1-AAA-The Bait Pumpers Bible !!-Adobe Acrobat PDF Version.

Mick’s Tackle and Engineering- ’Matchman Products’ No 1,Thirlestane Terrace, Dymchurch Road, Hythe. Kent.CT21 6LB. 01303-266334, 07837115405. [email protected]

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Thank You for Your valued custom and business by purchasing a new ‘Matchman’s Products’ slim line bait pump. Please take the time to read the following information that We have put together for the care and use of Your new investment, gained from 18 years experience of building and using them. Preface ;- I have been asked on a number of occasions to produce a guide on bait pumping , and for it to be available to accompany and compliment each pump that We sell, after all it would seem only right ,that as when buying a new car or washing machine, You would expect an instruction manual with it ! To this end I have spent a little time trying to get this information guide right first time, so here it is, ‘warts n all‘ ! Apology’s for any typo’s and any grammatical or punctuation error’s,. I would like to thank Paul Wade ,who took and supplied the photos used in this guide book, and also Our own bait digger’s and pumper’s that have over the years given Me so much information and feedback concerning bait digging and pumping. So an equally big Thank You to Dave Cruise, Kevin Abnett, Dave and Sheila Bunny ,Kevin Lloyd, ‘Squeeky‘, ‘Mutton Chops’ John, Peter the ‘Catweezle’ ,and finally ‘Wobbley’ John and Les Evans. 1)-On receiving Your new pump. If You have received Your pump by mail order You will find the side handle and spares kit within a cardboard tube taped to the main pump body, this is to help with packaging, not because I was to lazy to fit it! Simply place the side handle in the hole in the ‘tee’ piece and do up hand tight, This will make the pump easier to clean in the future. If Your pump was bought in the shop the side handle will already be attached and the spares kit attached to the neck of the pump by means of a cable tie. The spares kit will consist of spare 8mm stainless steel unlock nuts, 8mm stainless steel washers, a single 22mm compression olive, and 2 sets (4 in number) of special silicone Nitrile rubber pump washers. Keep the spares kit safe for future use. On receiving Your pump it may be found that the pump is slightly tight when pulling out the handle for the first time, this is due to the lubricant used in production of the pump ‘drying’ out a little, each pump is set up in the workshop to give what is thought to be the correct amount of suction for immediate use, simply invert the pump and introduce a small squirt of WD40 or any aerosol lubricant into the bore of the pump, lightly place a foot on the ‘tee’ handle and ,grasping the pump tube body, work the pump up and down half a dozen times to free up the washers, this should leave the pump ready for immediate use.(See maintenance and care section). It will be noted that the washer adjusting nut is about 30-40mm up inside the tube in the fully closed position, this is intentional as it negates having to pull the handle up when entering the sand, thus allowing full purchase on the pump before pulling out handle to full stroke position. It also means that the method employed to tighten or loosen the pump washer should be by means of a 13mm box spanner or socket set. It is recommended that one is obtained and always taken with You when the pump is to be used. 2)- Care and Maintenance of Your pump. ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’- Well it is when it comes to keeping Your investment up to scratch and in fine fettle ! It is recommended that the pump be dismantled and completely washed out and re- lubricated after each pumping session, this will lead to trouble free use in the future. (Warning;- please do not try to unbolt the top handle from the pump shaft, this is fitted using a ‘’Locktite

