Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Nightcrawler Hunting - How to catch nightcrawlers



Ok, Ok, I know this seems like I’m taking hunting to the extreme. I never thought this would be fun, but in its own way, it is. It’s not something I’ll do all the time, but it could be a fun way of introducing a child to hunting. You could take them out one night to catch a bunch of worms, and the next morning take them fishing with those same worms. I’m about to be a dad, so I’m looking at ways to introduce him or her to the outdoors.

My 2 brothers asked me to come over and catch worms with them, so I reluctantly did. They want to start their own bait shop so they’re pretty dedicated to catching worms. All you really need is a box or bowl preferably with good soil to put the worms in and a flashlight. You want to look for night crawlers after a rain. They come out because they’re underground home is overly flooded. Of course, do not start searching until dark. You can find them on sidewalks or on your driveway, but you are really going to look in your yard.

Start looking at the ground with the flashlight moving ever so slowly. When you see a worm above ground, move the direct beam of the light off of the worm and slowly start to move in for the grab. If you leave the light on them too long, they will suck back into the ground. Trust me, these suckers are faster than you think. Look for the thinner part of the worm because that is typically the part of the worm that is still in the ground. Use two fingers and pinch the worm at the part of the body that is still in the ground. Very slowly pull the worm out of the ground trying your best not to pull him apart. Put the worm in the can, and keep looking for more. That’s it, very simple.

I’ve heard of other methods of “shocking” the ground, but I’m not going to recommend it or explain how. Sorry, go elsewhere for that info. Basically, if you do not already know how to do that safely, you probably shouldn’t even try it.

Here are some products to try out:

European Nightcrawlers Composting and Fishing Worms 1 Lb Pack

How to raise, store and sell nightcrawlers: Northern Native or Dew Worm (Lumbricus terrestris)



Larry Ralph Jr
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4 comments:

SimplyOutdoors said...

This is awesome. I wrote a similar post awhile back, because I am going to take my daughter night crawler hunting as well. It's fun, it makes fishing cheap, and it teaches the kids some great lessons.

Anonymous said...

I can remember doing that when I was growing up. I used to get some really big ones.

Sam said...

I use to do a lot of Smallmouth fishing in Tennessee...still do when I can. We use plastic worms and grubs depending on the time of year...but there ain't nothing like the real deal. Next time...throw a quarter in the picture...helps gauge the size. I'm not telling you how to take your pictures, don't get me wrong...

Anonymous said...

A note on "very slowly pull them out" Most of the time a very quick motion to give them some slack and quickly take it in again, pulling a little further out each time speeds things up. It takes a touch to keep from pulling them apart but you get the feel pretty quickly.
-Bob