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Solution for bringing up worms?

37K views 27 replies 23 participants last post by  MasterCaster 
#1 Ā·
I was wanting to do some fishing this week and would much rather get my own worms than buy them from the store. What kind of solution do you guys pour on the ground to bring the worms to the surface? I have used a little bit of bleach and water which brings up some, but never seems to bring up the big ones. Is there a solution you guys buy?
 
#4 Ā·
Two words.

Worm shocker. Plug a metal coathanger into the ground via extension cord about dark. :smile: That's all I'm gonna say, you can probably figure out the rest. It REALLY works. Downside is, for some reason the worms never last more than maybe a day.

For the record, I haven't done this in like....20 years...:)

Camp
 
#5 Ā·
Uh... Insert ifish standard disclaimer, here!

Please...they make some sort of electrical doo hickey for that, but don't play with electricity and do it on your own!!! PLEASE!
Water works very well, and is a heck of a lot safer, both on worms and on you!

Jen
 
#6 Ā·
I agree wet your lawn and get em at night. If you dont have the time or patience for that then use a few tablespoons of dawn dish saop in a 5 gallon bucket of water. You still want your area moist before you pour on the soap/water so that the worms are already close to the surface.

Jon :smile: :grin: :smile:
 
#7 Ā·
yup shockers are the way to go...we had a setup that worked great..

Extension cord...seperate the two sides out, and wrap around a metal coathanger (we actually used thin steel spikes) wrap and solder the wires onto the spikes about 4 inches down. Get a wood dowel and drill holes a smidge smaller than the spike you are using and jam the top part into the dowel down to just above the wiring connector.
Once this is completed on both sides, you can wrap from the connectors up to the top of the dowel with electrical tape.
You will end up with 2 prongs each about 12 inches long (4 inches of handle, about an inch of tape covering the connectors and 7 inches of prongs to go into the ground)
make the two prongs where you can seperate them about 3-5 feet apart when in the ground.
Water the ground real good about an hour before dark, and then when dark go out and jam the prongs into the ground, and plug it in...if you place your hands in the middle of the ground you should be able to feel the pulse in the ground..the worms will start coming up right quick.
Throw em in a bait container with dirt and shredded newspaper and you will have a good bait...(we have had worms last a week like this).

Side note...we also sharpened the end points to go into the ground easier...

Good luck!
 
#11 Ā·
Twice over the last two years I have needed to treat my lawn for moss. I watered it lightly and then applied the liquid spray on Moss Out....my god immeadiately the worms were all over the lawn, huge nightcrawlers!

The moss out is highly concentrated Iron, they evident'y dont like it.

Other then that, let it get dark, put on the sprinkler, your rain coat, and grab a flashlight.
 
#12 Ā·
Ahh I miss my old worm tree,at a house I used to live in there was an apple tree in the yard,I guess the roots were kinda loose.I used to be able to go out and bear hug the trunk and shake it for about 5 minutes and the worms would just pop up outa the ground and I'ld just pick em up.But I've moved since and the land lord has cut down the tree,guess he didn't know what kinda treasure he had there.Well now that I'm treeless it's back to the old flashlight and grab method,a color'd lens will work better too red preferably it won't spook the worms as bad as the heat from the white light will,sometimes I'll go down town where ppl have water'd their lawns and over shot the sidewalk or after a good rain,and walk the sidewalks under the street lights,the crawlers just stretch out onto the concreete waiting to be picked up.As far as the electric method be durn carefull,it does work but electricity isn't something to fool around with,wet the lawn,use rebar,place em a dictance apart don't plug it in till you are clear,and make sure to unplug before ya go colecting.It may be a good idea to have somebody on dog watch too.It will also work with a 12v battery but won't zap em up quite as fast.
 
#13 Ā·
If you're going to fish the same day you're grabbing worms out of the yard - you can use a mild solution of diluted bleach - they'll pop right out of their tiny little holes. However, you must rinse them off or they will die quickly.