assembly compound and tightened to a pre-determined setting via a torque wrench, If You disturb it ,the pump will need to be returned to remove, clean up then ‘re-Locktite’ components and refit the handle !) To dismantle the pump takes but a few seconds, firstly back off the pump washer Nylock nut a couple of full turns, next undo the main tube at the compression ’tee’piece nut , remove the tube leaving the rod and washer assembly exposed, then remove the side handle in the same manner. Rinse off the parts under running water to remove any sand/mud residue, pay particular attention to the washer assembly, an old toothbrush is ideal to clean the assembly with. Clean inside the tee piece and around the guide block in the top of the tee. Wash out both the main tube and side handle tube, and the top handle tube. Allow the parts to dry , re-assemble all parts and lubricate the washer assembly with a small squirt of WD40. For the Hi-Polished stainless pumps there are a number of good stainless steel polishes on the market for keeping its shine, a little TLC in this department once in a while will keep Your pump looking good, plus it slides into the sand more easily as well -bonus! Obviously You will be introducing Your pump to a harsh abrasive environment the minute the pump is put to use in the sand. Wear can be reduced by using the correct amount of lubricant whilst the pump is being worked, Matchman’s pumps are designed to limit the costs of the wear to the least amount of components as possible. In the main the wear is restricted to the pump washer set, the ‘Nylatron’ ‘centralising block and the tube itself, the tube may be turned around when excessive wear occurs, increasing its useful life, it will be seen from the spares list that the washer kits and centralising block are fairly economical parts to replace, and are designed to be so. 3)-Setting the washer pressure A myth has grown over the years as to the ideal suction pressure that the pump should run at-well the truth is that because there are so many variables governing this the pump should ideally be set to the conditions in force at the time of use, I will cover this further on in the ‘method‘ section, for now We are just concerned with setting the pump to the minimum pressure, allowing for the fact that You have just washed the pump and it is now probably not going to be used for some time to come. Firstly ,invert the pump ,spray a small squirt of WD40 down the bore ,next fully tighten the washer assembly until a firm resistance is felt, ( this centralises and ‘sets’ the suction washers and backing washers into their correct position central to the tube bore, very important in producing a smooth action on the pull rod ) Finally squirt another small amount of WD40 into the bore and slowly back off the lock nut , to a position where only a very light resistance is felt, at this point the handle and pull rod should be able to fall gently out under its own weight if the pump is raised off the ground. If You now place the palm of Your hand over the tube end, place a foot on the ‘tee’ handle then gently pull the pump body up about 250mm, take Your foot off The handle, it will be seen that the handle will shoot back up the bore under the vacuum/suction You have created, on removing Your palm from the tube ,the handle should again fall under its own weight. The pump is now ready to be used or laid-up until its next outing. Please bear in mind that if laying-up the pump for a period of time before next usage ,that You will have to re-lubricate it ,before future use , due to the washer sticking as mentioned in the ‘On receiving Your new pump ‘ section above. 4)_About Your Quarry Before going into to much detail as to the correct method of using Your pump I feel it would be beneficial to explain some of the variable parameters that exist in successfully pumping out a worm, and it is quite exhaustive! So please bear with Me on this one! The Quarry-the Black Lugworm or Yellowtail Lugworm is a filter feeder by design, in as much as it can only feed effectively if it’s burrow has a fair percentage of water in which to feed, i.e. the ground water table that is in force at the time. It normally burrows in a near vertical plane in relationship with the surface sand, it secretes an solution that helps to bond the sand particles around the hole together, thus preventing a cave in of its burrow, by use of muscular contractions the worm works its way up and down the water table feeding on detritus that is washed into its burrow from below, expelling the sandy remains of its meal by way of the cast found on the surface of the sand. The lugworm tail itself has an enormous range as to its length, enabling it to have its body feeding up to 2 feet down the burrow but by telescoping its tail section can still pass the castings to the surface. Obviously from our perspective the optimum time to pump the worm out of its burrow would be when it is working the water table at a shallow depth. As well as the distance the cast is away from the waters edge, Surrounding air pressure is another governing factor as to the depth the worm will be working at, during high air pressure the water table in the burrow is pushed deeper and the worm will be feeding deeper accordingly, during low air pressure the water table is much nearer the surface, again so is the worm, So as well as a good tide table , a good barometer is also a helping tool to ensure a good supply of bait can be pumped! Other variables that can dictate the ease or not of pumping lug are the physical make up of the sand/mud mix in Your bait collecting area, the ideal being a mix of fine sand and mud particulate, known locally to Dungeness as ‘puddin’, the pump slides in very easy and the water content of the ground there being quite high helps to lubricate the pump whilst in use. A simple method to find this ideal pumping medium is to work a foot onto the sand surface, if the ground below the foot has a rubbery feel to it the conditions will be near perfect for pumping, trouble is though that quick sand/mud mix is very similar this in its physical looks! Pump tube and washer wear is minimal in those conditions. Coarser sand/shell/mud mixes such as found on the beach at Sandwich Bay are harder to pump and produce a high level of wear in pump tubes and washers due to this coarseness. Most regions that hold a good head of black and yellowtail lug will have a range of differing sand/mud mix’s. At certain times Black/Yellows deviate from the norm in the direction of the burrow, occasionally they mine at an angle to the surface, again at other times they can produce a ‘corkscrew’ type of burrow, it is not known why this happens but it has been noted that these deviations usually occur around October in the main so ,it could possibly be a pre-requisite to spawning. It does make pumping and digging for lug more difficult at these times. If You have ever been involved in digging your own lug ,with fork or spade , You will perhaps have noted in the past that, annoyingly ,as the tide turns ,the beach at the waters edge suddenly becomes alive with cast

