Here's one way to save a ton of money on bait!

[Jordyn Kaufer]

Crawler pickin!

I went out crawler pickin tonight and got 3 dozen real fat crawlers in about 20min.

It actually gets really fun when your bored and you can save a lot of money on them when they sell for $3 or $4 a dozen.

All you have to do is get a flashlight, put yellow tissue paper over the light and tape the tissue paper on.

Than you have to be quick!

It's fun to do after a real big rainfall because you'll miss so many and get so many crawlers.

YFG

[aanderud]

Not only that, but after you catch your own crawlers, you can use them to catch your own creek chubs, bullheads, and suckers, which all make good bait for 'eyes, 'skis, catfish, and other large predators.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

Where can you catch

chubs??

[aanderud]

Any creek with relatively cool running water in it supposedly has them. I'm not a chub guru but I have heard minnehaha has tons of them.

[mikejodi]

Just remember, you can catch your own minnows for bait, but you are not supposed to transport them to/or use them in another body of water other than where the minnows came from. That is assuming the waters you are taking them from have eurasian watermilfoil. And since Minnehaha creek comes out of Lake Minnetonka, it is probably not advisable.

[DTro]

Just remember, you can catch your own minnows for bait, but you are not supposed to transport them to/or use them in another body of water other than where the minnows came from. That is assuming the waters you are taking them from have eurasian watermilfoil. And since Minnehaha creek comes out of Lake Minnetonka, it is probably not advisable.

I'm pretty sure that taking bait out of Minnehaha it totally acceptable. Just make sure to check the regs on exotic species before taking bait.

Creek chubs make a great bait for all kinds of species of fish.

As far as getting your own bait, if it ever got to the point of not being legal to catch your own bait, I would have scale my fishing dramatically.

[bgreen82]

any especially good spots to look for crawlers after a good rain, or just in the yard?

[mainbutter]

Not only that, but after you catch your own crawlers, you can use them to catch your own creek chubs, bullheads, and suckers, which all make good bait for 'eyes, 'skis, catfish, and other large predators.

I LOVE the whole "trading up game" for fishing. It's fun with goals and you see incredible rewards for your efforts. It makes me feel self-sufficient.

Pretty soon I'm going to get into hand-crafting lures and hooks. I don't know if I'll ever get to making my own fishing line or rods, and certainly not reels, but I'd love to be using as much of "my own" fishing stuff as I can.

Maybe grow my own corn for carp bait? lol..

[Shack]

Catching bait is just as much fun as catching fish .

FM has a forum for pretty much everything you stated and it can be done!

Good luck!

[UdeLakeTom]

Almost any place that gets a good watering.

[Down Deep]

In past years I spent some time catching my own bait. I used minnow traps in the creeks around Duluth. In the spring, I speared and snagged suckers for use as bait for lake trout, netted smelt from Lake Superior and used them for lake trout and for strip-ons which attracted pike and even some walleye. I also had a couple of leech traps. I also crawled around the yard picking crawler.

I also dragged my son and daughter along and although they are now well into their 20's they still talk about wading around in the cold water and getting bit by the bugs. The wife also had some growing to do when she would open the refrigerator and there were be leeches swimming around in the water pitcher and crawlers were stored in the Tupperware. For some reason it upset her (LOL). I couldn't afford two refrigerators in those days. As I think back on my bait trapping days it was a lot of fun and it did save some $$$$.

I don't have much call for live bait now as my targeted fish have changed to bass, musky, fly and shore casting Lake Superior. When I do need a bag of minnows or pound of leeches for the walleyes and crappies I hit the local bait shop.

[Durrock]

You can actually water the yard at dusk. And about an hour after dark start picking. Blueheads, channels up to 3to 8 pounds love crawlers. Good luck

[pkwalleye]

any especially good spots to look for crawlers after a good rain, or just in the yard?

My son(YFG) and I usually just go behind the house on to the golf course we live on around 10p.m. after the sprinklers have gone off a couple times.

Than you take a flashlight and cover it with some tissue paper to cut down the intensity of the light.

You should get quit a few, maybe 4-5 dozen in 30min.

But after a huge rainfall you can get up to 30dozen like my son and i did earlier in the year.

Hope yet get tons of crawlers.

PK

[mikejodi]

Here is a question I have. How do you store/keep a few dozen once you have them, and how long can you expect to keep them healthy?

[pkwalleye]

Just pick up some worm beddin. make it. get a stirofoam box and put the bedding and crawlers in it. make sure that the bedding is barely damp or they'll die.

you than put the box on a concrete floor in your house, i.e. wine sellar, or work out room.

if you have neither, just put it in the fridge

[jigginjim]

I remmember as a kid my uncle would pick crawlers, to sell to bait shops.

[Wanderer]

As kids we used to bike down to Victory Memorial Drive near Camden and pick em for fishing the Miss anywhere from down there to the Coon Rapids Dam.

That was a great time to be a youth. I doubt I would go down that way now in the middle of the night.

BTW, the sandy soil around my current location isn't much good for crawler hunting. Look for darker soil.

[snoozebutton]

any especially good spots to look for crawlers after a good rain, or just in the yard?

The local high school football field usually has them. Good place to look when you're out of town.

[Windy City]

OK,

So here goes my "trading up bait" story. While I was a Scout Master and took my two boys (both Eagle Scouts now) and the rest of the older Scouts on our high adventure to the Florida Keys, we did a little fishing, shark fishing. First we were each issued a Cuban Yo Yo which is a crude fishing device and a piece of squid, we had to try to catch a fish called a French Grunt. I managed to catch one and then was issued a huge shark pole which had the response of a broom handle and a huge hook and I put the French Grunt on the hook and sliced some slits down the sides of the Grunt to get it bleeding. Then I cast it out into the ocean and waited, like Robert Shaw in Jaws. I then proceeded to watch about 300 yards of 80 LB test get stripped off in about 15 seconds and had to fight over the next hour to get my 6 foot shark into the boat. Fight of a lifetime and very enjoyable. My arms were killing me but I got a few great photos and memories, since it happened with my two sons!

Windy