Worm crawling - collection, storage and what to feed crawling worms

Collecting worms

Crawlers are among the largest worms. After all, their length sometimes reaches almost 30 cm, and their thickness is 9 mm. The head of such a worm is thicker and darker than its entire body. And the tail part is somewhat flattened. Light-colored crawlers are best suited for fishing. They are more tenacious and durable than dark worms.

If you live in your own home or have a summer cottage, then there is an exceptional option for collecting crawlers and other types of worms. So, in some darkened area, choose a flat place with rich soil.

It is recommended to lay old rags, all saturated with moisture, straw, rotted hay on it, and last of all, old boards should be laid. Just a little time will pass, and it is to this place that the worms themselves will begin to crawl. These will include crawling worms, earthworms, and dung worms.

You don't even have to dig for bait. Just pick out the crawlers from the straw - that’s all. Although such a “breeding ground” for worms requires care. This means that in hot and dry weather, it is recommended to moisturize this place. Just water with cold water. Now you will have a ton of worms. And this source will not dry up. After all, the crawlies will multiply in a favorable place, constantly replenishing your supplies of bait for fishing.

Where to find?

You don’t need any special skills to find crawlies. It is recommended to just take a leisurely stroll along the garden and park paths, carefully looking at everything around you. In those places where there are small piles of earth, they crawl out and live. If you move this pile a little, you will see a small hole. Most often it is covered with an ordinary leaf.

When to look?

It is best to look for worms in the dark.
It is recommended that in the evening you come to the place where you previously saw heaps of earth, and point a flashlight there, you will definitely see a crawl.

He loves to lie next to his mink. Moreover, the tail part of the earthworm’s body may be lowered in the hole at this time.

That is why it is recommended to pull out the crawl with the greatest care, so as not to tear its body in half.

This is best done with three fingers, slowly and gently.

Worms do not like bright light, so you should not shine a flashlight directly on them. After all, the crawler will quickly hide in its hole. And you definitely won’t have time to catch him. There is no point in excavating the habitats of these worms. This will not be successful because the worm holes run insanely deep.

Basic methods for successfully hunting crawlers:

crawlers leave their habitat preferably after rain in the dark. You better give the worms time to adapt. And after several hours after dark, you can go hunting. This is the optimal period for catching crawlers;
Even before dark, during the daytime, you need to select several places that are most suitable for crawling to live. Moreover, the vegetation here should not be high. After all, you will have virtually no chance of finding a worm in the dark. Lawns deserve special attention, including open areas between bushes and trees;
It is important that the flashlight is not very bright. Because crawlers never completely leave their habitat - earthen burrows. Their tail remains inside the shelter. And when even the slightest danger arises, they immediately hide. It will be impossible to get them;
It is recommended to catch the crawler as close to the tail as possible. And hold it carefully until it weakens. Under no circumstances should you pull the worm - you will rather tear it into pieces than pull it out of the hole. Starve it out. This option is more effective;
in the case when the weather is not encouraging with rain, and you need to get crawlers for fishing, there is a little trick. So, in the late afternoon, you should water the area of land where the worms are expected to live, and wait. After some time, with the onset of darkness, they will definitely appear.

Habitats of earthworms

Crawling worms prefer to choose soil with a moderate level of moisture as their habitat. Favorite places - vegetable garden, park, garden.

The vital activity of the worms becomes more active in the evening and gradually increases, declining by the morning. At night, organisms crawl out onto the ground, but only under the condition that the level of warming of the ground is up to 150 cm.

Fresh crawl is the best bait for fish. By the way, high-quality material can only be collected from damp soil, after heavy rain or when there is heavy dew on the grass.

Storage

The storage of crawls must be taken with special responsibility. Because worms are very capricious and spoil very quickly. Experts recommend using a wooden or plywood box to preserve the crawlies. For example, a parcel box is perfect.

If possible, it is best to put a little moss on the surface of the bottom of such a case.

But in principle you can do without it. Experienced fishermen recommend replacing moss with knotweed.

So, you need to put at least half of the grass in the box, or even two-thirds of it.

It is in this slightly moistened vegetation that the crawls are stored in the cellar, basement or other cool place.

If you need to store the worms for a couple of days, then they won’t die just in the shade either. But not for very long. The main thing is to avoid direct sunlight.

Do not store crawlies in concert jars or plastic bags. It is not right. It is best to choose a box, as mentioned earlier, with moss. Although the land in which they were looking for crawlies would also be a good option.

Selection of crawling material for storage.

Which crawl space is suitable for storage and which is not? There is a huge difference in the quality of the crawl space being stored. What?

During the collection process, when you grab the body of the worm with your hand, and then

neat

by pulling the tail of the crawling out of the hole, on the hand, over time you will understand this, a cracking sound is transmitted and heard. It looks like you tore something inside the worm. Such a crawl will not be stored for long!!!! In the first two or three weeks, the crawl will go into another world; such a “cracked” crawl should be used for fishing first of all. If you are a fisherman yourself, it is better to do the selection right away! Beware of corpses crawling out in storage containers, the pestilence is immediate. A timely selection “based on the health” of the crawl is a guarantee of long-term storage of the crawl. For the first two to three weeks of the stored crawl, monitor the state of “health” daily!! Usually a crawling that reaches death lies on the surface; if it is lethargic and does not react to light, throw it away immediately. If the crawl has already decomposed (jelly-like mass), I recommend replacing the storage substrate, with washing the entire worm.