activity ,usually they become covered in no time at all though ,affording You little opportunity to dig this bounty, with the pump this becomes possible because if You can still see the cast under 2-3 ins of water it can still be pumped successfully! 5)-How to use Your pump-Lubricating Your pump. We can assume that You have read all the previous paragraphs and have religiously applied the info therein! Your pump is adjusted and pre-lubricated to give a good sliding action as described earlier. We now come to what has become a fairly contentious issue, ‘what to lubricate Your pump with whilst in use.’? The lubrication mentioned so far relates only to setting Your pump up correctly so that it is ready for use, further and constant lubrication must be effected whilst in use, there are a number of lubricants available to You, each has its own advocates and I will list My own in order of personal preference and the reasons why.;A)-Water, either tap or sea water. Fill a ‘Squeezy’ type bottle with water and every 10-15 pumps introduce a good second long squirt into the pump via the side handle, in My area of Kent this is fine as the sand/mud Particulate is small and rinses out quite easily, allowing the pump washer to regain full working pressure quickly. B)-Cooking oils, either ground nut, corn or rapeseed oil work equally effectively, but only a very small quantity is needed, say a small squirt via the side handle every 30-40 pumps is best- this lube works particularly well at Sandwich Bay where the particulate is a heavy sand/shale mix. C)-Water Soluble cutting oil, only one type -that is the one obtainable from the ‘Toolstation’ group, this is a bio-degradable spray used for screw cutting and tapping threads-Do not use engine oil in any shape or form-it is highly detrimental to the environment.(except for Castrol R-this is a racing engine oil and is made from castor oil, a vegetable oil ,but at about £60 a gallon , it is probably wasted on the worms!!) D)-Washing up liquid- a very good lubricant but the commercial pampers use to much of it-it taints the worm, a very small amount is all that’s needed every 20-30 strokes. It is My least favourite because of the tainting effect. Some people have mentioned the environmental effect of using wash up liquid, to counter this argument perhaps if it were thought in the terms of the thousands of gallons introduced into the environment by the housewife doing the washing up every day ,then, the little amount used by bait pumper’s pales into insignificance! 6)-How to use Your pump -other pre-requisites to pumping Before We set out from home for a pumping session ,lets make sure We have the right equipment to go with the pump, firstly attireWe need a pair of good wellies or waders, a pair of thick rubber gloves is helpful too ,if You want to avoid calluses and blisters on the hands.The coarse damp sand will soon cause these if hand protection is not worn. A lightweight waterproof overall or jacket should also be taken if not worn, more on that later. Equipment-We need a couple of builders type buckets, take the first one and drill a series of 5mm holes 25mm up from the bottom, then drill a second ring of holes 10mm up from the bottom, and finally a series of holes spaced 20mm apart from the outside perimiter to the centre of the bucket base. This is our draining/washing off bucket ,and the one we will throw the gutted black/yellow into. This bucket will sit inside a second bucket that we have not drilled holes in and will help to drain off the residue liquid from the gutted worms, I also put a couple of 50mm stones ,picked up from the walk across the shingle , in between the 2 buckets, helps to keep the drainage bucket off direct contact with bottom bucket, and allows seepage to drain away without backing up into the gutted worms, and adds a bit of weight to the buckets in windy conditions. If Your intention is to try to keep the worms whole as fresh-out’s then possibly a 3rd bucket might be used, as you will inevitably get some split worms and you do not want these mixing in with the goodun’s!( unless you want a bucket full of crap!!) Right We have got Our bait buckets, what else do we need to take before stepping onto the sands? A small pump service pack-consisting of 2 washers, a spare nylock nut and washer, (you can never find them in the sand and stones if you drop one by mistake when changing the washers!) A 13mm box spanner or deep socket and wrench, A small Squeezy bottle filled with Our desired lubricant, ,possibly a small flask of tea or coffee or a bottle of water or drink, bait pumping can be very thirsty work. ! Back to the subject of clothing. Take with You a thick woolly jumper (even if the sun is shining- tie the jumper round Your waist, over Your kidneys, half Your body heat is lost through that area of the body due to wind chill ,even on seemingly windless days, and most surprisingly , even in summer, the other half lost body heat is through your head, so wear a woolly hat as well!! Also take a waterproof top, it is suppressing how quickly the weather can change during a bait digging session, they can always be rolled up and held round the waist out the way by a bungee cord ! The last item I would recommend buying or making up to take with You is a longish cord with a dog clip either end, place this round Your neck and fit it inside your top clothing-why-to hang your blinking car keys on, the number of guys I know who have lost their car keys out on the sands is unbelievable ! Not nice at ten o’clock on a wet cold December night! Buy or make a second and keep Your mobile hanging on it as well ,keeps it warm, waterproof and ready for use in an emergency! That’s it for the shopping list, lets get on with using the pump. 7) Using Your Pump- At Last ! We Have Finally got there ! Right We are now on ‘the beach, pump in one hand, buckets in the other, keys and phones around our necks, jumpers and waterproofs strapped ‘commando style to our waists, We are looking a right spectacle to the hordes of summer holidaymakers building their sandcastles and catching the rays ! Lead on Mc Duff! We are working Our way out to the waters edge, watching for cast as We go, but to the uninitiated or novice pumper this can be a mine field itself, lets take this as if You ,the reader ,are new to this bait collecting mullarky. What is it that You are looking for- You’ve started out at the top edge of the beach, usually the sand is fairly flat, hard and compacted here, looking down on the sand You have noticed some signs of marine worm activity, there are worm casts all over this ground , but they are simply just piles of haphazard loops heaped one on top of the other, and the other thing You notice is the fair amount of small water filled holes in and around these

casts- these are blow lug and not what We are after today with our pump, give them a miss and walk out a bit further.

BLOW LUG CAST AND BLOW HOLE.-(Photo courtesy of Paul Wade -copyright -2010) These are Blow lug casts and not what we are after at all, This particular cast is made from a blow lug lying quite deep in the darkish mud beneath the top layers of sand. For now we will be Giving these a miss. We travel onwards toward the waters edge , through the water filled gullies ,the sand out here is in almost a ripple fashion pattern, not like the flat sand further in where the blow lug live, again there appears to be casts all over the place and a lot of them are actually in these water filled gullies or ‘swaishes‘, there is a problem with them though ,most are again very dark and black in colour-(see the following picture and the accompanying text regarding these dark casts)

IMMATURE YELLOW TAIL CAST-(Photo by courtesy of Paul Wade-copyright -2010 ) - avoid pumping these, they are usually juvenile blacks/yellows and usually fairly thin skinned and ‘watery‘ they do not produce a good bait when gutted, but are a half reasonable bait if kept whole and alive.- The blackness of the cast colour denotes that they are feeding at extreme depths in the mud beneath the top layers of sand. These are often found in the ‘swashes’, the small water filled gullies behind the sand bars. We move on and find that a little further out there are some casts that are in a very symmetrical spiral pattern but with a few lumpy bits as well, good casts to pump-these are usually yellowtails, worth pumping

