Catching nightcrawers

[dean nelson]

So what's considered a decent amount of worms in a given area to be worth it and can an area get over hunted relatively quick? My yards so damn bumpy a guy could legitimately get a sprained ankle going across it yet even after lots of rain I almost never see any at first light even when the little guys are everywhere...mind you I never really went looking for them either. But last night I decided to take a look with a flash light and they were all over the yard with some spots having a half a dozen per square foot (some spots had none per 10 SQF) and I didn't even water it much just a decent few minutes with the hose after the garden. It was a bit early so most were still part way in their burrows but still picked up around 15 it 10 mins and probably saw close to 200 in those 15 mins. Mainly just wondering if I need to not hit them too hard so as not wipe them out since I don't care about a bumpy yard or have at it they can take it. Nice thing is much of the ground around my yard is a sort of park so I can rome well past the fence if need be.

 

[wildeyes]

i will pull around 20 dozen in one shot and not pull anymore in that year. I've did that for years. The only thing i noticed was the average size goes down but there are just as many. Now that all the neighbors know the guy in there back yard is me I don't have the problem with that anymore.

 

[deleted member]

I dont think u could possibly over harvest nightcrawlers. What u see and catch is a fraction of the actual population. But, i am just armchairing here.

 

[snow]

So,I read a post elsewhere about a system of gathering night crawlers when ever needed,in a area knowin for a healthy crawler population the guy said once the ground is satuated with water drive a steel spike in
a couple feet into the ground,fire up your chain saw and let it idle on said pipe for 10minutes as the crawlers will come up damn skippy,pick at will,no chain saw? attach a 12v car battery by wire to the post,the current will send the little rascal up lipidy skipidy.,Me? I pay $15 for 250 crawlers (1/2 flat)

 

[PrairieGhost]

Dean my yard is like yours. Darn near killing the grass in some areas. I picked 175 just under my pear tree. Didn't get to go fishing and they are getting old, but the Koi enjoy a dozen or two every now and then. If my Koi are really really hungry so are the fish in the reservoir next to me.

 

[dean nelson]

Just for fun I turned my hose on full blast and let it run for almost four hours. When I checked on it the water was covering an area no larger then the hood of my truck. The yard must be like Swiss cheese to be able to suck up that much water that fast. I'm sure my tree right there thoroughly enjoyed the deep watering it got though.

 

[Hookin8easy]

12v? Haha, made a rig for my old man that works real slick, 6 30" chunks of all thread w 1 1/2" pvc caps and nuts to protect the connections, wire in series all about 3' apart, stick in ground plug into 120v non gfi and grab as quick as ya can, been doing for years

 

[gr8outdoors]

My garden is full of them. I catch n sell to the locals in need. Charge less then gas station. The best I did was 12 dozen in 20 minutes. But have no problem getting 5 dozen in 10 min anytime I water. I use a red headlamp while doing this, doesn't seem to spook them as bad. Blue also works well, but harder to see them.

 

[Flatrock]

Is there any way to get rid of the damn things? Yea it's nice sometimes to go out and pick some up but I could do without the lumpy lawn. My wife's uncle said Urea will kill them. Have also read that Sevin will kill some of them but not all.

 

[deleted member]

That 120v thing sounds dangerous. No?

 

[Davy Crockett]

That 120v thing sounds dangerous. No?

Not if you pay attention to what your doing , I use a 12volt/110 inverter and my pickup , Its as simple as a jump start and works like a charm but I would hate to make a mistake

 

[lunkerslayer]

There are lots of ideas for catching worms but the grunting seems to be the easiest trick

 

[LBrandt]

Mike Rowe on dirty jobs did a nightcrawler thing. They would pound a stake in the ground and then rub a board across the top to cause vibration and the crawlers would come right up. I have a 110 electric prod that I bought 30 years ago, still works good when I have the time, and a long extension cord.

 

[guywhofishes]

the vibrating stick emulates large drops of rain hitting the ground supposedly

 

[Lycanthrope]

Ive done the 120v thing, gotta water the ground really well first and if you step too close to the rods, itll zap your foot a bit. Also a large percentage of the worms will end up dying so dont do this if you want to keep them for an extended period. If you power rake annually it should knock down the bumps pretty good Ive heard. No crawlers in my yard tho.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Nettles and raspberry bushes though

 

[NDSportsman]

That 120v thing sounds dangerous. No?

It's the amps you need to worry about.

 

[dean nelson]

I just did it the easy way and let the hose run for a few minutes and they had no choice but come up and had nowhere to run to when I grabbed them. Did a few spots and had a couple hundred worms and figured that would be good for now especially with the water restrictions going into place.