NightCrawler Picking

[Get Hooked]

Wow did I score on the crawlers tonight! Just tilled my garden yesterday and checked it out tonight after the rain, found out how easy they are to catch with loose dirt. I also went out in the corn field next to my property and picked until my back just couldn't take it anymore. I will have to get a bigger crawler house for them to store in the basement fridge. Glad I was smart enough to wear my rubber boots, cuz they were so thick with mud I could barely move.

[Eric Haataja]

Took my kids out and had a blast yesterday as well!!!!!!!!!!

[Get Hooked]

I read that if you can get the crawlers that are mating, that you will get babies in your mix later. Well, I did that, and low and behold......see pic.. Guess now its time to overdue this, the wife will love it.:eek::rolleyes:

[deadeternity]

My neighborhood everytime it rains is covered in worms all over the driveways and streets. You could easily get 40,000 to 50,000 if you really had the time, patience, and wanted to put in the effort. I picked 4 dozen 2 weeks ago and I swear they are the best crawlers I ever used. They outfish the baitshop crawlers by far. Not sure if it is the natural scent of them or what but, when it rains and they come out I save myself money bigtime....

[Get Hooked]

My wife is so happy to grab a wine cooler next to a worm house. What a trooper. I better make this a good Mothers Day this weekend....Oh wait, I'm hittin the water with deadeternity on Sunday.:rolleyes: Well, Saturday better be a dam good day.:D
See if theses crawlers can justify their stay at my house.

[deadeternity]

ohh them crawlers will do might gooood for them cats, eyes, sheep in where were headin. Maybe a few whites will fall victim as well kind sir, lol..... You best make ur wifey reaaaallll happy son....

[Get Hooked]

Went out lookin for crawlers Friday night and had good success. The tilled garden had them, but they were not so easy to catch this time. I got some, but really missed alot. So I went out to the neighboring cornfield again, and they were there also. These crawlers were much easier to get as they were gettin it on and didnt have a care in the world. Most of their bodies were exposed so it was easy pickins. There were lots of crawlers still on the hunt for a mate, and these individual ones were still hard to get, so I just went for the mating ones. When it seems like there is a milligazillion crawlers all around you, beggars can be choosers. Not to mention I expect to see more babies crawling around. One thing I did notice was the crawler size in the cornfield was twice that of what I was gettin in the garden.

[Get Hooked]

I found out tonite the difference between pickin crawlers in early spring, versus pickin crawlers in late spring......BUGS!!!!! I use a headlamp, and if you stop moving the light to focus in on a crawler too long, the bugs will make you crazy. Trick was to keep lookin around and trying to not stop the light to long. Do that and you're o.k.. Gettin dark at 9 really gets a guy out there late. I was just out at 10, and they were still just gettin out of there holes. Some were mating, I got those. I decided to come in and wait a little longer. When they are mating it is so easy.......when they are not they are frickin quick!, and you end up breaking alot of them.

[deadeternity]

I know this is off topic with worms but, I heard if you find a lake or river with a ton of leeches that a coffee can filled with chicken liver does the trick catching them. But the problem is with new VHS disease laws I dont think you can even catch your own leeches anymore. Someone I know used to trap leeches for bait and this is the method they used.

Havent picked crawlers for a couple months, but when it rains my streets fill up with thousands of them buggers. Free bait, cant go wrong!

[TJPike]

There is know dought, home picked crawlers and the smaller worms in ones garden do work better than commerical bait..Has to be in what they eat once captured..Any other idea's ?

[Get Hooked]

My spring picked crawlers are all still doing great. Not one died! I changed the bedding for the first time since I picked, All was well, but I felt it was time for new bedding. The container I keep them in seems to be a perfect size for a seasons worth of crawlers. ( About 200 ) The frabill bedding bag seems to be a good amount for a season too. I still have plenty left for another bedding change. I fed them again.....also the first time doing that since spring. I only had babies right after picking them, I think they dont mate when they are in a fridge and cool all the time... Anyways, just an update if anyone was wondering about doing this.

[angle333]

If you have a lawn, or some grass or access to a patch of green, you have a nightcrawler farm. All through the fishing season night crawlers are an indispensable bait to the fisherman. Even though very few fish swim through the earth, they all recognize a worm and will happily gobble it up or at least give it a taste.