. THE ‘CLASSIC’ YELLOWTAIL CAST-almost symmetrical but with coils not always touching, unlike the black lug casts which are Nearly always thicker with touching coils, look as if they have been ‘piped ’onto the sand by an expert pastry chef ! ( Photo courtesy of Paul Wade-copyright -2010) We will leave these yellowtail casts for a moment because what we are really after is some nice fat juicy blacks- We go out a bit further and closer to the waters edge,. Here We find some casts that are really wide in diameter and are arranged or produced in a very close spiral shape ,with the coils actually touching each other, they have an almost grey chocolate like sheen to them as if they were covered in an oil-very good-these are true black lug casts, lets get to work.

PICTURE OF THE CLASSIC BLACK LUG CAST- wide bodied coils ,tightly packed with a ‘sheen’ to the surface (Photo courtesy of Paul Wade-copyright-2010 ) To start with place the pump tube about 3 inch’s from the cast, push it in a couple of inch’s and angle the pump at about 10-20 degrees from the vertical, you now are in the best position to start the operation., see the following picture.

PHOTO SHOWS A GOOD START POSITIONING OF THE PUMP, IN RELATION TO THE CAST( in this case an immature Yellowtail) (Photo courtesy of Paul Wade-copyright-2010 Hold on I here You say, I am ready to start pumping ,but have just realised that there are 2 ways of doing what follows next-you could either hold onto the top handle and push down on the side handle so the body of the pump disappears into the ground, or you could hold onto the side handle and pull out a full stroke on the top tee handle, which way to go ? Truth is there is no completely right which way, its an individual thing, my preference is to ease down a wee bit on the side handle at the same time as pulling a full stroke with the other handle, thus the pump tube ends up about 10 inch’s in, remove the pump tube then push down with the top handle ,in doing so evacuating the contents of the pump onto the sand, -no worm, well re enter the pump into the hole ,then repeat but go in a little further, than possibly a 3rd stroke, but no more- if the worm is not ejected after the 3rd pull then move onto next cast. In this case the worm was won but turned out to be an immature yellowtail ,light in colour and thin skinned, see the following photo.

THIS PHOTO SHOWS THE IMMATURE YELOWTAIL THAT WAS PUMPED FROM THE BLACK CAST-note the very dark blackish mud that was sucked up with the worm, a good indication that this batch of worm were feeding at considerable depth.( Photo courtesy of Paul Wade- copyright -2010 ) Some pro’s will work the tube right down into the sand, some only in a partial way, My own take on the matter is looking at it from a purely logical way, if the tube is pushed in too far ,and at an angle from the worm’s burrow, then the pump starts to move away from where the worm is possibly lying in the hole, whereas if the tube is not so far in the sand then the tube end would be closer to where the worm probably lies. Both methods undoubtedly work sometimes but not at others, I did tell you there are a lot of variables! At other times it pays to place the tube end further away from the cast , say up to a foot away with a shallower angle of attack, at other times placing the pump directly over the cast will work, unfortunately it is a case of ‘keep on trying till you get it right’. We have seen how air pressure plays a part in the depth the worm feeds at, as stated before the ideal place to pump is right at the waters edge, here the water table is right to the top of the hole, I have seen days when the water was so still and calm at the edge that the yellow tail extremity of the worm is actually showing wafting to and fro with the water movement, it is no lie to tell that I have actually pulled them from the sand with my bare hands! Only on a very few times during my life though.

THIS PHOTO SHOWS A NICE THICK GUTTED BLACK LUG-ideal for Your next fishing session or for freezing for later use. ( Photo courtesy of Paul Wade-copyright -2010) . It will be of little surprise ,then ,that a few paces into the water at the tide line has to be the best place to start to pump, but most days there will be too much colour in the water to see the casts, well then just come back a few feet from the edge to start Your work. 8)_OTHER HELPFUL HINTS and TIPS ON PUMPING(-from the pumper’s themselves) Here are a few strange ,but true, facts and tips given to me by our shop pumper’s. It pumps better if You have Your back to the wind- It pumps better if You put yourself between the sun and the cast- When pumping always walk towards your next chosen cast, never backwards to a cast- Always start Your pumping session with the pump vertical over the cast, then work back through the ‘angles’ till the successful angle is attained on that day,-No two following tides will pump the same, try variations on both angle and depth of tube ‘plunge’.- If You suddenly find that worms have stopped coming out on the first or second pull, lubricate the pump straight away,All of the above have logical reasons, if a tad odd, as to why they can work, just accept that occasionally they do. That’s about all I can recall on the subject of pumping that may be of help to You, just as in spade digging lug ,there are many tried and tested methods, hopefully You can use this as a basis of a start to Your own pumping credo, if You find something not mentioned that works for You ,please share it with us as I have done for You, drop me an email on the subject and together We may even be able to write the definitive book on the subject!! One last word of advise on pumping Your own lug, Please only take enough for Your fishing needs, it is fairly easy to over exploit Our bait producing beach’s, Please also remember that the pro digger/pumper’s You see working the beach are out there to make their own living, they are not paid to be a walking bait collectors encyclopaedia !

THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL BEEN ABOUT, A NICE FEW SCORE ,A GOOD MIX OF BLACK’S AND YELLOWTAILS-PRICELESS ! ( Photo courtesy of Paul Wade- copyright -2010. Here’s a few more words of wisdom from the good bait collectors guide book , by J.R.Hartley! 9)--Looking after Your harvest! It’s one thing managing to crack the pump technique and be able to pump a good few score in a session, it’s a totally different ball game ensuring Your collective gatherings are fit for angling ! Remember back in the beginning when we talked about buckets with holes drilled in, what’s that all about?-On finally managing to prise a worm out of its lair with Your pump ,You need to be able to treat it correctly to get the best out of the bait on a fishing session. Are You wanting to keep the worm whole or are You going to use them as gutted blacks? Whole lug should be placed in a bucket containing a good few inch’s of clean seawater, wade out a little way to scoop up the cleanest water you can find, it is usually a tad cooler away from the edge as well. The water at the tide edge can contain lots of undesirable contents rolling in with the waves. pollution, detergent foam,, etc, also avoid taking the water from the small pools on the beach from old ‘digs’ or around groin’s, they could contain a fair percentage of fresh water from recent rain fall or it could be freshwater from the inland ground water table leaching out of the stones further up the beach, a sure way to kill or ruin your worm’s if ever there was one!. Before handling the worm it is advisable to cool Your hand in the water in the bucket, only for a few seconds, Black lug hate rapid temperature change, cooling Your hands helps in managing to handle the lug without the auto ejection of its guts, as can happen if your hands are to warm. Place Your whole worm in the bucket with water, try not to put too much loose sand ,etc ,in with the worm, After pumping a score or two, change the water, do this more often if it is warm weather, in the summer it is advisable to take a couple of ice cool blocks and place them in the water, this also help’s to stop them blowing due to the effect of the warm water.. At the end of the dig take both buckets to the water, again wading to the knee to clean the bait off. Place the holey bucket in about 6ins of water, allow bucket to fill with water then transfer the pumped worms to the bucket with holes , gently swish the worms around in the surrounding sea water, removing the sand, mud, and slime until they are clean, half fill the other bucket with clean seawater and introduce the newly cleaned worms to the clean water. If during the cleaning stage split or self gutting worms are encountered ,remove them to a separate container, we will deal with these later. On reaching Your vehicle it is advisory to have another bucket with a tight fitting lid to transfer the worms/water into for transporting them home. If planning to keep these worms in the home bait fridge for any length of time it is also advisory to keep a couple of gallons of fresh seawater at home for water changing purposes. When You arrive home decant your worms into shallow trays (cat litter type ,or butchers meat display type, etc) and cover with about 10 to 20mm of water before fridgeing them, check on the worms daily , change the water regularly and remove and discard any worms that have died or split. It is advisable to keep some of the spare seawater in the fridge with the worms, ensures self regulating water temp when

