Fiddling Worms

[Vic Tankersley]

I have been ask to help some of you guys who are nonbelivers in the art of Fiddling Worms or what some guys in Florida calls Grunting for worms. There are a large worms that live in creek bottoms or in forested areas which are moist enough the support these worms which measure up to 14 inches in lenght here in the southeastern US. the way you get them up and in the bucket for fishing is by fiddling them. I have been known to strech a fish or two but folks believe me, I have sold thousands of these worms when as a teenager to supply a 1955 Ford coupe with gas to chase the opposite sex. You find a creek bottom where when you rack back the leaves you will find the spure holes made by these worms. You select a small saplin and take a hand saw and cut it off about 18 inches of the ground, take the saw and cut a notch into the stump of the sapplin then when you are about 1/2 inch into the stump stop trying to cut the stump but just use the saw to make the stump viberate and you can feel it in the ground. some use a large bastard file on a stake driven into the ground about 20 inches or so, using the flat file then to vibrate the stake. Don't know about using a rock but i'm sure it will work also. I have even used a chainsaw left running on the ground but does not work as good as a hand saw or large flat file. When I sold them we would put 20 ea into old rotted saw dust and get a buck a box. That's the truth folks. If still skeptical Google them and look at wikipedias story. Glad to help Carl

[carl hendrix]

      HAHAHAHA THANKS VIC FOR CLEARING IT UP BUDDY! i guess i got tooty a bit gun shy when i told him about me collecting cockleburrs and selling them.  you see; some people only want green ones; which are the male; and some folks just want the brown ones;; thats the females.  then for some odd reason; they think if they take them home; put them under a heat lamp they can hatch them out and then have their own exoctic pet!!  some how these people got the craziest idea; these things are really porkupine eggs!! now who am i to deny their happiness; if they want to believe something like that!  the bad part is;; i HAVE sold them!!  to northerners!!  hahahahaha

[Leo Nguyen]

Vic, I do vouch for the technique to work. However, rather than fiddling for worms here at the river bottom, where I know they are thriving during the dry seasons near the water flow, I use a modified 14.8V lithium battery I normally used for my float tube rig to power my electronics, rather than using that huge deep cycle car battery, attached to an adjustable current device, and go crazy on my two steel rods. The current is adjust between 0.75A to draw them to the surface within 5 feet radius, and dial it up to 3.7A for a 15 feet radius. I simply sit back, relax, and have them smile at me within 4 minutes. If nothing shows up, I move on.

[Vic Tankersley]

never tried the battery but I may have to, thanks

[Steve Totten]

I was a power company linesman in a former lifetime.  Occasionally we would set up a generator at remote locations.  Requirements were to add a ground rod to any such installation.   Sometimes when high loads were placed on the generator, higher current flow throughout the system, earthworms would come up around the ground rod.  Current flow or vibration?  I don't know but saw it happen even with snow on the ground.