crawler question?

So I just picked a coffee can of crawlers out of my back yard. Now what do I do? Do I keep them in shredded newspaper? Sawdust?

frabill bedding is sufficient. it’s more difficult than some would lead you to believe, but less difficult than others would lead you to believe. i bought 250 crawlwers and they all died. not sure why. i fed a yellow packaged worm food and the food went mothy. not sure it was a problem, but no worms. kept the bedding moist. THE book is “Facts about nightcrawlers and redworms” by george sroda. seems i need to read the book…

Go buy a big box of frabill worm bedding. Place it in a big tub or small kiddie pool. Wet it so its moist but not dripping wet, and dump your can of crawler on top. DO NOT mix in the crawlers or dump bedding over them, let them dig down into it. Put it in a cool dark place and only take out enough to go fishing. Keep adding worms every few days and you should be good all year.

also make sure you NEVER use tap water. Always use lake/pond/river water to wet it.

The book, Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers,
done by Fishing Facts, I heard is back in print. It is all you need to know about finding, caring for, and storing Crawlers.
Jack

I keep mine in a styrafoam coaler with the store beding. Follow the instructions on package to start. I also wet some newspaper and lay on top. I keep in the corner of my garage where it is cool. If it gets really hot I put some ice in a zip lock and lay it on the newspaper.

If I use some of the night crawlers I pour the remaining ones on the newspaper and after a few hours the ones still on the paper get tossed.

Have been able to keep the crawlers alive and well using this method to July when they are all used up.

The top killers of crawlers IMO are.
Heat
Excess Moisture (keep beding moist not wet)
Decomposing crawlers (Remove dead or unhealthy crawlers)

Added to whats been said above, when we had the baitshop we stored them in tanks with a mix of soil from the ground and cellulose befor the fire retardent was added. They eat the soil and you can also use a high protiene cattle feed crushed to a smaller size from the pellet shape they are. We picked our crawlers after rains and just laid them on the bedding mix and the ones that didn’t make it down into the bedding after about 8 hrs we put back out on the lawn. We rarely lost crawlers this way. You have to change the bedding regularily or when it starts to look like the bedding has been used enough or it will start to go to an ammonia smell, when this happens the crawlers die from thier own waist. Depending on the size of the crawler bed, watch for any bad smells just starting to develope, when this happens change it immediately, not the next day. Its very important to closely watch thier bedding and to give them something to eat if thier going to be in the bedding for awhile. Thier just like a pet, you have to take care of them regularily. Thier waist is a good garden fertilizer.

Frabill fat and sassy. Don’t need to add water and its not messy. We go threw 5 flats a year and when we change out the bedding to fat and sassy the worms get a lot bigger! Frabill styrofoam tote with the vents on top works well too for keeping them in.

We also add worm food on top, not much just 2 lines. I cant remember if that was Frabill or not. Keep them in a fridge and change the bedding when it starts to get wet, which is usually once a week depending on how many worms & size of box you are using.

And don’t put them where the ants can find them. We put the container under our cabin to stay cool. The ants didn’t mind the cool.

Worm bedding is easiest and cleanest to deal with. However a mix of dead leaves and good soil work fine as well.

I had the privelage of talking to Bill Binkelman from Fishing Facts, while he was alive. He wrote ‘Nightcrawler Secrets’ among other articles abut crawlers. This was before they had the refined crawler bedding, etc. If you can find a copy of anything by him, his ideas work well. I have kept crawlers alive & healthy all summer following his advice. He also had some interesting ideas about walleyes.. Worth the time if you can find it.

I’m trying Buss Bedding from Fleet Farm this year. It’s pre-mixed with both water and food. I don’t know how good it is, but we’ll find out. Luckily I have an endless supply in the front yard. F.F. has the stuff on sale right now. 2.5lbs for $2.00. Reg. price $3.69. Worth a try.

I’ve used Buss Bedding for many years with great results. The dry stuff that you add water.

A flat is a styrofoam container containing ~ 500 crawlers.

Unhealthy crawlers start to lose their plump…

It’s normal for them to crawl on the bedding and stretch out when they’re in darkness (nightcrawlers you know). You’re doing the correct thing by throwing out any dead crawlers you find. Dead crawlers can ruin the rest quickly. 69 degrees is a bit warm for them though. The preferred temperature range to keep them is in the lower 40s or even the upper 30s. You should definitely try to use a fridge to keep them cool if you can, but if you can’t, a cool basement will work pretty well too. Just keep them as cool as you can because heat kills them quicker than anything else. I’ve used both an old refrigerator in the garage or a small college dorm room fridge and they both work great. If you look, you can find used ones pretty reasonably priced.
Don’t overwater them and when your bedding starts stinking, it’s time to change bedding.
When you change bedding, a good way to keep only healthy crawlers is to put them all on top of the new bedding. A day later or so, check it again and when exposed to light, the healthy crawlers will go right down into the bedding and the sick, dead and dying crawlers will still be on top. Throw out the worms laying on top and you should be good.
Another good idea is to cool the moist bedding overnight in a refrigerator before putting crawlers in it if you can.

Shane,

Breeding crawlers is a whole different deal. If I were you, I’d first try to get to the point where you are comfortable with how to care for them to keep them alive and healthy. I don’t even personally know of anyone that breeds crawlers other than putting them in their lawns or gardens to get them established and then picking them at night after the populations naturally increase.

Karry

Dude, you’re taking this worm thing pretty seriously. Good luck.

We have always kept them in sphagnum moss from the marsh by our house. It’s really clean and easy to rinse out if needed.

You don’t have to keep yelling at us Shane!!!!!

This thread is pretty funny. No books needed to keep worms alive.

Step 1) Buy bedding

Step 2) Mix bedding as directed on the bag, if not already premixed.

Step 3) Throw worms and bedding in a foam cooler.

Step 4) Put the cooler in the fridge.

Step 5) Go fishing.

Worms should last for months. I’ve never added food to the bedding either. Take out any dead worms as you see them and you should be good to go. (You might have a few die in a couple weeks time) I’ve caught and stored an estimated 75,000 night crawler in my days. Happy Fishing!

Turn your fridge to its highest (warmest) setting and get yourself a fridge thermometer for a couple bucks. 45 -50 degrees seems to be the best. Once I did this the worms no longer go into hibernation mode and will continue to eat.

Nightcrawlers do NOT breed in captivity. Read any good book on care of the nightcrawler. The book will explain why. All other common fishing worms can be raised.

I have literally handled millions of them in my 71 years of life. As a picker and as a wholesale/retailer. When I was younger Greek immigrant pickers dominated the field in Canada. Later on immigrants from southeast Asia started to impact the practice . I have no idea where it is today.

The numbers of worms that professional pickers in an hour is mind boggling. A Cambodian youth that we met while in the business . Was said to average from 800-1200 per hour. A lot depends on the conditions . Of course these professionals are picking fields that conditioned for prime nightcrawler habitat.