changing water/cleaning trays etc. I have kept live blacks and yellowtails alive for over a month by looking after them in this manner ,although a week is generally thought to be the optimum length of time to keep them. Ideal bait fridge temperature is approx 5-8 degrees Celsius. It is also advisable to run a short piece of 5-8mm inside diameter plastic petrol piping through the door or side casing to allow enough fresh air to circulate through the bait fridge, this is even more important should You also want to try keeping live peeler crab, but that is another epic story! Back to gutted worms. If Your choice of preserving Your black/yellows is the ‘gutted -then rolled in paper ‘method ,then this is the way to do the job properly. Firstly, upon pumping each worm out, pick up the worm, hold the worm behind the head end in between thumb and forefinger , press down firmly on the worm body , and at the same time flick your hand away from You, the worm should eject its gut sack immediately, Place the worm in the holey bucket sitting atop the stones in the second bucket, any blood, juices etc will drain away and not taint the worms, When finished the dig ,again wade out to knee depth ,and clean off the worms, by gently swishing the worms in the holey bucket ,in the water ,around in a circular motion it will be seen that the mucky bits all collect in the centre of the bucket, remove this rubbish then carry out the same process again until the centre is free from bits, after the worms are absolutely clean, place the worms in the holey bucket back into the newly rinsed and emptied second bucket, again on top of the stones for drainage. When back at the vehicle , remove the worms from the buckets and place an old news paper on the ground, place the worms on the paper and allow the worms to dry out on the paper for ten minutes or so, before transferring them back into the buckets for the journey home. On reaching home I then lay out more newspaper and dry the worms for another 5 -10 minutes before re-gutting the worms a second time. The reason for this is quite important, during the pumping stage it is possible in some cases that the negative pressure that the worm had been subjected to, will break the gut sack inside the worm, although the main gut sack will have been ejected by you when gutting out on the beach, this leaves a secondary smaller sack still in the worm approximately just above where the tail joins the body, if this is not removed the worm will start to rot and spoil as soon as it is wrapped in paper! I am sure You will all have witnessed this in many shop bought worms-but not from Our shop!!! Once re-gutted, leave the worms to dry on paper again for up to 15 min’s, Take a sheet of newspaper, double over a sheet long ways then lay ten worms ,headfirst facing the seam, on each elongated sheet and gently roll them into a wrap. Try to remember which way round you wrapped them, put an elastic band or bit of tape around the bundles ,place them in a clear plastic bag, then stand them heads pointing up in a container in the fridge. If it becomes obvious that the paper wraps have become soaked then remove them from the fridge, re-wrap them and again place them in a plastic bag, heads up as before. This way the gutted worms will last a week or more before starting to turn to the ‘sticky stage’ (the good for sole and dabs stage!) If not required for a couple of weeks before use then there are many various methods of freezing the lug for future use. My personal favourite is to lightly brush herring or pilchard oil onto each worm before wrapping and freezing, but I would wrap the worms in cling film instead of paper for this method. Blanching is another method for pre freezing, place the gutted worms in a colander than pour a kettle of boiling water over the worms, remove the worms, lightly dab dry with an old tea towel then glaze with fish oil as before pre freezing. There are a few more methods, but both the mentioned methods work well. This blanching method also works extremely well for live blacks as well! 9)-Beach Etiquette When choosing Your bit of beach to pump on ,please do not make a beeline for the only other guy working on the waters edge and start pumping next to him, by all means exchange the pleasantries of the day, but for gods sake don’t try pumping the cast by his right boot, Your head will end up changing into an extremely funny shape after one of ‘matchmans ‘ finest pumps has been thrust down ones gullet!!! Much better to walk a hundred yards or so away and do Your own thing. An equally silly thing to do would to be approach a ‘pro’ and show him Your nice new shiny pump and ask him how to use it, again the probable result might be an alternative different body shape, but ,by the said pump entering ones body from the opposite end as the first instance! Far better to try Your best using the given info, If it looks like You are trying, He might just come over and give You a useful pointer or two,. Occasionally You will come across someone digging blacks or yellows with a lug spade or fork, unlike You with Your ultra modern pump, they do not have the luxury of being able to dig really wet ground, instead they will sometimes dig a horseshoe shaped drainage ditch around their chosen plot ,to dry out the sand, then dig within its confines once the sand has dried out, again it would be an extremely thick skinned individual who dared enter the ‘magic half circle of doom’ to try his luck with the pump! Result would inevitably be another casualty dept visit ! Our local A+E have become experts in the removal of unfashionable gardening implement’s from would be bait diggers broken bodies! Another certain casualty visit would be the outcome of asking a pro digger/pumper ‘ how much are You getting a score’ ! As stated before most pro diggers/ pumper’s will often volunteer information to those that they see trying ,but failing , but be warned there is the odd horrible little blinker that wont, a very good source of information and help is one of many of the sea angling forums, The WSF being one of the best I have come across. If You live in the South East of England please feel free to check out the south east forum of the WSF , You will find an article written by myself about the many bait digging beach’s along the South East coastline, it gives details of beach particulate, make up, etc, and can be found in the ‘stickies’ section entitled ‘fishing Dungeness ‘etc. Thank You once again for purchasing one of Our pumps, I am sure it will not be long before the original outlay has been retrieved from the savings that You will make from cost of bait that You would have bought. From the tackle shop. Don’t stop visiting Your local tackle shop to buy Your bits though!!! Please do not hesitate to contact Us if You require spares, or any other info ,or for any pumping enquiries in general. 10)-Last Word--Safety on the beach

