Anybody raise/farm their own worms for fishing?

[zacattack]

Thinking about getting one started. My two sons are all about drowning some worms trying to catch bluegill and am wondering if I can buy worms in bulk or raise them. Just curious if anyone has done this and how successful you were.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Never did it purposefully, but had a few low/moist spots in my grandparent's yard that we would dump all of our leftover worms at for years. Eventually we could always just go there to get whatever we needed. I would think a compost bin and a few containers of worms and you would be in business- granted, I'm sure it's highly dependent on climate

Growing up, we did raise meal worms. Easiest thing ever. I had a pet lizard in probably 2005 and we got the worms to feed him. I think that original batch is still going strong. We just kept them in one of those Rubbermaid plastic square dish basins with around 4 inches of meal in the basement. Anytime there were leftover veggies we just dumped them in with the meal worms. There are a few things you can't give them but it's pretty simple. I used them for bait a few times and did ok, I prefer crawlers/red worms- but some guys swear by meal worms.

 

[Laramie]

I did it for a few years. I used them for fishing and sold them on the side and made a little money. Plenty of easy button stuff for sale to get started. Any more I just take the kids out hunting them once or twice a month to keep us stocked up.

Worm bedding - https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...8uJko-AAxXglmoFHUJDCqwQ9aACKAB6BAgCEB0&adurl=

I built a large wooden box with a lid but I have read that plastic bins work fine. The key is to keep them in a cool, dark place. My utility room in my basement worked well as it stays about 60 degrees at the concrete level year round.

 

[MTPipeliner]

I catch night crawlers in the yard by watering and hen going out with a flashlight, if I forget to do that I dig them in the garden. Try to keep a couple dozen in the fridge most of the summer, I’ve used just dirt or worm bedding in Tupperware this year I’m trying worm bedding in one of the styrofoam worm boxes that tackle stores sell.

 

[jayhawk]

No, but I knew two guys who were saving up for a worm farm before they moved to Aspen. “I got worms”. That’s what they were gonna call it.

 

[zacattack]

I did it for a few years. I used them for fishing and sold them on the side and made a little money. Plenty of easy button stuff for sale to get started. Any more I just take the kids out hunting them once or twice a month to keep us stocked up.

Worm bedding - https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...8uJko-AAxXglmoFHUJDCqwQ9aACKAB6BAgCEB0&adurl=

I built a large wooden box with a lid but I have read that plastic bins work fine. The key is to keep them in a cool, dark place. My utility room in my basement worked well as it stays about 60 degrees at the concrete level year round.

I was going to try the bucket method. Is there a way to tell how many will fit in a space?

 

[Coldtrail]

This brings back great childhood memories of going into neighbors gardens at 10pm with an
electric "worm getter".....a cattle prod looking thing that would bring worm and crawlers to the surface using electricity. Then we'd store them in a dirt filled wooden box built in the ground, ie..."worm box".

Thats right, 10yo kids running around barefoot after a rain shoving an electrfied rod in the ground......thats how things rolled before the pu $$ ies took over Lol!

 

[Smallie]

This brings back great childhood memories of going into neighbors gardens at 10pm with an
electric "worm getter".....a cattle prod looking thing that would bring worm and crawlers to the surface using electricity. Then we'd store them in a dirt filled wooden box built in the ground, ie..."worm box".

Thats right, 10yo kids running around barefoot after a rain shoving an electrfied rod in the ground......thats how things rolled before the pu $$ ies took over Lol!

Also used a cattle prod with a wooden handle wrapped in electrical tape and hooked up to an extension cord as a kid. Any time it rained was like Christmas morning and I would be running around outside with a rain jacket, this cattle prod contraption, and a flashlight. My neighbors probably thought I was nuts haha. If this happened today our parents would probably be getting a knock on the door from CPS

 

[Coldtrail]

Also used a cattle prod with a wooden handle wrapped in electrical tape and hooked up to an extension cord as a kid. Any time it rained was like Christmas morning and I would be running around outside with a rain jacket, this cattle prod contraption, and a flashlight. My neighbors probably thought I was nuts haha. If this happened today our parents would probably be getting a knock on the door from CPS

Yeah, the safety regulators banned sale of the commecial ones because of a few electrocutions and forced the worm harvesters to come up with a DIY variation......once the home built variety got onto the landscape things got way more interesting. I recall using one that had a residential toggle switch crudely wired in and taped on it for safety, so you could turn it off if something went sideways instead of makiing a 50' run back to the house to unplug the extension cord. Good times

 

[NRA4LIFE]

In MI, go out when it rains after dark and go after nightcrawlers. Throw them in a wooden box filled with compost and shredded newspaper. Worms galore.

 

[Lowg08]

My kid and my nephew farm worms. Dirt, scraps, veggie scraps and newspapers. They just either pick worms or buy a couple boxes or throw in what is left over. Saves me a bunch of money

 

[Xbow hunter]

European night crawlers are red worms are easy to grow. They multiply fast to fill as big as the container you put them in. About a month before you get ready to use them for fishing get a couple extra smaller bins to separate 20-30 worms each and put wet peat moss and chicken scratch in with them. They will plump up fast. Replace the bedding often and use the worm castings in your garden or potted plants.

 

[def90]

Growing up as a kid my dad had a "worm bucket" in the basement under his workbench. He wouod through in some banana, carrot, or potato peels every now and then and stir it up. Kept a couple layers of carboard cut out to the shape of the bucket on the top of the dirt to keep the moisture in the dirt. Every time we would go fishing you wouod just go down and stir the bucket and pull out worms.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

No, but I knew two guys who were saving up for a worm farm before they moved to Aspen. “I got worms”. That’s what they were gonna call it.

The only reason I clicked this thread was to make sure someone said this. Thank you sir.

 

[Burnsie]

When I was a kid, we lived out in the country - my best friend lived about a mile down the dirt road. Our yard was almost devoid of worms and night crawlers, his yard was a gold mine for large night crawlers. We spent many a night out there with flash lights grabbing them up. We often used them for Walleye fishing. Put a big fatty on the hook, pump them up with air with a syringe and bump them off the bottom. Good memories.

 

[TxxAgg]

We have a corner of the yard we compost.... fruit/veggie scraps, paper towels, egg shells, coffee grounds, neighbor's grass clippings, wood ash, and leaf litter. Any time I take a shovel to it there are dozens of big worms. I use the dirt on my plants and trees.

 

[pds794]

Like some other folks have said, composting would be a great way to go. You can make a little vermiculture set up in a Rubbermaid tote and farm worms and compost at the same time. Usually that's with reg wigglers though, not night crawlers.