Night crawlers

[Reelmaster]

How do you know if you have night crawlers.  Also how do you know where to look for them.  i am getting sick of buying them at the local fishing store every time I go out.

[Cider]

How do you know if you have night crawlers.  Also how do you know where to look for them.  i am getting sick of buying them at the local fishing store every time I go out.

Night crawlers are the biggest worm you can find.  Easy to identify.  They are the worms that crawl up out of your lawn after dark and lay there all stretched out.  Dillies and garden/earth worms are much much smaller.

Couldn't be any easier...just go out well after dark on a moist evening...take a pail or coffee can and a headlamp or flashlight...look in freshly cut lawns and you will see them all stretched out!  Just be quick when you reach for them...give 'em a firm but gentle squeeze and wait till they release their grip in the hole so you don't pinch them in two.

Be sure you know which end to grab!  The darker tapered end (purple/brown) is the head.  You want to grab for them just behind the "collar" section well behind the head.  Grab up towards the head and they will slip right between your fingers and back into the ground!

They are sensitive to light, so as soon as you spot one turn your light away or it will go back underground!  If the conditions are dry...just set up your lawn sprinkler and run it for a couple hours or so right before sunset.

There are a few great threads in the bait section on this site about keeping crawlers...lots of great info there!  I usually just pick a couple dozen the night before I intend to fish with them.  If I am catfishin' or bullheadin' at nite, then I pick crawlers fresh on the way to my honey hole! 

[fishboy899]

Everything Cider said.  I know how you feel all the nightcrawlers you buy just make a mess so if I go out on a night and see some I will collect them but if not I rarely use worms anymore mostly artificals.

[fastribs85]

hey check the streets after a good rainstorm and any parking lots near a grassy field or yard good places to look are churches usually have lots of grass around the parking lot and they wont go back into a hole

[raleigh]

At my old house we had a few big flower gardens that we would ( SOAK ) with water about a half hour before dark. After dark we would walk out to the gardens with a flash light and catch hundreds of night crawlers. Just be carefull not to shine the light derectley on them or they will slither back into their hole faster than the eye can see. Also, you think some fish give you a big fight, wait till you try to catch a night crawler after it is half way back in it's hole .

[nehusker13]

If you use a red light they wont take off on you when you shine directly on them.

[TroutFishingBear]

If you use a red light they wont take off on you when you shine directly on them.

You are right, in fact, they are ATTRACTED to red light.

[dogfish]

Another thing they seem to be sensitive to vibrations so walk softly while stalking.
Yes they can be found in parking lots and sidewalks when there is a good rain.  But time has taught me that these worms will not survive an extended capture.  My theory is that crawling on the hard rough surface must remove there protective slime layers?  So I would say if you are going to use them right away go for it but if you are going to have a "worm farm" to keep them around for future fishing stick to the grass and dirt.
Dogfish

[fastribs85]

i dont know about that ive never caught them after a good rain in the parking lots to go fishing was busy with something else