What to feed crawling worms?

This may surprise you, but crawlers eat almost everything. These can be bread crumbs, cottage cheese, leftover cereals, kefir and much more. The only important thing is that this food is not salty. If you want to prepare something special for the crawls, then rolled oats would be an ideal option.

Moreover, it doesn’t have to be cooked. They also eat dry food. It’s just worth considering the fact that dry rolled oats will absorb moisture, taking it away from the soil. Therefore, you should thoroughly water the ground, add porridge there, and mix everything thoroughly.

Bran is also suitable as food for crawling animals. They are easy to get, and they cost much less than rolled oats.

Under no circumstances should you add leaves to the soil. Since they are in the process of decay, they absorb a lot of oxygen. This will negatively affect the well-being of the worms.

Feeding for crawling

Did you know that coffee grounds are a kind of treat for worms? If you pour this mixture into the same place in the garden or vegetable garden, then crawlers will crawl towards it and it will not be difficult to detect them. In addition, puffballs are also attracted to oat husks. If you have birds at home and you feed them oats, then worms will definitely settle in here. With simple feedings like these, you'll always know where to find crawling worms as your choice bait for fishing.

Crawling fishing

Crawling fishing is simply ideal for a large trophy. Because a small fish is unlikely to be able to eat such bait. Most often she cannot do this.

You can place the crawlers on the hook either in parts or as a whole. It all depends on what kind of fish will be hunted and what gear is used. Barbel, ide, bream, carp, carp, large perch and even pike or catfish bite well on a large worm, and gudgeon, ruffe, silver bream and roach bite on a small worm.

Crawls

Crawlers or earthworms are called worms, which are large in size. They were called that because when there is a good rain, they crawl to the surface from their holes. At this time they are usually collected. When compared with other species, crawlers can be called real giants. The length of individual individuals can be 30 cm or more, and the thickness can be up to 1 cm. This species is well suited for catching any fish. They are extremely susceptible to any vibrations; if you stomp loudly, they begin to hide in their burrows, from which it is extremely difficult to extract them.

How to breed mealworms

In addition to Californian and earthworms, at home you can successfully breed zoophobus or mealworms, better known in the fishing community. To reproduce them, you will need a solid and low, 15–20 cm, plastic box with a mesh lid. The habitat and reproduction of the larvae is prepared from flour, bran, small sawdust of deciduous trees and ground dried bread. The substrate elements are intensively mixed together and scattered over the bottom of the box 5–10 cm thick.

For breeding stock, the pet store buys a couple of dozen beetles, and in their absence the larva itself, although in this case the breeding process noticeably increases in the time it takes to release the finished product. The beetle culture is placed in a substrate, and the box is placed in a place where the room temperature does not drop below +25 degrees. After two months, the mealworm beetles will begin to reproduce, one of the reproduction phases of which is a grown larva or a mealworm needed by the fisherman for bait.

How to Grow Dung and California Worms for Fishing

California red worms are bred at home using a slightly different method from the breeding of crawling worms. This breed is heat-loving and subtly reacts to soil acidity, which requires a more scrupulous approach to preparing the substrate, which, by the way, is also suitable for breeding dung worms. For queen cells, take plastic boxes with drainage holes 30–40 cm high and fill them to the top with a substrate made according to the composition presented below, which includes:

chopped straw;
sawdust from deciduous trees;
manure;
chopped hay.
ordinary land.

The substrate components are thoroughly mixed together and moistened. After pouring the mixtures into the boxes, they are thoroughly compacted, after which the mother material itself is placed in the top layer. In the room where the box is installed, it is advisable to constantly maintain the temperature at +20, +22 degrees. These are optimal conditions for feeding and breeding of the Californian species of worm. Dung beetles can be bred at temperatures four or five degrees lower. These types of worms produce ready-made bait 40–60 days after the culture is planted in the substrate.

Ways to mount worms

When fishing, crawls are taken in storage containers. There are several methods for hooking:

In pieces. Thus, the bait emits a greater aroma, which attracts fish.
For the middle. With this attachment method, the worm does not lose its mobility and visually attracts underwater inhabitants. This method is good for weak biting activity.
Rings. Externally, the nozzle looks like a tasty piece of meat. At the same time, live bait does not have the opportunity to slide off the hook, carefully masking it.

Each planting method is used under certain conditions. When biting passively, it is better to hook the worm so that it moves on the hook. The “meaty” aroma is enough for active fish. Crawlers for fishing are an animal bait, which often outperforms their plant counterparts.

A tandem of plant and animal bait is also used, or, as it is popularly called, a “sandwich”. Live bait complements other baits well.

For example, a worm with corn perfectly attracts carp, grass carp and large bream, and adding it to pearl barley will have an effective effect on the bite of crucian carp and roach.