Originally banned in my area on canal matches because it caught a lot of immature fish and the view was taken that it was bad for the long term prospect of the species caught.

I suppose fishery managers nowadays find it easier to source a supply of pellets or whatever to flog to punters than going to the expense of acquiring B&J.

I was told that once you introduce it into a pond it will catch on and multiply in the silt and also if you start using bloodworm you will never catch on maggot again.

hi mate i think a lot of it is the cost and availabillty of the worm and joker you will allways get a few that will come with a pint or two of neat worm which isnt cheap then they start winning and other anglers stop going so the fishery loses custom plus it isnt the easyist of baits to get hold off you cant just go in to a lot of your local tackle shops and buy it over the counter so this will also put a lot of normal match anglers off of going to a venue where its allowed

I think its money, its not necessarily the worm, but all the other stuff that goes with it.

A match pack is only the same as buying a kilo of worm and two pints of casters though maybe less ?

Yes but then there is the groundbait, then the leams and soil, then the additives to sperate it, plus all the equipment. Then you are more than likely not just going to fish with the worm, but maggots, squats? casters and all the other conventional baits and hey presto, your skint.

Bloodworm or joker don’t actually reproduce as they are insect larvae so that theory can be dispelled.
There are times when bloodworm will get you bites when maggot can’t but there are that many stick-in-the-muds who won’t even give worm a chance. When they’re sat with their half of mags and half of pinkies blanking whilst worm lads are catching all of a sudden “it’s not fair”
The worm then gets banned due to the fishery owners ignorance and you’re back to fishing matches where 60% of the field don’t catch and those that do barely threaten a pound.
A match pack round our way will average £11-12.
Kilo of worms direct from farm £14, pint of casters £2.75, half of mags and pinkies £2.20, you can add pellet and corn to the bill if you like. You can add groundbait etc. to either bait bill but I know which route i’d rather go down.
If fishery owners would just wise up a little they would get more custom once they realise just how good their matches could be but instead you get a boatload of splinter groups searching for the holy grail that is the ‘venue that fishes it’s nuts off without them actually putting any effort in’.

i was told that bloodworm carries a lot of fish Diseases and therefore they would be spread far and wide!

as for it multiplying? well probebly 99% of all waters in this country will contain bloodworm as its the midge lavae
the worm itself cannot multiply as they hatch from eggs….

It was the joker that was reputed to carry the pollution threat because it was often scraped from STW outfalls.

if it carried disease why does the aquatics trade sell it to feed to extremely expensive fish???

i know that our stainy circuit is booming at the min, with 55-60 on our individual league before xmas and the pairs already sold out with 50 pairs booked on. every match is a bloodworm match. i think everyone is starting to realise that bloodworm fishing holds the key to good sport in the winter months!!!

as for the cost, pools are normally 15 quid as apposed to the usual 20 quid, a lot less is taken out for pegging so you can win a lot more, and the bait costs definitely seem to be similar to the summer months when i go carping. i know im just as skint now as i am in summer lol

I fished worm and joker on a peg the day after I had won a match on the Staff-Worcs at Coven Heath (it was banned I hasten to add) and I literally had a fish a chuck from a peg I struggled to get a pound out of!

It will catch you fish when nothing else will.

It will catch you relatively large fish too (best carp 7.5lb at Tunnel Barn).

You can catch just as small fish on squatt or bread punch in my opinion.

It is just another bait and as it is natural and available freely if people could be bothered so cost and availability shouldn’t be an issue either.

@Joe Carass wrote:

if it carried disease why does the aquatics trade sell it to feed to extremely expensive fish???

the stuff you buy in bags from the aquatic place has been zapped with UV radiation thus killing all the virusus etc

as has the frozen stuff in blocks…

like caster rob said a lot of guys were scraping it from the sewage works so its bound to carry diseases!

@One Out of the Frame wrote:

I fished worm and joker on a peg the day after I had won a match on the Staff-Worcs at Coven Heath (it was banned I hasten to add) and I literally had a fish a chuck from a peg I struggled to get a pound out of!

It will catch you fish when nothing else will.

It will catch you relatively large fish too (best carp 7.5lb at Tunnel Barn).

You can catch just as small fish on squatt or bread punch in my opinion.

It is just another bait and as it is natural and available freely if people could be bothered so cost and availability shouldn’t be an issue either.

Perhaps you might share your knowledge on how to get it for free?

@One Out of the Frame wrote:

I fished worm and joker on a peg the day after I had won a match on the Staff-Worcs at Coven Heath (it was banned I hasten to add) and I literally had a fish a chuck from a peg I struggled to get a pound out of!

It will catch you fish when nothing else will.

It will catch you relatively large fish too (best carp 7.5lb at Tunnel Barn).

