in a cool place, as far away from the sun as possible.
- Additionally, you need to wash the vegetables daily to avoid the growth of mold, fungus, or other microbes on them.
Tea
Another almost perfect method for storing bloodworms in your house is in sleeping tea. Follow the steps to use the technique.
- Collect used tea leaves for a day.
- You would need a gauze cloth or a thin towel. Wet the gauze cloth and spread your tea leaves evenly on it.
- Sprinkle the bloodworm larvae across the fabric.
- Wrap the cloth and secure it with a knot.
- Keep or hang the material in a cool place away from the sun.
The only drawback of this method is picking out the bloodworms from the pool of tea leaves. It is a fairly tedious job.
Fresh Cabbage
Many fishermen suggest storing the bloodworms in between cabbage leaves as well. Follow the steps given to do so.
- Take a Cabbage and leave the dried leaves of the first 2 to 3 leaves.
- Lift a moist leaf and place a blood Worm in the head region.
- Continue the process of laying the rest of the worms.
- It would help if you stored the Cabbage in a cool, dry place away from the sun.
The method is more expensive than others as you would require throwing out the whole cabbage after storing the bloodworms.
Moreover, information about sorting the worms or the duration of storage is not really clear.
Sorting the Blood worms
Sorting dead bloodworms from live ones is easier if you have little stock. In a small inventory, you can pick out the dead ones manually.
Make sure to pick out the dead bloodworms (bristle worms) every one or two days.
When you have a large stock of larvae, you must use other methods than manually picking dead worms one at a time.
Take a large mesh with a pore size of about 2mm. Place it over a water pan so that it just touches the water.
Pour the entire stock of larvae on the mesh. The live ones will crawl up the pan, and the dead ones will be left on the mesh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do bloodworms need to be refrigerated?
It is not necessary to freeze them. But if you want to store bloodworms, you can keep them as frozen food.
Lay them in a plastic container with water at a fixed temperature. Alternatively, you can buy freeze-dried bloodworms online directly.
How do you keep bloodworms?
Keeping bloodworms in your house might be troublesome, but it is easier than running to stores to get them when you need them urgently.
You can store them in a damp cloth, tuber, or plastic container. You can also put the live worms in your refrigerator at a regulated temperature.
How long can I keep bloodworms alive?
The duration depends on the variety of the bloodworms, at what stage you got them, and what method you are using to store them.
Anglers have developed several unique ways to keep their favorite bait. We have discussed some of these ways in the article.
How long will bloodworms last in the fridge?
If you keep changing the water of the plastic container where you saved the blood worms, it might last almost a month.
But many anglers reported that bloodworms live two weeks maximum in the refrigerator before going bad. One other way is to store them as frozen blocks in the ice tray simply.
That way, they last a lot longer.
Wrap Up
Fish from marine waters love to feast on good bait, such as bloodworms. Storing bloodworms could be tedious, but it is worth the effort if you are a regular fisherman.
You can keep it in a container, cup, cloth, stocking, and vegetable. You need to experiment and find the method that is most suited for you.
We hope some of the folk methods we described above will do the trick for you!
Thank you for reading the article.
