Any of you save some of the worms you dig for fish bait?

[dirtlooter]

We dig up a lot of worms, it just happens with this hobby. We also fish but it has always seemed like it would be a hassle to take the time to save any of them. We have grandkids that love to fish as well and it kills me that my wife will go and buy the stupid worms at Wally World. I mean come on, we dig them often enough to have more than enough of them. So, I took a fairly large wide mouthed plastic jar and drilled 2 holes in the area right below where the lid screws on and ran an old shoe string thru them and attached the jar loosely to my metal detecting belt in the front. I leave the lid off while detecting.

Now when I see a decent sized worm or grubworm, I just drop them into the jar with a little dirt. When I get home, I empty the jar in a Styrofoam container that has more dirt etc in it. These worms are actually better worms and last longer than the store bought ones. I can use the worms as is or use them to tip my hand tied jigs for crappie and shellcrackers or redears. Just have to work out what I plan to feed them, have access to cow manure and other natural things besides composting things from the kitchen. I really like the huge "slashworms" or "milkworms" that we dig occasionally, the fish love them and they are tough.

 

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[xcopperstax]

This might sound kind of strange but I usually just eat the worms if no one is looking

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Thanks for sharing.

This year we started raising worms for fun. We must have put 3K of worms in the garden.

 

[pulltabfelix]

Thanks for sharing.

This year we started raising worms for fun. We must have put 3K of worms in the garden.

I knew a lady in Atlanta who did real well with her own personnel company. She just up and sold her business and moved to California to raise and sell earthworms.

Any time I want worms, I throw a pail of soapy water in a certain area of the yard and the worms come up to the surface. Don't know why they do that.

 

[BobTheDigger]

No, I don't hassle with the worms while detecting (I don't eat them either!). That would just give me something else to carry but is a great idea if you fish often. I was detecting along a creek one day and a fisherman asked me to throw him any worms I dug up. I said "sure, but if you reel in any gold or silver I get it!". A silly joke but we both laughed. I agree though, the fresh dirt worms are way better then the store worms. They last so much longer and I swear I catch more fish on them, especially in the spring when the wild garlic comes up. Maybe that's why there are so many garlic scented baits...? I always get my own night crawlers and red worms from the yard, and it would kill me too, to spend money on worms. Keep them cool and they'll last for months. Be safe and good luck!