I’ve been doing lots of research into this. It’s not your hook size, it’s the nature of gelatin. Use a small mess fabric in the bait when you poor and that should keep the worm from being bit off.
I'm interested in these DIY food grade worms too. I think your mesh idea is interesting. You could use cotton gauze perhaps to avoid plastics. I was also just thinking a few things and would like your thoughts, if you would. -Use a long, thin sewing needle to feed the fishing line right through the length of the body. Then tie on the hook and pull it back into the body to hide the shank. This might keep the bait from getting taken on short strikes plus reinforce the bait. -Or make up some short lengths of fishing line, maybe 10 to 15 pound mono. Long enough to go the length of the worm and stick out the head. Tie some knots in the line every cm or so to keep it stuck in the body. Have a small cinching loop on the end sticking out of the head. The loop would be cinched down on your hook or leader line so it stays with your rig and doesn't get lost(pollute) and can be reused. These short lines would be premade and set in the mold before the pour. Just some out loud thinking. Not experienced enough with fish yet to know what the faults of this idea would be. Perhaps you'd have some thoughts as to why it wouldn't work? Thanks!
