WORMS FOR GILLS AND EARS

[KEN BROCK THE FISH DENTIST]

WELL GUYS, WHY DO WE PAY .10 ccnts FOR WORMS. THAT IS A RIPOFF. SO, I MOVED LAST YEAR AND DON'T HAVE MY WORM BED. TODAY I STARTED HUNTING FOR THEM IN MY BIG BACK YARD. GUESS WHERE I FOUND THEM? AROUND 2 ROTTEN STUMPS. GUYS START LOOKING AND SAVING MONEY. I NOT ONLY FOUND BIG REDWORMS, I FOUND GREEN WORMS AND GRUBS. THE SOIL IS A LITTLE SANDY. I HAD CLEANED MY MOWER AND PUT GRASS CLIPPINGS ON TOP OF ONE, GUESS THAT HELD MOISTURE. SO START LOOKIN. HAS ANYONE FISHED ON PATOKA LAKE THIS SPRING? I NEED A LEAD----------- THANKS

[Jeff Soto]

Yeah that's what I do out here in sunny (and hot!) Southern Calif. Save the lawn clippings and spread them out over some good soil. Keep it damp and add more clippings every time you mow. You can "plant" some redworms as brood stock from the bait shop in a couple of weeks under the clippings and within a couple of months, you'll have nice fat redworms all over the place. And these guys can really get big! Not like the little ones that you buy for bait.

[Jim Gronaw]

Hey Ken, some of my fondest memories are actually of catching bait and having the satisfaction of catching fish from my hard efforts. You're right, we often pay too much for bait simply because it is easier than catching it or else it is 'on the way' to the lake.

This year, in many ways, I have gotten back to a lot of basics in my fishing and have found myself using garden worms and nightcrawlers on the simplest of rigs. The results?...two PR's and a bunch of pound sized gills with a bunch of fillets in the freezer. Sure, I may have been able to do as good with fakes, but I have been fishing with some kids and newcomers and few baits get a fishs' attention like a lively earthworm. Worms just work, period.

I grew out of this stage somewhere back when I was 12 or 13 years old. Now I'm hooked again. I do not have to suffer alone. There is help out there. The first step is admitting I have this problem. Maybe my friends and family will call me in a group and Bill 'Musky' Mod will toss a Swedish Pimple in my lap and beg me to give it a chance, just try it once. But until that day, it looks like worm poop under the fingernails for a long, long time.

[John Cachel]

Yes, rip off! Price go up! I went to one of my favorite baitshop and $3.40 for 30 leaf worms! Other baitshop near my parents about 2 hours from Chicago cost $4.25 for 30 leaf worms! Wow! I pissed off! I am going to search on internet website and hope to find that I able to buy 1000 or more leaf worms at reasonable price!
Find worms in your backyard to catch big 'gills is always fun!

[Michael J. Searl]

Good find!! Since summer heat will make it tough to find the worms, I would still start a new bed. It sounds as though you are familiar with raising them if you had a bed before.
There are lots of results with a search for European Red wigglers-Dutch red worms (Wisconsin), Giant red worms. ole Mike

[Jay Fogle]

I count myself as a worm fan. I have a ten year old son. He was a worm guy too until he was 8 and saw me catching "bigger" gills on a flyrod. He switched over - this spring however he is back on worms and so am I. Of course at times we'll bobber fish with one pole and flyfish at the same time :)

We have cows and a big garden - finding worms - not a problem :)

[cody parkridge]

the reason y they are around those stumps is bcus of the rotting wood in wich the worms feed.

[steve b]

I won't judge wether its too much or not, but ya, sometimes its just more fun to nab your own ! Back in the pre-drivers llicense days....many moons ago...we put a red ballon over the end of a flashlight to hunt crawlers. Now have a headlamp with a red filter, WAY COOL, as the nephews say, or is it still SAWEEEET ? Oh well, its still fun. steve b

[Anthony AkA THE BRIM REAPER]

how do i grunt for worms

[bluegillboogieman]

Hey Brim Reaper,

Here's a link for an article on how to do it. I saw it done in my back yard when I was a kid and it really worked great. You might also google worm fiddling and find other good info. The ESPN one is very good.

[Kiana Fitzpatrick]

growing up, dad used to make us hunt our worms in the yard the night before, if we didn't find we didn't fish......living in an apt. complex now so that's out..LOL..but I never gave up worms....still love to use them, worm poop under the nails and all!!! LOL Tried crickets this year for the first time...surprisingly, while I am terrified of bugs, I guess the angler in me says "if it's good for the fish I'm touching it" LOL

[KEN BROCK THE FISH DENTIST]

If you dig worms,bait hooks, take fish off hooks and fry in the house you can be classified a fisherwoman. Agree

[Dean]

I've been piling up grass clippings, coffee grounds (some or all? Starbucks save their grounds for people to take free), shredded paper, and fruit and veggie scraps out by the fence for 18 months or so. Wish I had some big trees so I could add dead leaves, but what I've got's working okay. Last fall I had a great haul on earthworms / night crawlers but the real impressive find was the grubs. Big, fat ones. Found a couple small ones the other day but hope to find a bunch of big ones as the year progresses. Now that I've caught my first ever redear (on a fly rod no less) I'm gonna try for some big ones with big grubs. I'll try with flies or worms too, but I think big grubs would work great.