In these days of political correctness, where we have all been made to be aware of not just our own safety ,but of those around us and in our care , and the various rules and regulations governing such ,I feel I should just add a bit on the subject of safety when out on the beach bait collecting , even if it is just to cover myself from the point of view of the present ’blame culture’ and ,‘viz a viz ‘,the compensation mentality of some in our society At least I will have done My bit ,covered my obligations to the consumer, and given fair warning of some of the hidden dangers that bait collecting could hold ,to the customer . Important-Before setting out on Your journey across the beach, If You have a mobile with sat-nav, or just a sat-nav, make a note of your start position as a way-mark, If You get into trouble later on this could come in most useful. To the novice pumper or digger that has never set foot on the sands ,the beach can look a fairly safe environment to go out and search for his/her bait, nothing could be further from the truth,! Large expanses of beach are not just made up from hard packed sand, there are the possibility’s of mud banks, water filled gulley’s, mud holes, quicksand , tides that can race back in quicker than You can walk, and even unexploded military ordinance to contend with ,in 50 years experience of bait collecting I think I have just about seen it all, but every day on the sand can bring forth other new unforeseen dangers not met before. We have covered clothing and the need to be warm and comfortable while bait gathering, here are a few more of the other salient points for your safety. Mud bank’s- Whilst walking towards the waters edge across relatively stable sand ,it is not unusual to come across a ‘ribbon’ of mud that protrudes some distance above the surrounding surface, usually it is but only a few inch’s thick and easily negotiated, if You are out there with a buddy then walk a couple of paces behind one an other, if the lead man gets stuck then the other is free to help. Occasionally though, the mud can extend further below the surface and could be up to a metre thick in places, You will only find this out by trying to negotiate it, not good, better to try and find away around it, usually they only run for a 100yds or so , sometimes less sometimes more, but usually there will be a gap between these bars. If you do find yourself stuck ,then here is the get out- firstly the mud will try to suck your boots off , let it, ! do not try to fight it, you will only make things worse, try and wriggle your feet free of the jammed footwear, its only a pair of boots after all. If You have got free of Your footwear but still find Yourself stuck ,use your jacket, rolled up oilskin or whatever top clothing you have ,lay this out behind you and try and sit down on this, by doing so you will create a bigger surface footprint to give yourself more leverage to pull yourself free, use your pump, fork, spade or what ever to get some purchase into the ground behind you, again this will help you to pull yourself free, If all else fails, hopefully there will be others around who’s attention might be caught by shouting waving etc, and lastly most people will have a mobile phone with them, 999 and the coastguard are only a call away .My last word on the subject of the mud banks, would be ,if you come across them and they reach fully across the beach then if in doubt , do not cross them, go back to the car and drive further up the road and try elsewhere. Water filled gully’s-Every beach will have them, usually formed by the surface water run off from the top of the beach trying to find its way under gravity back to the sea, top of the beach they run straight out to sea but as the fall gets lower they will start to meander across the beach, usually they are only a few inch’s deep ,but as with the mud they can take you by surprise, and You will suddenly find the water over the top of your boots or waders,( that is assuming You did not loose them in the mud!!!) Obviously take care when crossing these swashes’ or gulley’s, using your pump, spade etc to gauge the depth will usually help. Very occasionally these gulley’s may well be running over hidden mud beneath them, again take adequate precautions before venturing through them. Please do not attempt to cross them if a muddy bottom is detected. Towards the waters edge the gulley’s usually run parallel to the tide line and are usually just a few inch’s deep and sometimes holds good numbers of lug ,usually safe to pump in these. Quicksand- usually small banks of mud that have a loose covering of windblown sand. Gives the impression of a raised sand bar, avoid them like the plague, depth of mud below will only be found by accident! Not good! Mud hole’s- Like the quicksand but are usually in a circular depression in the loose covered sand, these are the worse case scenario on the beach as the footing does not give way until the full body weight on two feet has been achieved, These can also occur below the mean low water spring level and are notorious as a danger to those using shrimp and prawn net’s, or those out in the water pulling seine or drag nets. ‘Racing Tides’- As anyone who has dug or pumped bait from the Wash, Morecombe Sands, the Dee Estuary or Fylde Coast will tell You the turning tide can race in faster than a man can walk on occasions, with a onshore wind up its backside they can run in faster than a horse can gallop in some places! Please take ultra care on beaches’ such as this, the dangers do not need to be spelled out really ,the unfortunate deaths of the Chinese cockle pickers a few years ago should be the only reminder needed. What should be said but is not overly obvious to newcomers is that the greater the expanse of sand and the further the tide goes out, then the faster the tide will return ,take heed when out are at the waters edge, hopefully You will have remembered Your way back dodging any obstacles you met when getting out to the tide line. In the first place. If You are out of Your usual local area seeking bait and You are unsure of a venue, take the opportunity to make Your acquaintance with the areas local tackle shop staff ,they will have a good idea of any dangers their might be on their local beach’s and I am sure they will be only too pleased to see You pick up a few packets of hooks and a couple of leads whilst You are in there yakking! Dog’s!! Believe it not !! Of all the possible dangers that I have faced in my bait digging and collecting career ,the one in which You

