What Fishing Goodies did you receive for Christmas?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I got some nice telescopic poles, a new trolling motor battery, and a gift certificate to BASS Bluegill Pro Shops....LOL .....And hopefully another entertaining and enjoyable year on Bigbluegill.com!

[chris kowaleski]

My girlfriend got me a book called "What Fish Don't Want You to Know" and it's a pretty fun read.

[John Sheehan]

Bill Dance 'On Crappie' Book ,Two River Fishing books ,A Fishing Cooking book ,75 Bucks of Cabelas Gift Certs,battery powered Fishing lights,Rod Rack,Nymphs my brother tied ,a vintage Lowrance Fish Lo cator  from the the late 60's I think ,Fly tieing materials I did good!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

My daughter gave me a rod carrying bag. It holds five rods and whatever gear you want to stuff into it. It might be helpful for tramping along the bank as I seek out fishing holes. As far as fishing gifts, that was it. Some items I won on ebay arrived over the holidays, so I suppose that counts for something. And my worm farm is coming along nicely.

All in all, I'm a winner.

[Tony Livingston]

Always harbored a secret desire to raise my own worms when I was younger. How many "head" are you runnin' on that there worm farm David?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I dunno how many worms are in there, Tony, but they are breeding. The thing is full of teeny tiny ones!

I started it in a flower pot, guys, as an expedient. Really, it was just a place to dump left over worms after fishing. From there it has expanded through a couple different containers. Right now, it is in a 2 cubic foot plastic tote bin. I drilled it full of holes and I use a varied growing media. This is just leaves raked from the yard, some water weed from the pond, a bit of garden soil, sawdust, peat moss and newspaper. You don't really need more than shredded newspaper, though.

Once every three months, I turn everything out and mix things around. This loosens the media and helps aerate things. I then add another 1/4 volume quantity of media and put it all back together. I feed only coffee grounds, leafy vegetable scraps and once a month, a tsp of margarine. Even then, they don't eat much by volume. Better to feed less, than more.

There are two caveats to all this:

1. Avoid using regular soil in any significant amount. In a container of any kind, it compacts and diminishes their total living area. It also gathers too much water at the bottom and restricts the worms' movement.

2. Acidity must be maintained near neutral - acid is the worms' enemy. Regular soil can also lead to acid problems, which is another reason to avoid it.

I never had the desire to make this into a BIG THING. More than anything I merely wanted  ready supply for personal use.

As for links, Chris, there are many. Just google "worm bin plastic" and you will find some good ideas.

[Rick King]

Nice information and an interesting read, I can just see you now taking care of you baby worms. Sounds like fun.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"Fun," is subjective, I guess. LOL

Worms don't do much but sit in their bin. It is kind neat to look in and see all the little ones.Feel s like it is all for something

But about once I week I tend to them; even that might be too much. They don't like much disturbance and as long as moisture is kept at the proper levels and enough food is provided. a.k.a., very little, they are good.

My friend raises them in an old bathtub, which is nice and simple. When you get into large scale farming, dealing with tens or hundreds of pounds, there is more to it. For my backroom worm bin, it is very casual.

You should give it a try.

[chris kowaleski]

I'm considering starting my own worm farm. Do you have any links or useful information or tips and tricks for it?

[Jason Preslar]

Got several gander Mtn and bass pro gift cards, some gulp minnows, strike king plastics, 2 spinnerbaits, and some packaged shiners (real ones) lol

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

And who ever said fishermen are hard to shop for....we always want more of what we have....want to try the newest gimmick...or test out another pole......plenty of neat gadgets out there....

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

You got it Jeff. A few anglers get by on but a little - most do not. We are always looking for that one thing that will improve our catches... or the experience.

[paul sach]

Got a new teeny T130 sinking line, Bass on a Fly rod, good book.... And an an Ultralight 2/3 fly reel on
EBay ....,made out pretty good ...

Paul