By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
With trout fishing season around the corner, it was time for me to walk softly and to carry a tired flashlight. The particularly heavy rains of spring were impetus enough for me to get out in the dark and collect some bait: nightcrawlers.
My innate cheapness led me back to my childhood, when best friend, Jack Shepherd, and I would hunt for nightcrawlers ahead of some lake fishing for whatever was hungry. Back in the 50s, I never heard of buying bait and never had two nickels to rub together anyway. Wasting a week’s allowance on something that a little time and skill could produce was out of the question.
Fortunately, Jack’s father was wise in the ways of do-it-yourself projects. He taught us how to build kites, make rubber band guns, whistles from tin can lids and blades of quack grass and hand-crafted shingle rockets that were “shot” into space. Finding nightcrawlers was as easy as a stalk in the dark; catching them was another skillful matter.
The best time was after a rain, when the big crawlers would naturally surface in the dark. Here’s where the challenge begins. Nightcrawlers will typically come out, but not usually all the way. Half of the worm will remain firmly planted in the ground, while the other half protrudes while looking for friends to cozy up to.
That “tired” flashlight would locate – but, not spook – the critters, before we got into position to make our play. We’d see where the crawler was attached to terra firma and quickly pinch it to the ground. Then, with a steady and somewhat gentle pull on the head of the worm, we’d persuade them to give up – usually after their muscles tired. About half of them routinely out-quicked us.
Here are a few tips for wannabe worm getters. Headlamps work great to free both hands, but modern LED units are too bright and will send worms into the earth in the blink of an eye; their recoil mechanism is that quick! A dim light or red lens is best. A hand-held flashlight can work, but two hands free are better.
Commercially produced worm bedding made of recycled newspapers, when moistened, makes for good storage in commercially available worm boxes. Garden soil, coffee grounds or decomposed leaves in a container with holes for air will also provide a means of storage. However, worms must remain cool, so hide them in the refrigerator when women aren’t looking. You might want to use that spare refrigerator in the garage or basement, because ambitious worms seem to want to explore their surroundings at times.
Oh, there are other methods to get worms such as electrocuting them, grunting them (look it up) or, irritating their skin with dish soap or bleach, but worms will not withstand much punishment before expiring. Dead worms are bad in storage; find them and eliminate them from any collection.
There is a certain satisfaction derived from this do-it-yourself worm hunting that cannot be matched by purchasing bait. If you are sneaky enough, you can enjoy a night out like never before.
