Do you love big bluegill?

worm beds?

I was just wondering how many members have a worm bed or farm? I do and like the rewards I get in worms and fun.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Billy Fason on January 30, 2010 at 10:17am

You can also rake up a pile of leaves, keep them moist, and put a little cornmeal in the leaves. You will get night crawlers by the hundreds like this. I also use this and they are always very lively....
good luck

Permalink Reply by Jeremy R. Mayo on January 30, 2010 at 11:42am

Corn meal is great and its cheap! Remember to that table scraps are free! Every time you clean out the fridge dump the scaps in the pile of leaves in the back yard on the fence. I dump a 5 gallon bucket of water on mine bout once a week. We grow monsters!

Permalink Reply by Michael J. Searl on January 30, 2010 at 3:34pm

Go to your local feed store and get a bag of chicken laying mash. Is is great food for worms and lasts for a long time.
My worm beds are black plastic morter mix trays from Lowes lumber . There are holes drilled in the bottom and a simple drip tray under it made with 2"X3" on edge and plastic stapled in to form the tray. They are approx. 2'X3'X8" . Equal parts of organic peat moss, manure, and soil, will make a happy home for the worms.
I keep both beds covered with wet news print and have to add more often as they eat it too. They like wet cardboard even more. lol
Mine are giant european red wigglers. No trouble at all. Illinoisgiller

Permalink Reply by bluegillboogieman on January 30, 2010 at 4:18pm

Hey Michael, tell us more about the mortar tray set up. The drip tray out of 2X3's on edge and plastic stapled in part is a little confusing to my little mind. A pic would be nice!. Sounds quick and easy but I ain't quick enough I guess. I am intersted in it though.

Boogieman

Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on February 8, 2010 at 8:09pm

Another great topic!
I was shopping at Target and found a worm composter that some designer guys tried to market to the public. They must have lost their arm & a leg trying to sell this. It was cheap but I think they originally wanted $60 for it. I got it 75% off so the idea must not have been all that hot with the wives having a worm farm in their home. Does anyone have pictures of egg sacks?
I know I have had them lay eggs but I have never spotted these.
Also- their favorite - the paper egg cartons. (Not the foam ones).
These hold water and make great layers to hide your scraps.
The cool feature in this setup is that it has a top level and it is split in 3 sections.

I really lucked out on the price - I found this one online for $99. If anyone is reading this- follow the directions and you can keep this in your furnace room or laundry room easily! Follow the food directions and it has zero odor. Coffee grounds help with the smell as do herb cuttings and house-plant leaves. Throw some chives or basil on top if you luck into that. Sniff all you want- no odor.
I can't wait to see how many worms there are this Spring!

Permalink Reply by mike rowden on March 18, 2010 at 3:21pm

Hi all! I lost my dad last Sept. and had to check out for some time now. I am very happy to see the intrest in my topic. I lost all my worms over the winter. I will be starting over and it sounds like I can just throw some leaves on the ground and get all I need to get started again. My land is loaded with worms. Any where I dig, worms and lots of em.

As I also posted back in September, my dad was THE best fisherman I have ever known. We put together a tribute vedio to play at his visitation and I could not believe how many pictures we all could come up with, of limit after limit of crappie and walleye. Maybe one of my sisters would be there when he came in or maybe mom would take the picture but, when we all put in our copies together it was truely amazing. He caught fish on those hot summer days when everyone else was leaving the lake in total frustration.

Miss ya Pops- Mike...

Permalink Reply by Johnny wilkins on March 18, 2010 at 3:32pm

Very sorry for your loss sounds like you spent a lot of great time with your father. Hope you are getting on although missing him a lot. Sounds like you lucked out for a father.
The worms we use for composting are red worms so when I have extras from fishing, I drop some in - at some point I imagine I will have the thing maxed out.

Permalink Reply by mike rowden on March 18, 2010 at 3:43pm

It looks like a great item. We use alot of minnows here for our crappie and worms for cats and gills. I am relatively new at gills. We always thought of them as a newsence. They fight nicely and the last two times I have had a fish fry, I have kept my fish sepparated for a taste test and we have concluded that the gills are a neck and neck race to the crappie. In some ways they have a little more taste and I mean that in a gooood way!

Thanks for you comments to worm beds!

Permalink Reply by mike rowden on March 18, 2010 at 3:45pm

P.S. If you max the thing out well, Iguess you will just have to do more fishing HE,HE,HEE!

Permalink Reply by Vince Fusco on December 4, 2012 at 8:55pm

I raise mine in a 14" X 14" styrofoam ice chest. I start out soaking spagnum peat moss in a 5 gallon bucket with well water. Rain water works well too. The next day I squeeze out the water till just a bit can be seen between my fingers when I make a tight fist. Then I mix composted cow manure. Black Kow WITHOUT fertilizer. I mix it 50/50 with the peat moss. Then I put about 3" of this mixture in the bottom of the chest. I then add my worms to the top of the bed, and let them find their way into the bedding. Any sick or dying worms will remain on top and I can throw them away the next day. I do not feed my worms for the first few days as they get accustomed to their new home. They will eat some of the manure mix in the bedding and be just fine. I feed mine rabbit pellets, which are made from alfalfa. The pellets also have vitamins and minerals in them which are good for the worms. To do this I put a good hand full of dry pellets in a coffee can and add enough water to cover them. After it has set for about a half hour the pellets will soak up the water. Then stir the mix up with a spoon. You want this mixture to have the consistancy of pancake batter. You may have to add more water to get it this way. Next I cut a piece old carpet 13"x13". I then soak it in water and put it on the top of my bedding. When I feed my worms I take a couple of spoons of the feed mixture and put it on the top of the bedding. Do not bury your feed, as it can heat up and your worms Will crawl away. I feed once a week, and only put enough food in to last that long. Next place your carpet piece on top of the feed. I keep the carpet piece damp. If you need to add water, just sprinkle a little on the top of the carpet. This keeps you from over watering your bedding, and the carpet helps hold moisture in the bedding. Over watering Will make your worms crawl away as well. I learned this the Hard way. I had my worm chest in a spare bedroom one winter, and awoke one morning to find between 700 and 1000 red wigglers dead and drying up on the carpet. Every last worm made the great escape.In the summer I will change up their feed a bit, and found they like cantaloupe rinds real well. I hope this has helped anyone wanting to raise their own red wigglers for bait.