Nightcrawlers are up !!

[AndyS]

Guess it's the unofficial start of spring ! Not a lot but some when I just checked the lawn with a flashlight, free bait !!

[Bill Willix]

Wow that is a real sign of spring. My sister lives down by the great swamp and she has heard spring peepers this week and seen turtles on logs

[The Hunter]

Any advice on how to keep them fresh until ready to use??

[Eskimo]

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Any advice on how to keep them fresh until ready to use??

Good question. While the earthworms you see outside all appear similar, there's actually many different species with varying environmental needs.

I find the toughest worms are the smaller ones you find digging through leaf piles. I call these "red worms" even tough I don't know if that's what they really are. Just put these in a container with moist leaves and store them in a cool place (but not too cold) and they'll live for a long time. I find my basement to be a good climate. Some people put them in their refrigerator.

The big worms I dig up out of the soil tend to be the most delicate. I call these "nightcrawlers", but I don't know if that is what they always are. I try to use these worms the same day I catch them. Even when I store them in a cool place, the day after I catch them, they look and act like over-cooked spaghetti. Two days after I catch them they are usually dead and dissolving into smelly piles of goop.

After a heavy rain storm, you can often find me wandering the parking lot of my building with a headlamp picking worms up off the pavement. I don't care that the neighbors are scared of me. I have the world's best panfish bait.

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[The Hunter]

Thanks!! I remember someone posting about keeping them in fridge in grass clippings as well. Will start collecting soon.