Those who know me understand my deep fascination with worms; not in a ‘weird cousin’ sort of way, I’m just fascinated by their extraordinary ability when used as bait for catching specimen fish all almost every species.
My main experience with worms is when used for stalking specimen carp, and I would say over 90% of the carp I’ve banked over the last few years have been taken on worm, either fished on its own, or over a handful of particle mix. Not just carp either; tench and bream to near double figures have been amongst a host of other lumps to gobble up a tasty worm within moments of it being cast in.
Most of my fish, like the one above, are taken on worms
So what is it about the humble worm that work so well? I don’t think it’s just the wriggling, for maggots do just the same but their results for specimens have been nowhere near as effective for me. I think the secret lies in their chemistry. Worms are an extremely rich source of amino acids, and some earthworm species actually exude aminos, many of which can be lacking in the natural diet of the fish, so it’s no wonder they prove so effective as bait!
Their scent proves irresistible to most fish, and I’ve lost count of the times carp have moved in over a baited worm completely covered in silt, only for them to root it out in a matter of seconds. Some of this will doubtless be down to movement, but you only have to smell your hands after you have been handling worms to remind your self how effective that pungent amino smell must be.
It was with no small amount of interest then, that I mused over the possibilities when the guys at Trevs handed me a selection of products from the SBS Liquid Lobworm range to review. Like any self respecting angler I immediately opened up the 125ml bottle of Liquid Lobworm Extract and inhaled deeply to see what it smelt like – I nearly knocked myself out! This is indeed potent stuff – Worms in a bottle it would seem!
The SBS Liquid Lobworm range
However, knowing how clever laboratory boffins can be nowadays in perfecting nature identical flavours and scents (which to you and I mean an artificial copy of the real thing) I quickly scanned the label further, fully expecting to be let down. But no, there it was in black and white, well, black and orange to be precise – “Natural Worm Extract”. On reading this my head raced with the possibilities; dipped baits, glugged baits, particles, method mixes…
Call me a pessimist but having been disappointed in the past by products claiming to be one thing and turning out to be quite another, I thought I’d go the whole hog and give Des Taylor a call at SBS to get the full SP. Des took great delight in telling me how the extract is made from crushed worms, and outlined what the various products are suited to;
The pure extract is potent stuff, and needs to be diluted one part extract to ten parts water for inclusion in; pastes, groundbaits, particles, or for injecting into deadbaits for perch, zander, pike and cats. Carp anglers can add 5ml undiluted extract to ‘worm up’ any base mix, or you can add 10m neat per kilo of chopped worms.
You can also get a 250ml PVA bag and stick glug, the purpose of which is to allow you to use the extract in a PVA approach without the fear of melting bags. Add it direct to the bag or pre-mix with your chosen bait before adding.
In addition you can also get a diluted Liquid Lobworm Groundbait Mixer, which is designed for immediate use with method or groundbait mixes. The extract comes premixed with corn steep liquor and Des assures me it’s the business when added to any grounbait mix.
I freely admit that I’ve not put all the products through their paces yet, fishing time has been a bit limited of late with our new arrival, but I will. What I do know is that when I added a bit of the pure extract to my maggots for my last perch canal session, I caught more perch in two hours than I had for the whole of my previous three visits put together – and they were off a better stamp as well, and whilst I’ve not by any means started adding to groundbaits or basemixes yet, I did add 5ml of neat extract to a bag of dog biscuits for my first session on a new carp water last week, where during difficult conditions I still managed three good fish off the top to mid doubles and lost one much bigger!
One of about thirty taken the other morning on Liquid Lobworm dipped maggots
It would seem SBS have indeed turned the worm… into an exciting liquid with lots of possibilities! Before I prepare any bait at the moment my first thought is if there is a way of getting some of this extract in! Definitely worth a look, but don’t sniff the bottle too hard – you might end up on the floor covered in the stuff!
For fantastic deals on the full range of SBS baits, visit the Trevs online store at: TrevsTackle
Tight Lines…
Julian Grattidge
June 2006