have very little control over Yourself and can that realy scare one ,is the interaction between You and other peoples dogs! When visitors to the beach bring their mutts with them ,the first thing they do is let the buggers of the leash and let them run free, dogs by their inquisitive nature will run around in ever increasing circles , celebrating this new found freedom ,…………………..until they spot the most distant moving object on the horizon ,be it a seagull or you down at the waters edge pumping, at which point they will shift into top gear ,and ,by now out of earshot of the irate owner and will be heading in your direction at the speed of doggy sound! Some dogs by their very nature just want you to play with them or throw the ball that they have bought with them, no problem, quite an enjoyable break from the bait collecting, a pleasant distraction at times,, but it cuts your digging time down somewhat, but not a problem, until You get the 7 stone Doberman, GSD, Rottie or ,God forbid , the ‘bedraggled mutt of a terrier that just wants to take a bit of You back to the owner ( who probably is ,by now , stuck fast in that mud bank You so carefully avoided earlier !!) If ever You come across this situation, take it from me that no amount of pump or spade waving, shouting or otherwise will dissuade the pooch from its quest, when confronted with this danger, simply keep the dogs gaze, slowly walk back into the water behind you until you get to knee depth, they will not follow, the sea is alien to them and in the water you will have the upper hand and dictate the dogs future!! Hope fully the owner will have appeared by now, shoeless and caked in thick mud, He will then say to You that its very unlike his dog to run off like this ,make his apology’s for the dogs actions and leg it with the chastised canine whimpering on its lead, ! If all of this has failed and You do get attacked and bitten by a stray dog, wash the wound well in the seawater, use a bit of clothing to stem the blood flow and leave the beach and seek medical help ASAP, as we all know ,dog bites harbour a variety of diseases so get it attended to quickly. Poisonous Fish !! Unlikely to come across this hazard if pumping bait , but I have on occasion ,speared Weaver fish with the pump , and certainly whilst using a fork or spade it is very common. The Greater weaver has by far the worse sting of the two species, although the Lesser Weaver can bring about a painful injury it is nowhere near the intensity of pain that is suffered from a sting by its bigger brethren. Again wash off the infected area, try to squeeze some of the venom out ,but do not try sucking it out with the mouth! Apply a pad to the nearest pressure point on the limb and seek medical help, in the case of a weaver sting in a young child seek urgent medical help very quickly as the sting can bring on an attack of apoplectic shock that could possibly stop the breathing in infants and the very young. JELLYFISH- Obvious danger from the stings of jellyfish when washing off your bait at the end of a dig, or when washing the affected area of Your body that that bloody dog bit You on earlier!! Fortunately the sting from the common jelly fish ,identifiable by the four rings in its mantle ,has only a mild effect, while some have none at all, the main danger is from the Portugese-man-o-war , readily identified as it has a type of balloon ,or air filled sack ,used as a sail on the water surface ,and that the wind helps to take on its travels. Not very common in UK waters, but some years the South and South West coasts see their fair share of the blighters washed up. The trailing underwater stinging fronds can attain 10metres or more in length. A sting from such at any age requires immediate medical attention, not life threatening but very painful again the risk of apoplectic shock in the very young and old. FOG & SEAMIST-Not to be dismissed ,and as much a danger to the unwary or inexperienced and highly experienced digger /pumpers alike- When a fog bank suddenly creeps up on You it has a very disorientating effect, in no time at all You have been transported from having a nice pleasant dig on a sunny afternoon to a place where there is not one recognisable feature to help navigate your way home by, an absolute nightmare scenario. But not for those that bothered to read the start of this article and set there way point at the car into their gps!-simples- but others are not so lucky to have one of these modern gadgets, all is not lost!. If the unfortunate lost soul looks down at his/her feet the only feature that really stands out or can be seen, apart from the muddy waders you managed to retrieve from the mud and the mad dog earlier, are the little wavelet patterns in the sand , ripple sand effects caused by the ebbing tide’s action 7 hours ago ,or thereabouts, in the main these will run pretty parallel to the beach, and by following these one way or the other 2 things will certainly be found, either the waters edge, in which you simply turn round and follow them the other way till you reach dry land , or dry land cos you got it right first time! Unfortunately these patterns do not run quite horizontal to the shore, but more of an oblique angle ,and so You may find dry land a little later but not necessarily where you left it! That very thing happened to myself 10 years ago, no personal gps in those days ,unless of course you were with the S.A.S!- Did exactly what I have explained to the reader, and came ashore 2 miles down the coast at Greatstone, after having parked the motor and left the shingle by way of the Lifeboat house at Dungeness, blinkin long walk back an all, but lived to tell the tale!. Bait collecting on military firing ranges- Dotted around Our coast are various Military firing ranges and other installations, that by the good grace of the MOD ,allow us free access at low tide when they are not firing, the likes of Hythe Ranges and Lydd Ranges in Kent, Shoeburyness Ranges in Essex, etc. Obviously firing with live ammunition and ordinance takes place at these venues, and there is every likely hood that some of these rounds go AWOL and end up on the beach outside the immediate range area. Please do not touch or move anything that resembles a metal canister or anything that looks like it might kill You , it can and will ! I can tell You this from personal experience .When I was young some acquaintances that I knew from School were ‘playing‘ with something that was found and picked up on the beach at one of the places mentioned. Like kids do ,they were fooling with it and lobbing it to each other, when one of the lads, Davey Arter from Lydd ,had his hand blown off by the resulting explosion of the live mortar round that they were messing with. Davey was a great bloke and in later life had a series of attachments made up for his handless arm, thus allowing him to earn his living as a machine driver,one of the best I have seen!, He was also ran a professional angling boat and was a part time commercial skipper from Dungeness beach, some of You may even remember going out with him in the Eighties. Davey died a few years ago.RIP. By now I will have probably put any newcomer to the activity of bait collecting ,completely off ,and will have them clamouring for their

money back!!, It just goes without saying that these are all worst case scenarios, but have actually happened enough times to issue warning of some of the possible dangers out there. In the main though, If You ‘screw Your bobin’ and use Your common sense ,then hopefully You will enjoy all the pleasure that finding Your own bait can bring, save a few bob on the cost of Your bait ,and may even start enjoying a healthier lifestyle from the exercise You will undoubtedly get !. If this happens ,then I will have done my job and fulfilled My obligations to You ,when You bought Your pump from Me, Cheers’ all and good luck. All the very best , Micky Sullivan. ‘All intellectual rights and copyright to this document are in the sole ownership of Micky Sullivan, except for the photos by Paul Wade who retains copyright and ownership of such photo‘s. Paul’s photos have been used with his express permission to the author. No part of this document may be reproduced manually or electronically nor may be distributed by any other means without first seeking permission ,then being given permission from the author to do so‘……..

Hythe. Kent. 19th December 2010. This little guide is dedicated to the memory of the late Johnny Browning, Brian Meads, Alan Gilbert, Allan Watson, John Darling, Les Moncrief, Trevor Housby, Graham Steadman, Dick Penny, and just last week, Sammy Costa ,all great sea anglers that put a great deal more back into the sport than they took out, and with whom I have been privileged to fish with, and on occasions ,shared their company and enjoyed life and a few beers with, and have been of great influence to me in my sea angling career. Cheer’s and thank You lads ! Unsung heroes one and all. ‘

M.W.SULLIVAN.

Copyright 2010-Mick’s Tackle and Engineering.