Good Wormin' Last Night

Went out last night at 10:15 to my favorite crawler place and found them to be very cooperative. Picked for about 1hr 45min and returned home with twenty seven doz(327 to be exact). Didn't have to pull any out of the groung, just walk the parking lot and pick them off the pavement. Should have stayed out later and got a few more but there were a bunch of young people out horsin' around in the immediate area and I didn't want to get into any confrontation with them. I'm too old to fight and too fat to run so I just left.

Nice haul.  How do you keep that many fresh?

i have a few dozen that I have had for a year. Large worm container with bedding in my basement fridge.

Although I seldom use crawlers anymore, when I did, I used to keep them in a styrofoam cooler with shredded damp newspaper for bedding. Just keep the paper DAMP, not soaking wet. Unbelivable how fat & juicy they get in there & you don't need to feed them cuz they eat the paper, this also keeps the odor away if you used stuff like coffee grounds to feed them.After I would catch them I would lay them on top of the newspaper & any that were injured would lay on top ,while the healthy ones would burough to the bottom, then I would do that the next day so that anyother sick ones would do the same. After that I would keep in in the basement or any other place that was cool, They always seemed to be hardier than the ones kept in the fridge. sam

Was going to go out tonight to get a few more but the weather is brutal, too cold and windy with a bid of driving rain.

As far as keeping them I use some of the above mentioned ideas. Worm bedding with rain or distilled water, lay some damp newspaper on top, keep them cool(refridgerator in the garage).
I will often keep them through the winter if I remember to put them in the basement before they freeze. I use multiple smaller containers that stack rather than one or two large containers. When boating I just take a container on the boat with me and put it on ice in a cooler. Caution you don't keep them too wet. Also have a nice compost heap in the yard and get all the red worms I need from there. During the summer I regularly water the compost to keep the worms active.

my 11yr old son had a feild day last nite lots o crawlers

ORIGINAL: Nbobich

Tell me more about this worm catching... Lol I have herd about it I just thought people were messing with me

 
Kids!
 
I know my sons think night crawlers come from convenience stores.  When I was a kid (here we go) my Dad wouldn't think of buying a worm.

ORIGINAL: Nbobich

Tell me more about this worm catching... Lol I have herd about it I just thought people were messing with me

Damp (recent or current rain)and relatively warm night... OLDclothes or ones you don't mind ending up muddy. a flashlight that is easy to hold onto for long periods of time and with a decent beam (doesn't need to be spotlight bright though) and an old container you can hold with same hand as flashlight. And a styrofoam container or bucket prepped with worm bedding of choice.
Go outside to yard (I never had much luck under pines) and very slowly walk and shine light a short distance ahead of you on ground. You will see the nightcrawlers either partially or completely up out of their holes. Just pick them up with your free hand, but you will learn you will need to act quickly once you reach for them,(actually are better off aiming for where their body is coming out of the ground) they are tremendously quick at retracting into their homes! Only answer to how to improve catch rate is practice!
You may end up with a sore back, a bit muddy and most likely pretty damp, and until you get a bit of practice you will be probably be frustrated... but it isn't too hard to do, just give yourself time.
Good luck!

ORIGINAL: mr.crappie

I like to use my headlamp,just try to keep the worms on the edge of the light or use a light filter like red or yellow celophane,that doesn't seem to spook them as much. sam

Good suggestions, once I spot them I move light so they are at the edge of it, if you keep them 'in the spotlight' they do spook much quicker.

Preacher,please p.m. me, I tried to p.m. you but was told that you had this feature shut off. This is about the ice-fishing stuff . sam

ORIGINAL: fishinpreacher

As a kid I used to have a blast catching worms with my Dad in the garden by our old farmhouse and then going down to the Susquhanna river to fish for Catfish the next day/night.

Some of my most enjoyable memories, and I hope i get the chance to do that with my 4yr, and almost 3yr old boys this spring/summer.

Come here and help shovel the gravel out of my yard and you can have all the worms you want.lol

I just got back from electro shocking my yard with 2 pieces of all thread hooked to an extension cord. I hosed the ground down then juiced it up... Worms everywhere! I only got zapped once!

Tonight should be a great night to get some with all this rain !!!!!!!