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Nightcrawlers make excellent fishing bait Saturday, May 17, 2008 By Joe Mosby Can anyone deny that nightcrawlers are excellent fishing bait? Most anything will go for them - bass, bream, catfish, walleye and trout.<br/><br/>Nightcrawlers are earthworms, cousins to the familiar red worm. They are environmentally beneficial because they aerate soil, allowing water and oxygen to penetrate into the ground. Their feeding and droppings help recycle nutrients and fertilize the soil. <br/><br/>Nightcrawlers also feed on thatch, the layer of live and dead plant material that can accumulate at the soil surface and reduce the penetration of water and fertilizer.<br/><br/>As nightcrawlers feed on soil and plant material, they leave behind a waste product called castings. All right, this is their excrement. Nightcrawlers deposit castings in their burrows or at entrances at ground level, and this makes small conical mounds at the soil surface. <br/><br/>These mounds can be seen in early to mid-spring when nightcrawlers are most active and again during fall. During late spring and summer, when weather becomes warmer, nightcrawlers move deeper into the soil and are not seen as often. <br/><br/>Some Arkansas anglers swear by Canadian nightcrawlers, or "cold worms." They are sold in bait shops, and they do catch fish. So do Arkansas nightcrawlers that are free for the person who goes out and hunts for them.<br/><br/>Various methods are used for nightcrawler hunting, and you'll get arguments about which is best.<br/><br/>Best territory for nightcrawlers seems to be earth that is a little damp. Scratch away an accumulation of leaf litter under a large tree, and you are in likely nightcrawler territory. You can turn over the earth with a shovel or spading fork and move quickly to grab the big worms.<br/><br/>Go out after dark with a flashlight, and you're apt to find some, but you have to grab them quickly. They shy away from light. Some crawler hunters use red lens flashlights.<br/><br/>A highly efficient method is called fiddling. This is simply driving a wooden stick into the ground then rubbing it with another stick or a piece of metal rebar. This sends vibrations into the ground, and nearby nightcrawlers come to the surface. Keep a close watch when you drive the stick as the worms are apt to pop right up to the surface.<br/><br/>Some longtime worm fiddlers use saws on the wooden sticks to create the vibrations. Just saw slowly on the top of the stick to make the ground under it shake.<br/><br/>There are a couple of theories about why vibrations bring the big worms to the surface. One is that it is similar to moles digging toward them, and moles love to eat nightcrawlers just as fish do. Another theory is the worms think the vibrations are thunder, and a storm is approaching. Take your choice.<br/><br/>If you have a likely nightcrawler spot, pour a bucket of soapy water on the area. Liquid dishwashing soap works fine. In a few minutes, the crawlers will come up to the surface for air.<br/><br/>You may have an old rug lying around. Spread it somewhere where it won't be an eyesore and wet it with a hose. Wait a couple of days and pull it back quickly. Nightcrawlers are likely to be under the rug.<br/><br/>If you gather a supply of nightcrawlers, a metal or plastic bucket with some soil in the bottom will hold them temporarily. Gardeners who have compost piles can dump nightcrawlers in these. For more extensive nightcrawler cultivation, a worm bed used for the smaller red worms will work. A metal box partially sunk into the ground works well.<br/><br/>Partially cover the box and add a bit of decayed leaf litter, a handful of corn meal or other organic material for food.<br/><br/>The nightcrawlers will be ready for fishing use, and you can use some of the enriched worm bed soil for potting plants.<br/><br/><br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>Joe Mosby is the retired news editor of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas' best known outdoor writer. His work is distributed by the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. He can be reached by e-mail at jhmosby@cyberback.com.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/> |
