Preparing Mussels?

P

Phantom of Hook House

Well-known member
A basic question: Mussel is rarely used as a bait on the Kent coast fish but when I've tried it, it's equally as good as in the North East and after a blow has outfished worm. The southerners just don't seem to use it. I can easily get good meaty large mussels quite cheaply from a local fishmongers in London but getting them out of the shell is a pain in the arse.
Is there an easy way of de-shelling mussels?
(I usually de-shell them and put the meat in a tub with the juices before I go fishing, you can't buy the frozen ready prepared stuff down here)?
ps. I'm fishing Dungeness Saturday night. A good southerly blowing today/tonight stiring things up so should be good. I'll post a report next week.
 
Put them in a collander in kitchen sink and then pour hot water over them. This should start them opening up. You will then be able to complete the removal of the flesh with a short bladed knife.
 
Phantom of Hook House said:
A basic question: Mussel is rarely used as a bait on the Kent coast fish but when I've tried it, it's equally as good as in the North East and after a blow has outfished worm. The southerners just don't seem to use it. I can easily get good meaty large mussels quite cheaply from a local fishmongers in London but getting them out of the shell is a pain in the arse.
Is there an easy way of de-shelling mussels?
(I usually de-shell them and put the meat in a tub with the juices before I go fishing, you can't buy the frozen ready prepared stuff down here)?
ps. I'm fishing Dungeness Saturday night. A good southerly blowing today/tonight stiring things up so should be good. I'll post a report next week.
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Been a while since I last opened fresh muscles but if my memory serves me right all I did is force a sharp knife into the muscle "lips" and slide it towards the end of the shell that has the grissly bit, slice through that as it's the bit that holds the shell together, they then open up no problem. Watch your fingers though!! It's best done with a sharp, thin bladed knife.
 
here's how I do it the easy way...

stick your mussels in a colander in the sink...

pour a kettle of boiling water over the shells, then run the cold tap on them

the splash of boiling water, causes the shells to open but is not enough to cook the mussels, at worst the very outer fringes of the mussel might start to cook, but that's not necessarily bad as it firms them up and makes them easier to hook up and hold on the hook. the main flesh of the mussels is still very much raw and juicy, the quenching with coldwater arrests any possiblity of cooking them

short bladed knife, or, I've got a teaspoon, one edge of which I sharpened on the grinder, and slice through the foot of the mussel to remove it from the now opened shell. Its the easiest way I've ever found of getting them out

one thing I've yet to try, but a mate in scotland swears by it is to break the emptied shells up, mix with any manky old bait you've got, form into balls and freeze. he then throws the balls of frozen shells/bait out as a sort of ground bait/attractor, they thaw in the water and create a scent trail
 
Phantom of Hook House said:
A basic question: Mussel is rarely used as a bait on the Kent coast fish but when I've tried it, it's equally as good as in the North East and after a blow has outfished worm. The southerners just don't seem to use it. I can easily get good meaty large mussels quite cheaply from a local fishmongers in London but getting them out of the shell is a pain in the arse.
Is there an easy way of de-shelling mussels?
(I usually de-shell them and put the meat in a tub with the juices before I go fishing, you can't buy the frozen ready prepared stuff down here)?
ps. I'm fishing Dungeness Saturday night. A good southerly blowing today/tonight stiring things up so should be good. I'll post a report next week.
Click to expand...

stop rubbing our noses in it, as its flat as a knacker up here, only jokeing m8, i'll keep an eye out for ya report, would make a canny read cause im bored of the fishless reports up here, as for the shelling mussel ive always just used a normal knife to open but think i,ll start using the way marks described, looks a lot more easier
 
Whilst the boiling water over the mussels in a colander trick is the easiest way to skein mussel, the problem of tying them onto the hook is not so easy.

A trick I picked up off a successful North Wales match fisherman is the empty tea bag. Basically get some cheap tea bags from the supermarket, cut the bags and throw away the tea (it'll be crap tea anyway). Then as you need to bait up place your mussel in the empty tea bag and tie the bag onto your hook. The bag keeps every thing together but allows the juices to seep out. I suppose the tea bag trick would work with several other mashed up/liquidised baits.
 
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Chris_Hughes said:
Whilst the boiling water over the mussels in a colander trick is the easiest way to skein mussel, the problem of tying them onto the hook is not so easy.

A trick I picked up off a successful North Wales match fisherman is the empty tea bag. Basically get some cheap tea bags from the supermarket, cut the bags and throw away the tea (it'll be crap tea anyway). Then as you need to bait up place your mussel in the empty tea bag and tie the bag onto your hook. The bag keeps every thing together but allows the juices to seep out. I suppose the tea bag trick would work with several other mashed up/liquidised baits.
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With respect chris that's a rubbish idea, Just let them spin rund the shank for a while and chase them with the laccky - you'll win eventually - they are dead and on a hook, you are alive with a brain the size of a partridge or something similar - not a brain the same size as a partridge's - actually a partridge, bag of sugar maybe with a bit tipped out. That's what God gave us thumbs for - to use bait elastic and tie blood knots
 
Ell, we all know you tie them in to sausages, and thread them on to the hook,dont chase them rund the shank with the lacky thread. empty tea bags? !!!! what.:o
 
Whassis tying in sausages mallarkey - I have no problem triple hooking a mussel or three, quick spin rund then chriss cross whipping with the mouldy thread. Last NESA comp apart from the birdies and crack-offs. Normally my bait elastic unravells itself and has noisy parties in my box when it's left alone. Pick thread up and there's 8 ends and 4 loops to deal with.

NESA comp, first time ever - I was trying to find the end - like a man in an office with sellotape where you can't swear because your boss is a lady (and harder than you) or scrabbling for a tag end in one of those stupid public toilet outsize fecking titanium drums they hide the bog roll. Why?
 
i just thread a few onto my bait needed, wrap in elastic thread, pull them off the needle then away ya go or for a cheaper allernative just use coctail sticks, these can also be made up in the house and stored in a flask for very cold nights

or like charlie says its just as easy threading them with elaci straight onto a hook
 
tip for thread i have mine inside a plastic pot size of of salt seller with a hole in the top pull the thread through the top hole then put a elastic band around the outside to grip the thread when you use the the thread snap it off below the band and it wont spring back inside the pot ,had thread for years as it wont rot because it dos,ent get wet , top tipster jamcod
 
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