View Full Version : Night crawlers
With the warm weather and rain got out early sat. morn to catch crawlers got about 8 doz. but ripped about 2 doz what is the best way to catch them and store them got them in buss bedding on basement floor now in styro.By the way the grass is not the only thing that grows good over the septic field.. thanks for the input.
scott
iamwalleye1
03-10-2002, 05:37 AM
I use fat and sassy worm beeding! I have the worm ranch. Keep them on the basemant floor. You can get all this stuff from gander mountain or any fishing store!
JustLookN
03-10-2002, 05:42 AM
I tried the fat and sassy for first time in august, the crawlers were still alive in December, they did finally freeze as they were in garage instead of basement, good luck..Bob
When you're pulling them out and they seem to be stuck half way out, keep ahold of thier head with one hand and rub thier "Belly" (the rippled side with your other hand. This causes them to let go or loose thier grip and come out easier. I know this sounds perverted and everyone will probably follow with a bunch of dumb humor but it works.
We used to catch and keep thousands of crawlers every year. Can't say I miss that alot. The key to being to keeping them is to get the sick, dead or dying ones out of the bedding. Use what ever bedding you're happy with and put the worms on top of it. Just dump them in, and let them "go down" on their own. The next day remove any that didn't go down (they are going to die).
After that it's just a matter of going through them about once every 10 days to remove the sick ones and you can keep them for months.
Easiest way we ever figured out to go through them was to dump the whole box out on a large piece of cardboard, and pick out the bad ones.
We never kept a broken one and the pinched ones often die also.
Good luck and good fishing.
stevefellegy
03-10-2002, 08:13 AM
"Old Noah went a-fishin'"
He sat upon the ark
And kept his hooks a-dangle
From daybreak on to dark.
His catch was pretty meager;
But every one affirms
He had no chance, because he
Had just a pair or worms.
Pooch
03-10-2002, 08:55 AM
I pick up crawlers every year for our trips and keep them in styrofoam flats with Buss bedding. One flat has been in the fridge for over two years. I neglected them this winter and the bedding got acidic and they finally started to die. They did reproduce after awhile and had I not neglected them I don't see why I could have kept a colony alive for any length of time. The fridge is in our basement set at about 45 degrees and I dump "Magic" worm feed on top of the bedding every two weeks. Usually change the bedding every four months or so.
This is sometimes a pain in the butt but has given us some fat and frisky crawlers for years. Healthy them up for a month or so before taking them on a long trip. And keep them cool even in the boat.
Just follow what these others have said about injured or sickly looking worms. A dead, rotting worm hidden in the bedding will quickly kill the entire flat.
Pooch