Nightcrawler pickin time!

[Cheetah]

The nightcrawlers are out! I picked a couple dozen easily this morning in at 9am. Threw back a lot of smaller ones. I figure there were probably more if I had been out earlier. It is forecasted to rain a lot tonight, Monday morning should be good.

[Stick in Mud]

Good to hear!

[Rick G]

I also was out early sun morning and picking was pretty good. I think my count was around 10-12doz in a hour and a half.

[gtfourmn]

Is it legal to pick them from local parks or are you limited to your own property?

[Rick G]

I sure hope it's legal to get them from the local park because that's where I get most of mine. I have a few in the flower beds in the yard but they are far quicker than the ones in the parking lot of the local park after a rain .

[Cheetah]

Is it legal to pick them from local parks or are you limited to your own property?

I've never heard otherwise. Some of my best spots were old parks with baseball diamonds. Where I live now I just collect them on the street around my neighborhood after a night of rain. They get hung up on the 6" curbs and are easy picking there.

[popriveter]

It sure seems like making a law against picking up nightcrawlers would be pretty ridiculous. If I were to get cited for this, it would be worth whatever they fine just to have the story to tell.

[tsande00]

Do you guys store them in anything special or just a shovel full of dirt?

[pikestabber]

Do you guys store them in anything special or just a shovel full of dirt?

It really depends on how long you plan to keep them. Shorter time, I use moist newspaper in a coffee can (covered!); longer time, I used worm bedding, add food, peat moss, etc., and keep them in a cooler in the basement (have kept crawlers from April through September this way). A can of dirt (covered!) kept in the fridge will do the trick for several weeks. Check them at least a couple times a week and remove sick or dead ones. Notice I emphasize "covered" as one time my crawlers were only "mostly covered" which led to a nightmare clean-up project...they get into spaces you don't want to clean them out of!

[pushbutton]

Stabber, what are you using for food?

[CarpinMNRiver]

Anyone use the electric rods? My grandpa used to have a set that were basically 2 metal rods soldered onto a cut extension cord. I am thinking of making a set even though it probably isn't the safest thing in the world. He always had a few 5 gallon pail full of lively crawlers though.

[pikestabber]

Stabber, what are you using for food?

It's called "Magic Worm Food." At first, I thought it was gimmicky, but let me tell you, this stuff works amazingly well. Fattens and toughens worms up, and allows you to keep them for a very long time. I found it at a local store (similar to a Fleet Farm) but you can order it online, too.

[Ed Carlson]

I use a mix of 2/3 Frabill Fat-N-Sassy worm bedding and 1/3 spent coffee grounds...they love it.

As they chow down on the coffee grounds they plump up like pigs. I latter on compliment there diet with the Frabill Fat-N-Sassy Crawler food.

[tsande00]

Another question: Do the half dead ones you find laying on the road hours after a rainfall rebound back to health at all? Or are you better off letting those ones go and only keeping the healthiest ones?

[Ed Carlson]

Yes, skip the sad looking crawlers.

Also check for any sad ones on top of the bedding daily. Especially the first few days after a new batch is added to the bedding.

You want to keep any dead loss out of the bedding or it will skunk it up quickly.

[Cheetah]

I keep only the healthy ones I pick off the road. If they aren't curling up and wriggling around a lot when I grab them I just toss them into a yard and hope they can recover on their own.

[pikestabber]

Anyone use the electric rods?

I have used these before (my Grandpa had a set, too ), but it seems to me they didn't come out of the ground very healthy and took a long time to recover (if they did at all). Perhaps your Grandpa had a secret to getting them up and moving, but I wasn't very successful with it. In terms of getting them to come out of the ground, though, electric rods are hard to beat!

[CarpinMNRiver]

He just kept them in ground up moist newspaper and they did fine. He said the ink was made with soybeans. Maybe the worms in his neck of the woods were just lively to start with.

[chris63]

Decaying leaves or grass work just fine.Throw in a touch of double or triple brewed coffee grounds too and good to go!c63

[Judge Smails]

Tonight was a good night to be out with the headlamp. About 200 in an hour. Get 'em before the birds do!

Now its time to turn the crawlers into rough fish into cutbait and minnows...

[amateurfishing]

Nightcrawler 101:

I used to catch and sell these as a kid and made tons of money (id have ppl coming from 4 counties and word got out we always had best crawlers around, but this was back when gas was buck50 gallon)

only take the lively ones

i ALWAYS used worm bedding (if u want mix in some black dirt)

store in cool, dry place with lid & no lite(cool basement, frig)

feed only coffee grounds

check 1-2 times per week for dead ones (it can get really nasty!!)

I always had the fattest and liveliest crawlers around & as a little kid when ppl would come to buy them, they would be so impressed i would usually get a tip....had paperroute as a kid & after rains was always out for an extra hour getting em.

[oleWalter]

Went out tonight and grabbed about three dozen. Sure beats paying for 'em!! Catching them by hand is pretty fun too. They're quick!

[mrklean]

you feed them coffee grounds? Regular or decaf?

[Sutty]

you feed them coffee grounds? Regular or decaf?

Depends on how much you want them to wiggle

[reinhard1]

that post reminded me when i lived in duluth my dad always threw the coffee grounds out on the lawn. he said it was for the nightcrawlers. there is merit to doing this i believe. here in andover where i live it's too sandy for crawlers, for i have never seen any otherwise i would be throwing out the grounds as well. good luck.