european nightcrawlers as bait?

[mainbutter]

Does anyone use european nightcrawlers as bait? I know most bait shops just sell the wild-harvested canadian nightcrawlers, but I've been doing some pondering of raising up my own group of european nightcrawlers both as feeders for pets and possibly to use for fishing.

I'm just wondering if they'd be worth using for fishing or if I should just stick to good ol' canadians?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I highly doubt the fish could tell the difference.. Be sure your not brining in an invasive species though. I dont know much about worms and such, I guess I have never asked at a bait shop exactly what kind of worms they are.

[fivebucks]

Not positive but I don't think any crawlers are native here. I think they were all brought over from Europe. I seem to remember reading a DNR or Forest Service notice about this and how the crawlers are reducing the duff in the forests and that you should never let your bait go. I thought in the notice they said they are all from Europe from years ago.

[mainbutter]

Just a bit of info:

European nightcrawlers are regularly used as composting worms in the US.

The worms you buy in the bait store I'm 99% sure are canadian nightcrawlers that are wild-harvested by worm pickers up there.

My only concern is that it seems that the european nightcrawlers are somewhat smaller, maybe topping out at 8 inches long and as thick as a pencil, rather than the 14'' monsters you can get with canadians.

[Sonicrunch]

Not positive but I don't think any crawlers are native here. I think they were all brought over from Europe. I seem to remember reading a DNR or Forest Service notice about this and how the crawlers are reducing the duff in the forests and that you should never let your bait go. I thought in the notice they said they are all from Europe from years ago.

you are correct.

[ec30_06]

I tried some for fishing a few times and they did not work nearly as good as canadians. I remember they came with an information card asking you not to release them into the wild.

[fishguyd]

the canadian crawlers' accent is easier to understand, is this really a topic?

[mainbutter]

is this really a topic?

Yeah, I'm considering blowing $40 or so on worms, but before I do it I want to make sure they're not too small to use or have other problems with being used as bait.

Being bad to release live is definitely a drawback and I'm glad I posted about this, otherwise I might have done just that at some point. They're a species of worm I've never seen or used before, so I figured I'd ask first.

[Powerstroke]

All nightcrawlers are non-native to this area. Fivebucks is totally correct and there are many studies about the negative effects nightcrawlers have had on the forest ecosystems.

I would stick with getting the canadiens if you need to buy some.

Never release live bait no matter what it is. Throw it in the garbage or make sure its dead.

[Sonicrunch]

Never release live bait no matter what it is. Throw it in the garbage or make sure its dead.

The word really needs to be spread about this issue. Very few seem to know.