It’s been pretty dry around here the past few days, and hot, so i’m not sure the nightcrawlers are going to be out tonight. I’ve heard watering your lawn sometime before dark helps bring them out, when should i do this?
Also, is it still possible to get an electroshock “device” to shock them out of the ground? Thanks!
Soak it pretty good an hour or two before dark and you should be good to hook. Never used a shocker never had to.
What about golf courses, they water all the time, are they a good place to look, or do their fertilizers kill off or deter worms?
I prefer my garden and back yard but I’m sure there are lots on a golf course too.
I have good luck in the yard. You have to water quite a bit and I have better luck on a slight grade or hill!
You could ask your local golf course if they’ll let you out but not sure they water enough to soak them out of the ground. Maybe on the greens?
Good luck!
When I was a kid in St. Paul I can remember watering the lawn for 15 minutes in mid day (doesn’t have to be done at night…) and coming up with more than enough for a days fishing…RR
I’ve got a shocker and it works fantastic. It sure beats going out at night trying to find them with a flashlight. Many will tell you that shocked crawlers don’t last but I’ve kept shocked crawlers for months.
All my shocker is is a thin (3/16″) steel rod with a non-conducting handle on one end. I hooked one wire of a 2-wire 120 volt cord to the rod and capped off the other wire. I’m not sure if it was the positive or negative one I hooked up. You will feel it buzz as you push it in the ground when you hae the right wire hooked up. The other end just get plugged in to a standard wall socket.
Push the rod down into the desired ground and wait a few minutes. The crawlers will come charging up and all you need to do is pick them up before the robins get them. Usually they will come up in a 18″ radius around the rod. Move the rod around the yard not leaving it in one spot for more than 10 minutes or you can damage some of the crawlers.
Eyehunter
I have a shocker handed down from my grandpa. Works well anytime of the day!
–Whitey
eyehunter- Can you post a picture of your set-up by chance? Also, do you unplug the rod when you pick the crawlers to prevent shocking yourself? Thanks!
I would like to see a pic aswell
I am unable to take a photo of my “prod” as it is at home and I am in the office right now. I might attempt to draw one out and see if I can convert the drawing to a file that can be shown on here if I can figure out how to do it. I can make PDF files of anything but converting a PDF to a jpg?????????
All I did was take a heavy gauge steel wire somewhere areound 1/8″ to 3/16″ diameter. Actually it was the wire frame from one of those stupid political signs somebody tossed in my front yard. I just took the wire out and straightened it. Then I took an old plastic handle from an old Minnkota trolling motor that had broken off, filled it full of hot glue and stuck one end of the wire into the handle. A wood handle will work just fine or any other non-conducting material you can think of. Then I took the plug and wires off an old fan that had died. Then I took the hot wire and soldered it to the rod right below the handle. Then I wrapped the connection with black electrical tape snubbing off the ground wire. You will only have one wire (hot) connected to the rod. When you push the rod in the ground you will feel a buzzing or slight vibration in the rod. That way you’ll know you have the right wire connected. My prod is somewhere around 36″ long including the handle. Sometimes I only have to push it down a foot or so and other times, when it is dryer, I push it down as far as possible. You can use any steel rod to make a prod. One of the guys I work with used a length of 1/2″ rerod. I think that might be difficult to push down in dry conditions.
You do not have to unplug or pull the rod out to pick up crawlers. Just make sure you are wearing shoes and it is not pouring down rain. I got a feel of it once or twice while picking them up wearing sandles in the wet grass when my toes got a good contact with the ground.
I try not to leave the prod in any one spot for longer than 10 minutes. Usually most crawlers that are going to come up will be up inside of 10 minutes. If you leave it in longer you can damage the crawlers still in the ground. I’d say I get about a 3′ diameter area covered every time I move my prod.
Eyehunter
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I might attempt to draw one out and see if I can convert the drawing to a file that can be shown on here if I can figure out how to do it. I can make PDF files of anything but converting a PDF to a jpg?????????
After you make your drawing, do a PRINT SCREEN. Then open up Paint (START MENU, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, PAINT). Right click on the white background and select PASTE. This will put the screen shot in as a picture. You can choose the BOX select tool in PAINT to select the area you want for your JPEG. Right click and select COPY. Then go to FILE, NEW. It will ask you to save, and you can select NO. Then a new background will appear. Right click and PASTE again. Now select FILE, SAVE and change the file type to JPEG. You should be ready to post the picture.
I’m curious to see the contraption. Thanks,
Lars
I was typing how to make a shocker, buzz, then the lights went out, buzz, lightning hit a transformer i guess, buzzz, so here it is again, i hope. I took a drop cord and striped the outside insulation down about 10′. I took both ends and connected them to 1/4 rods about 3′ long with small hose clamps. I didn’t use wood handles, i stuck the rods in the ground and went in and pluged the drop cord in the socket. It works best if you wet the ground a little befor you put the rods in the ground. Remember don’t touch the rods until you unplug the drop cord from the socket, if the wooden handle gets wet you can still get nailed (shocked) too. You can walk anywhere in between the rods when thier in the ground, remember to unplug it befor you move a or both rods. They work good and come straight up out of the ground, it dosen’t take long to get a couple dozen, especially at night.
I will try and get a pic of mine. It is just a metal rod bent like a cane with a cord attached. I do not unplug it to grab the worms-although grandpa always made wait for the worms to be all the way out of the ground to grab them–so I do still do that!
–Whitey
I’m having a hard time getting the picture to work but will try this. Can have one or two rods but tape up one wire end good if using just the single. Doesn’t seem to make any difference.
TO get worms all you have to do is take a 5 gallon bucket out in the yard and cover the bottom of it with dish soap and turn on the hose inside of the bucket and let the soapy water overflow into the yard and you will have more worms than you know what to do with.
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What about golf courses, they water all the time, are they a good place to look, or do their fertilizers kill off or deter worms?
I use to collect crawlers from the local golf course. Since they water very regularly there was always plenty of them to be found.
Oldbear howd you make those handles, drill a hole in some dollrods? They look like they could be barbeque utensils too.
Guys, be carefull with the shockers. Sure they work good, but theres been a lot of people killed using them. I’m not a big fan of being shocked, so I go to wal mart and drop 3 bucks for 2 dozen.
I made one of these a long time ago, before I got my electrical engineering degree. Although they work, this idea is on par with Lawn Darts! Hey, that gives me an idea, if we hook 120 volts to a lawn dart plug it in and throw it in the air………………………
I agree, the little that crawlers cost is pretty cheap insurance.
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Guys, be carefull with the shockers. Sure they work good, but theres been a lot of people killed using them. I’m not a big fan of being shocked, so I go to wal mart and drop 3 bucks for 2 dozen.
Most commercial shockers have been recalled.. Its best to just spend the $2-$3 and buy some, or order them online by the flat. Crawlers aerate your lawn and garden too..
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