Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Keeping Crawlers alive


Recommended Posts

What are the best ways to keep freshly caught crawlers alive? What kind of beding should you use? If you dont have access to a fridge where is the best place to keep them? Thanks much and happy fishing!

------------------
"Power? Fame? Prestige? Nah, I'd rather be fishing"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fridge is the best place to keep them. If you have a cool basement you might get by.

There are several worm beddings on the market. Majic and Buss's have worked well for me in the past. Be sure to keep the proper amount of moisture in any bedding. Dont go overboard. Also dont use tap water for wetting the bedding. Use well water or spring water.

If you have crawlers so long feeding is a concern .. just sprinkle a little corn meal on the top once in a while.

When you add crawlers to the bedding, just put them on the top and let them go down by themselves. Any crawlers that are dead be sure to get out immediately.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually keep 1000-1500 crawlers in Buss bedding The whole summer without ever feeding them anything. If you do feed them corn meal DO NOT put a lot in there, You can kill them by giving them to much. If you put a lot on top of the bedding it will turn sour and kill the whole batch if not eaten soon! You can use tap water if it sits outside in a bucket for a day or two! Just my 2 cents!!

[This message has been edited by Rainman (edited 06-08-2003).]

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I use newspaper that I tear up and soak in rainwater or water from the dehumidifier. After soaking the newspaper I wring it out until its just damp. Add the crawlers and store in a refrig. They will keep all summer with out feeding.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have any minimums for the amount of bedding / crawler ratio?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to find a pile of old wet leaves, place them in a five gallon pail and add crawlers. I keep them in the basement where it is cool and I can keep them all summer long. I usually catch three to four hundred at a time. I just make sure the leaves stay damp and have to add leaves a few times as they must like eating them because the leaves disappear and the crawlers get fatter as the summer goes on. Sure works for me. Good luck!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Magic worm bedding which has the work to bedding ratio on the package. For the container I use Tidy Cat litter box with a lid that opens halfway. I also add just a little Magic work food as well. My work farm is then kept in the basement next to the air conditioner/furnace which is always cool.

To keep worms cool in the boat I use a portable cooler with an outside pouch that is large enough to keep a large Blue Ice in. When I am out for a long time I will put a frozen 1/2 gallen milk jug on the bottom of the cooler and add my bedding and night crawlers. I have another cooler that is like the work container that has two drink holder cups. I push the drink holders up for my aerator to fit into and use this cooler for minnows and leaches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.