lost all my crawlers AGAIN!!!!

When I used to collect and store them we and most others I knew used one of those galvanized wash tubs. It gave lots of surface area for the crawlers.
Generally we would use topsoil, cut up news paper and a layer of grass on top. We always found them mostly hanging out under the layer of grass.
The one thing I remember is to check them often for dead worms. If there are dead ones , remove ASAP as it will cause many others very quickly .

PS:
I think the bucket is not providing enough surface area and they are getting to constricted for that many

Put a screen over the top to keep worms in and critters out

Oatmeal is a good feed & compost for your worm bed also.
 

Clint when you get the bigger tub punch some SMALL holes in the bottom and it will drain,also set the tub on some 2 bys so it can drain easier.

Way back in the day when I was a crawler fishing maniac(and my brother in laws mother owned a bait shop), we used to pick and keep lots of them. The best storage I have ever found are sweater containers(plastic containers with a lid) filled with buss bedding and stored in a basement refrigerator. You can put about 150 crawlers per container and keep them 4-6 weeks. Scale back on numbers if you want to keep them longer. I don't know if they still sell it, but you can buy worm food. It looks like fine sawdust but actually makes your worms hardier and healthier. It will also allow you to keep them much, much longer. When we would go off to camp, we had a hole dug in,our crawl space with a 5 gallon storage tote filled with buss bedding buried in it. Cheap free refrigeration. I know they will last all summer in there. Keep the lid on. In both cases, the lids need to have a few air holes in them.

Well just got about 40 and surprising with all the rain they were not out that thick tonight. I changed to the large storage tub so will see. The package of bedding said 50 worms pound,  So I used the whole 2#. I am guessing before I had too many in the bucket with not enough bedding. At over $4 per 20 I will pick a few to pay for gas. I must be getting old because I miss way mere than I get.

HT, I bet that giant lawn next door to you  was a nitecrawler gold mine. For the first time in a long while, I have to buy some for this weekend.  Or maybe I'll try out the red light on my headlamp. A friend's little girl  has been begging me to take her fishing, so I've arranged a canoe/picnic/fishing  family venture at a lake with a bunch of big 'gills. I bought her a Zebco 202 package. I had a laundry tub with crawlers when I was growing up; it's amazing how  many big trout and bass have been caught on lowly worms by little kids. And ones not so little.

Strap a tin can full of sawdust to your ankle and dip your picking hand every couple of worms, and you'll lose a lot less.  Headlamp on bright beam but with a single thickness of paper towel pulled over the light and secured with a rubber band will cut the brightness but still leave enough illumination.  Tricks of the trade from a former Pro ($12.00 a thousand was the going rate when this "activity" paid the rent.)  I get a back ache every time I eat Strawberries, which I alos picjked for a living, not going to find out about effects fro worms!!
Fichy, for kids and bluegills and worms, a worm threader helps with the constant rebaiting, or , what I loved with my kids, a piece of worm on an ice fishing jig.  The ' gills will go after this bait as readily as a whole worm, but rarely get the jig past the mouth, so very few gut hooks and "motor boaters."  More bait time in the water means happier kids, less messing around with gut hooked dinky gills means happier adult mentor!  Happy, Happy, Happy!
 
Major life lesson- You can take a kid fishing or you can go fishing, but you can't do both, at leats until the kid learns their own improved clinch knot tying!

I'm almost tempted to hit the fairways at a local golf course to try my luck.  A empty coffee can, good flashlight, quick hands and some patience did the trick many moons ago.  I used to be able to pick dozens in no time.  Oh how I miss the old days when life seemed to be so simple.  lol  

Reading this thread brings back memories from when I was a youngster picking worms for our fishing trips.Your right on troutbum,life was simpler and happier back then.

Yes it does Gerry.. I hope the steady drop continues, 2,000 is fishable.
1-woodchuck down, 3 to go,, pa POW !!

VA is in that shape everywhere, my son in GA is dealing with muscle and bone damage issues, and associated pain, and gets little help at all.  Your friend sounds like a perfect fit for the Wounded Warrior program. Please extend my gratitude to him for his service.  

That garage fridge should work great, Clint.

HT is on it.  The bedding is generally leftover paper pulping residue and every now and then something nasty goes out with it.  I tried it for a Styrofoam cooler set up and lost everything one year, went back to soil, humic material like leaf litter and cut grass for green food for them.  Since finally discovering that pond brookies do eat flies two years ago, I have only killed a couple of crawlers, however, so I just drop a few bucks if I decide to carry a dozen or two. 

http://www.thewormfarm.net/shopcontent.asp?type=FAQ
 
 
Yep...... one can even find internet info on "Raising Crawlers".
 
 
 
http://www.thewormfarm.net/TWF_do_it_yourself_wormbin.pdf
 
Who Knew? 
 
Looks simple enough to build and it's recommended by those who know.
 
Excuse me........  i gotta go get a few things.