Cabbage & Green Weed For Blackies

[arpie]

Hi guys

Just wondering if anyone has tried any sort of drying for cabbage & green weed whilst it is in good supply (now) in readiness for when it is in major decline (winter)?? I am not talking crispy dry, here - just somewhat dehydrated!

By accident, I have found that some of the stringy weed, when separated into 'individual bait size' will air dry quite well just on newspaper & doesn't go off (as in slimey) and also stays on the hook really well! It makes it stronger & easier to put on the hook, too.

I have even used old bits of cabbage that have dried out a bit & had them 'rehydrate' quite well & still take fish! The Japanese have been using dried seaweed for years (gets rehydrated for cooking) so why not for blackies?

Fresh is always best, but a backup is a good idea when it is in short supply.

Will be interested in hearing your own theories

Cheers

Roberta

[Guest danielinbyron]

I used to see a bloke fish for blackfish at lady mcquaries chair with weed from the ponds in the botanical gardens and get on famously! He'd mix some into wet sand balls for burley and bait up with it to. Weed out of fresh water.

[arpie]

......Freeze the weed Roberta in the newspaper and it will still be fine after 6 months .....

Hi Stewy

Would you squeeze it fairly dry first & separate it into strands? Ours is a fairly fine weed. Or just leave it in a wet bundle, as pulled from the pond?

What about the cabbage? Ever tried freezing that? We have some lovely long stuff growing around here just now. I may even try vacuum packing some of the better bits after allowing it to dry off a bit- am thinking of ways of keeping some of the good stuff so it is available, possibly, for the blackie social!

Cheers

Roberta

[OWZAT]

G`day Fellas ,

Long Strips are Best of course , but it doesn`t really matter , you can always tease it all out , and then roll it into strips approx 20cms long .

We used strips of old Hessian Bags drenched in Saltwater , no Paper , reasonably tightly rolled into copper tubing cylinders , and then Plastic downpipe when I came along , and just stored it under the coolest Part of the verandah where there was an Air flow .

Freezing works a treat as well , but you really should have a spare " beer fridge " to store it in , Kelp Flavoured Scotch Fillet might be a novelty , but It tastes like YUK !

Mick