You can catch just as small fish on squatt or bread punch in my opinion.

It is just another bait and as it is natural and available freely if people could be bothered so cost and availability shouldn’t be an issue either.

if you call avaiablity a 60 mile round trip then yes it is

Frankton used to be my favourite place to scrape bloodworm when I lived in Coventry many moons ago. I used to drop in there on the way back from matches on the Oxo near Banbury and half an hour would get you more than enough hookers for two people (Oo-er missus!).

The Coventry Canal at Exhall was my favourite place for getting joker. Although I used to scrape for it at the time, netting is much more efficient but it does take a few visits to make sure that the bottom is relatively clear.

To be fair, once you know the types of places to look for it is simply down to finding which ones are best at particular times of the year and also what size bait you are looking for.

The overflow at Coombe was also very good for joker.

Anywhere with a large bird population and silt over gravel will produce.

Essentially it wasn’t readily available (it certainly was but why let the truth spoil things) and if an angler won a match or did well in a match using the bait it was solely because of the bait nothing else (it never was the case but why let the truth spoil things). Such nonsense led to those who struggle to compete whatever the bait clamouring for it to be banned. Organisers / Angling Clubs bowed to pressure. Domino effect and hey presto silly situation we have today.

As a junior I could not afford a decent long pole so I waggler fished and targetted big bonus fish. Nobody complained that I was disadvantaged / treated unfairly. The odd match I used bloodworm and joker and placed but never won a match. First ever club championship I won as a junior when they made the award in a large social club, lots of non anglers, somebody said hasn’t he done well, fellow angler replied bloodworm & joker as if it was somehow a slur.

No bait has ever been surrounded by as much nonsense, nay bullshit as B & J

@Smed wrote:

like caster rob said a lot of guys were scraping it from the sewage works so its bound to carry diseases!

Can you explain that?

my friend buys packs of joker and sells it to pet shops, that stuff definitely doesnt get zapped!!!

Simple fact is that B+J is banned on lots of venues because of brain dead anglers who pressure match organizers and fishery owners in to banning it because those anglers are scared of being beaten on yet another bait that they dont understand or know how to use correctly. They just use any excuse they can think of to get it banned. Shame, as they are simple baits to use. Big Kev Ashhurst gave me a crash course on its use 25 years ago. What i learnt in 20 minutes has never let me down on B+J venues when i,ve needed to use them. It was the same 30 years ago with hemp with stories about it being a drug to the fish and that once used. The fish would not eat anything else. As cheap as the selection of baits most anglers take to a match and B+J is readily available by mail order these days!

TB its not often i agree with you but you are spot on with that comment. Its the same round my way, its banned because anglers are scared of using it so force fishery owners to ban it.

B/joker is prob THE easiest way of fishing in winter ….. so many anglers get hung up about it its unreal. Like Joe has mentioned elsewhere the Stainy pairs lge is a 100 peg sell out…. nuff said ! Glad we got on it ~clap ~clap

OOOTF …. ok so that’s where you went to get it for free but HOW do you scrape or net for it?

Equally what are the key features you look for in finding these ‘Hot Beds Of Bloodworm and Joker’?

If you mean Frankton pools then I’m told that’s been drained and is devoid of fish and most likely B&J.

@andy cranes mate wrote:

@Smed wrote:

like caster rob said a lot of guys were scraping it from the sewage works so its bound to carry diseases!

Can you explain that?

lol i dont really think it needs explaining? i mean its a sewage treatment works???

and im no expert, just going of what ive been told and what ive read, and joining the debate!

personnally ive never even used it cos its banned on all my clubs waters, these are the reasons ive been told its banned…

Pete: Essentially look for plenty of birdlife or cowdrinks etc.

Next most essential is silt over gravel although I have scraped worm OVER gravel before now but not in quantities worth pursuing.

It’s easier to show than describe. Next time you are over in Warwick I’ll show you where to get ‘worm and I think I know where there should be joker too.

Feel free to give me a call on 07875 815974 and I’ll show you the gear you need and best advice.

Joker breeds in the settling tanks in biological sewage works, it settles in the streams after they clean out the tanks.

B&J is like Marmite, you love it or hate it.

I’m almost positive that I have not blanked on ‘worm and joker.

There have been many times when another bait would have been better. I remember a ‘Parks’ match at Salford Park and I had a ‘worm caught acceptable 6lb and a guy fishing for carp on boilies must have had 120lb infront of what was the boathouse at the time! Everytime I looked ’round he was into another!

Ditto at Tunnel, if you were on a reasonable amount of fish I think other baits are much better.

There is something about balling it and having a go! When we start putting ‘worm and joker on the method it might just lose it’s appeal for me!