A funny job: Alex hunts worms on the beaches in Brittany

By Helen HERAULT published on the Penthièvre view my news

Half hard, black worms, bibis … Alejandro Hernandez is crazy about it. It's his passion. It's not just any earthworm: only those who live under the beach. The bibi obviously has its favors: it is the yellow gold of all worm hunters.

Long, viscous, with no tail or head, it shakes, twists without any grace. And when Alex plunges his hands into the bucket and pulls out a teeming handful out of it, it's frankly not very tasty … Yet Alex is thrilled:

And these famous bibis, who only have a cute name, this fisherman on foot unlike the others could talk to you about it for hours.

The sand poop of the arena

In Brittany, we know well about the arena, which leaves small sand colombins that we like to crush with the tips of our toes when we walk barefoot on the beach. Alex aquifer:

"the black worm. I catch a lot of them, too. I often go to the beach of Caroual, not far from home in Erquy, to complete my orders when I lack them. "

It is a bait used in the area by boaters: a very attractive worm for many species, especially flatfish!

The bibi, the yellow gold of the beaches

There is also half-hard, a very versatile bait and not very expensive to buy, which is suitable for beginners. Or the white gravette a little rarer.

But the worm that changed Alex's life is the bibi: a worm with thick skin, very resistant to the hook and allowing you to catch large catches. "it's perfect for fishing for the royal sea bream," said the young man. So it's the Rolls of bait for surfcasting! "

Surfcasting is a technique of fishing by the sea, or positioned on the rocks or even on the beach, using a long cane of at least 4 meters, you throw your line behind the waves, up to 150 meters.

For surfing casting

Alex has been a surfcasting fan since he was a kid, and that's why he started fishing for the bibi.

Arriving in Brittany as a child, even if the practice is much less widespread, Alex continues the surfcasting and goes on to search for his own bait.

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Thanks to the fishing competitions in which he takes part and seeing the price of bait, especially on the Mediterranean coast, he comes up with the idea of setting up his business.

Professional worm hunter

It took him a long time to set up his project. "I went through several small jobs, but I also studied a lot about all types of worms, their habitats, their growth pattern … In 2017, he decided to launch.

The Morbihan already has his license. "but in fact there is no worm hunter. They created the license to prevent poaching. Especially Portuguese, very strong in bibi fishing, came poaching. They used to be on the Arcachon Basin, but bibi fishing was banned there. So they came to South Brittany. But thanks to the license, it is now legislated. "

A luxury worm

It's because the bibi can make a lot of money!

Alex took training, found several wholesalers, including Normandie Bait, his largest customer, who had provided him with a professional pool and insurance for the sale of his fishing.

But bibi corners are like mushroom corners: we keep them secret, it's worth gold.

At home, Alex set up tanks where he stores his peach before delivering his worms by mail.

Alex's dream is to have his own business: "train other worm fishermen to work with me and become a wholesaler myself. There's real potential here. And I Don't want to forsake the rest of my life. "

Even though he admits that the afternoons at the beach are pretty nice.

And wild oysters!

Because when summer comes, it's the end of the worm harvest. "they sink into the sand to hibernate when it's too cold, and the demand is lower. "

So Alex uses his license for another just as unusual activity: he catches wild oysters on the rocks to sell them mainly to restaurants, to the mariners as well.

It is not until March that he reappears with his fork in and around Caroual.

Read also

When you see him, Don't hesitate: he knows how to tell worm stories like no one else.

With his beacons, they'D fascinate anyone.

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