My disclaimer: check with your local, sity, state and federal environmental agencies regarding applying very small amounts of sodium hypochlorite to the soil on your own property. :jester:

ORS
 
#19 Ā·
A number of years ago in Outdoor Life there was an article on getting worms. The gist of the article was to insert a stake in the ground and then to rub the end of it with another stick. The vibrations cause worms to come up to the surface. If you got a really nice lawn, I wouldn't try it; but if the lawn needs "aerrating"... well, there ya' go!
As with any gimmick to get worms You have to have worms there and near the surface in the first place, water well first. Anybody tried this technique?
 
#20 Ā·
I think that at one time you could order a washboard type gadget from Boy's Life magazine. As I recall, it was a flat, ribbed board with a couple stakes on each side. You drive the stakes into the ground then run the stick along the ribs of the board. Never tried it, but I've heard it works.

ORS
 
#21 Ā·
As a variation on the article letsfish mentioned, we used to soak the ground for a while, then stick a manure fork in the wet ground and wiggle it for a bit. This would sometimes work at dusk or in deep shade to get them up where you could pick them, especially if you wanted to get to bed early for fishin' the next day. Now, we keep a compost pile for kitchen and lawn scraps and can pick a bunch in a few minutes at any time of the day.

When I was a kid there was always some older fella down at the tackle shop talking about getting his worms using the electrified rod in the ground, but he had such a bad twitch he couldn't hold a cup of coffee without spilling it and we always joked about his worm pickin' technique causing it.

Fishical Therapy
 
#22 Ā·
I made a electric probe . Put it on a 10amp circuit breaker and a old screw driver , hot side only used earth stake at xformer for the return. Had worms twitching all over ground. Mt Brother grabbed one and its foot was still in ground and my brother was standing up with this worm stretched out about 2 feet yelling HeEyY BrooOoO tuuuurrrrrnnnn it ooooFFFFF . Electricity and Damp ground not good idea. STS and FHN both had recall ad's for the Worm Probe do to Electrocution.

I was told buy the owner or the store at Amboy , he had a truck inner tube and a sheet plywood he let kids jump on and it pumped worms out ground . As he grabbed me 2 dozen out of his worm shed.
 
#23 Ā·
Again.... PLEASE do not use an electric device in the ground for worms.
It is simply not safe. I will have to close this thread down if people keep reccomending it.
My AUP states that we aren't responsible, but that doesn't keep silly people from trying silly things. :smile:

Jen
 
#25 Ā·
Again.... PLEASE do not use an electric device in the ground for worms.
It is simply not safe. I will have to close this thread down if people keep reccomending it.
My AUP states that we aren't responsible, but that doesn't keep silly people from trying silly things. :smile:

Jen
I'm almost sorry I ever suggested it, but then again I was just a silly Tillamook boy when young. Jennies right, don't try this one, it has potential for disaster. One of my biggest problems is that I was raised wrong, outdoors wise that is. I grew up thinking things like this were normal. And survived without too many scars. My life is like a Pat McManus book to the 10th power. Truth is, I've nearly died from some of my antics, probably a dozen times. Not that they were so.... illegal, just maybe not too bright. Times have changed.....and I'm doing my best, still not quite there yet. Take it easy out there. Coming from one whose been upside down in the Kilchis in a Buick and stuck at the Netarts Bay jetty cuz my Honda 10 horse didn't have enough steam to bring my heavy old wood driftboat back in on an outgoing tide. Which I promptly crashed into the dock by the Schooner, spilling us all into the bay. My nickname stems from the fact that I used to build rather...large campfires. Usually by falling trees on them as they burned.

Point is, I've been stupid my whole life. Don't go plugging power into the ground for a couple dozen worms. Life is too precious and short ! :smile:

LrgCampfires
 
#26 Ā·
One of the research projects I worked on with OSU involved collecting earthworms (they are very beneficial to soil so this data was important)......anyway the shockers never worked good, so dont use those. Also bleach will kill them. You can use some powdered mustard with water, which irritates them and you have to wash it off......but by far the best would be freshly irrigated lawn or orchard. Use a flashlight with a piece of red felt tied over it and you can see them but they cant see you :grin:
 
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