Earthworms make excellent fishing bait, and it’s actually one of the most known options for fishermen! They can definitely entice most fish species and save you a lot of money if you don’t have the budget for purchasing bait from stores. This is because you can catch them on your own!
But what are the ways on how to catch worms for fishing? Read on as I show you the different methods you can follow.
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How to Catch Worms For Fishing
Catching worms to use for fishing bait doesn’t need to be so difficult. There are a lot of ways you can find and catch them! Here are some effective methods you should try out:
1. Digging
This is the common and easiest method to catch worms. To do this method, follow these steps:
- Find the digging area, which is in black and moist nutrient-rich soil that has mulch and leaves around.
- Dig to the dirt with a small shovel, pushing it down until most of the blade is inside the dirt. You can use your foot to further push the shovel down, using leverage to lift the dirt off the ground.
- Now, check for any worms in the hole, digging further if you don’t see any yet.
- Look under any objects such as pieces of wood, big rocks, bricks, or other big and heavy objects that made contact with soil.
- Collect the worms, using your hands to pick up all worms you can find. Pick them up from their end side, which is lighter than their bodies. Avoid yanking them out of the dirt, which can break them in half!
After grabbing a worm, dip your fingers in sawdust, which dries your fingers from any slime when grabbing worms. This will help with your grip as you get more worms. Avoid removing too many worms from an area, as this can destroy the natural environment.
2. Dish Soap
Soapy water can also help attract worms! While this is a good option, avoid using it too many times, as the soapy water may affect your garden. I recommend you only use a bit of dish soap, so to do this method correctly, follow these steps:
- Mix ten teaspoons of dish soap to a watering can and fill it with water. When the watering can is filled, shake the can for ten seconds.
- Prepare the soil by raking off mulch and leaves, pouring the soapy water over it. Spread out and don’t pour everything in just one area.
- When you’ve poured the soapy solution to the dirt, worms will begin to wiggle out and to the surface. It will take a few minutes, but be ready with your container and pick them up once you see some already popping up.
- Rinse all the worms using clean and non-chlorinated water, removing the soapy residue. You can do this by placing some water to a container that holds the worms, then swishing the water for ten seconds. Tilt the container and drain out the water, catching any worms that may fall out.
It’s important to rinse the worms from the soap as they can die from the residue when exposed to their bodies for too long.
3. Pitchfork
Another way to lure worms is through using a pitchfork, following these steps:
- Stick your pitchfork to the ground, on the area you want to get worms from. The majority of your fork tenors should be inside the ground.
- Rock your pitchfork back and forth, using a constant rhythm and wiggling it in place. The worms will begin to surface from the affected dirt. This may take a few minutes, so continue to repeat this step until you see some worms start to pop out.
- Start gathering the surfaced worms. The worms will be in scattered areas, but you should still maintain the pitchfork’s rocking rhythm. Look around the area well to make sure you didn’t miss anything!
4. Storing the Worms
Once you have collected the worms, you can now preserve them for later use. Put the worms in a plastic container filled with dirt, decomposed leaves, and/or worm bedding. This keeps your worms alive as it’s still in an optimum environment.
Store the worms and the bunker in a cool and dark location, which should be less than room temperature. You can even store the worms in the fridge, though you have to be wary of the fridge temperature to prevent freezing your worms.
Place a cover on the plastic container, as they may crawl out of containers that have no lids. However, make sure that the ids have puncture holes, about six holes that are slightly bigger than the tip of a pen. This allows the worms to breathe, and without holes, they will die quickly.
Read More: Awesome Tips When Catching Eels For Bait
5. Extra Tips to Take Note Of
I highly recommend doing these options at night, when worms are most active. Also, the worms are more likely to burrow back to the soil when seeing the light, or if you shine light sources at them.
Besides these options, be wary of other suggestions to follow, as some give bad advice.
Do NOT pour any obnoxious substances or chemicals to the ground as an attempt to attract worms to the surface. Shocking worms using large batteries is also NOT the way to get worms jumping out. In fact, this can endanger the worms while negatively affecting the garden.
Do you want to learn more about using worms as fishing bait? Check out this informative video:
Wrapping It Up
If you want to save money when purchasing bait, you can simply capture your own! When catching worms for fishing, you’ll be surprised that it’s actually easy and there are many methods to follow. That way, you can focus more on your investments towards other important fishing equipment.
I hope that these ways on how to catch worms for fishing helped you out. So don’t wait any longer and start trying these tips now.
