night crawlers

[davetclown]

night crawler heaven tonight bouys.[]

went out in the yard and picked up me a good dozen biguns for the eyes, and half dozen littlens for the trout. Now all I have to do is deside which one to go after...[]
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[wyldkat]

We have red worm and nightcrawler heaven in our yard. We just moved to this property and I can easily pick up a couple of dozen small and red worms in my driveway. Last night I grabbed up about 5 dozen worms between the driveway, yard and garden.
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[davetclown]

I could pick em up like that too, I just prefer not to, cause I can always turn them up in the garden when I am ready.

I love the red worms for gills and trout...

but ya have to admit, it sure is great having a bait shop in your own yard...[]
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[wyldkat]

Letting the rain bring them out instead of having to water the grass is a big plus in my book. We are working on making an inground habitat for them to stay put until we need them.
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[davetclown]

I had one when I was a kid,

I made mine out of an old galvinized wash tub.

insted of using dirt as a filler, I used torn news paper in two inch squares, leaves, acorns, coffee grounds, corn meal.

you need to make sure when you set your tub in the ground that it is an inch or two above the ground and then spread salt all the way around the out side edge, rock salt is fine, it will keep slugs out and worms from escaping.

there was an old woman who kept crawlers the next street over, I would go see her when I was out, she kept hers in an old cast iron bath tub above ground in her shed that was under a shade tree. she used a spunge dipped in realy salty water, like one box of salt to a gallon of water, she wiped the edge with the spunge after ringing it to make sure no salt got in to her bedding. she used potting soil.. and fed hers with coffee grounds and corn meal...
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[davetclown]

catching crawlers is a sport in its own.

there is a nack to it, if you wound them, you have to throw them back or thay will die and rot and kill off the rest of the worms, same thing if you break one,

my yard is wet enough I can go out just about any day I want, one of the joys of living next to a swamp.
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[wyldkat]

Ours are currently IN an old washtub. I didn't know the trick about the salt tho, thanks. My husband and I have been looking around the yard and have decided that it's probably best NOT to put them in the ground as with any rain, it doesn't drain properly. So currently they are in the washtub with screen over it to allow air flow and are under the porch roof next to the house in the back. Our house is put up on what seems to be a mound of dirt added onto the property.
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[lonehunter]

My box is an old trailer bed , 4' x 6' x 18" .
It is filled with dirt ,leaves and shredded credit card aplications I get in the mail .
You could say , I'm catching my fish on credit (bad joke but a joke none the less ).
Bait store prices are now around $3.50 a dozen in my area . The Amish sell them for $1.50 a dozen fresh from the garden , hand picked while you wait .

I'm curious on what method you guys use for collecting the crawlers .
Night picking after a rain.
shock picking .
or grunting ?

I do all three depending on the weather .
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[davetclown]

I can go out 3-4 am and pick them up off of the road if I want to be lazy or I pick them from my yard after the rain or dig them from the garden...
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