Worm Bedding Idea.

[walleye express]

Just finished processing my summer supply of worm bedding. And I wasn't sure if I shared this little tidbit of info with you guys last summer or not. But with the change in the forage base and ecosystem on Saginaw Bay, yours truly has been forced to use more crawlers on my charters.

I was never happy about doing so, being I run 8 to 10 rods on every trip. And the mess left in a white fiberglass boat after a day of crawler guts and black peat moss bedding getting smeared around, well, sucks.

So in my quest to find a technique and bedding that keeps the crawlers happy and the boat clean, I stumbled onto this formula. I simple cut some newspaper strips and put it through our home paper shredder. I then soaked the paper under the kitchen faucet, hand squeezed it out and put it into a 2 quart plastic pale. I then purchased the crawlers in 4 to 6 dozen numbers, washed them all off in a pale of water and put them into the plastic pale and shredded bedding nice and clean.

To my surprise they not only lived quit well in this shredded paper environment, but thrived and "initially" plumped up/grew bigger in it. I always keep the pale in a cooler on the boat when not in use, and in the refrigerator at home after use, so they were always kept cool. But finding and using them from the pale was both easy and clean. I did try to replace the paper shredding about every 3 weeks or so, to replenish the nutrients that simple paper contains, and to keep the crawlers happy and up to snuff.

[roger23]

I use to wash the worms on the boat a couple dozen at a time then put them in a plastic paint pail with ice in it it was easier for the customers and many would even bait their own hooks. Nothing worse than worm dirt seems like the stuff they keep them in when you buy a flat is the worst .Worm fishing is a pain but it works

[RJF]

In stead of carrying the crawlers in bedding, I use cold water. The bedding never leaves the garage. Take 'em out of the bedding and put them into a bucket of cold water. Keep it cold and they can stay there for hours. The cold water actaully seems to make them kinda frisky when they hit the lake water. Boat stays much cleaner.

I still have green stains on the boat carpet from the green worms of a couple years ago.

[Still Wait'n]

Walleye Express, do you think the paper has to be shredded? Or can you just fold the newspapers up moisten them and lay them in a cooler? Just wondering if it made a difference.

[Rex]

Outstanding post regarding worm bedding. I have one additional suggestion: Don't use newspaper with colored ink. Colored ink print was lethal to crawlers in the past and I still won't use it.

Maybe the colored inking process has changed over the years, but this old guy learned the hard way years ago . Thanks for the post and sharing the technique.

[chamookman]

Haven't had that problem in My boat in a couple of Years. I just open that bag that says GULP on it :lol: ! Not near as messy, but stinky:yikes: . Sorry couldn't resist - Bob

[walleye express]

Walleye Express, do you think the paper has to be shredded? Or can you just fold the newspapers up moisten them and lay them in a cooler? Just wondering if it made a difference.


I tried simply layering the paper in years past, but the crawlers crawled between the sheets, and finding and pulling them out of that wet paper was like pulling them out of the ground. They really seem to like and thrive in the (Birds Nest Like) weave the shredder creates.

[walleyedreaming]

Where I buy my crawlers in monroe they are packaged in paper already and it does work good. I used to use the berkley power crawlers but found they didn't work good in the early season until the water temp came up a bit. I haven't been able to find the gulp worms in my favorite colors,do they have a good selection at franks? Any info on conditions on the Bay? Its gotta bust loose pretty soon I would think. Might make the trip Saturday looks like a nice day to be out on the water anyway.

Jimmy

[captain jay]

Dan,

I started that last summer, and will never go back to anything else. Keeps the boat looking much cleaner. Great idea.

Captain Jay

[gregm]

Man, my grandpa showed my that technique in the mid 70's when I was a kid down in Indiana. News must move slowly!!! ;) :D

Really, though, all the high tech, fancy colored worm bedding in the world can't beat shredded newspaper. Its the best worm bedding out there.

It does need to be shredded, though. The worms need the edges to munch on and it adds loft. I use one of those big 2-piece styrofoam coolers. You just flip it over and most of the crawlers are on the bottom. If you have a crawspace under your house, keeping it in there doesn't require Ice and you'll have as many crawlers as you need all summer long. Down in Indiana, we'd just go get them at night after a rain in our yard, or, if it had been dry, we'd go out to the local golf course about 1:00 am after they quit watering and it'd be just like it had rained. Those suckers would be all over the greens.

[walleye express]

Where I buy my crawlers in monroe they are packaged in paper already and it does work good. I used to use the berkley power crawlers but found they didn't work good in the early season until the water temp came up a bit. I haven't been able to find the gulp worms in my favorite colors,do they have a good selection at franks? Any info on conditions on the Bay? Its gotta bust loose pretty soon I would think. Might make the trip Saturday looks like a nice day to be out on the water anyway.

Jimmy


Jimmy.

You'd think with the NO-Show ice this winter, the Bay would have been in shape and producing guit well already. And there was a couple of days it did out in front of Hoyles, and even before that on Callahan Reef (to my surprise) for decent males. But things seem to be just a little behind this spring for some reason with the spent females. With the water temps right on the edge of good for the smelt, and water clarity staying on the cloudy side from the steady winds, some of the ducks are not in the perfect row yet. Theres probably a lot of fish left in the river systems yet as well. With no real warm or low waters to push them on their way, the walleye opener should be a decent one on the Saginaw/Tittabawassee rivers this year.

[Southend517]

has anybody ever used the stuff that makes your worms glow? You feed it to them and then they turn green or something?

Worms love to eat newspaper.

[Garret]

Good timing. I just picked op 40 or so off the driveway this morning. I'll try the newspaper idea. Growing up we had a blast going out on wet nights with the flashlight and catching a few dozen for our worm farm. We must of had 500-600 to use over the summer months.

Thanks for the info.

[martin1950]

Since I moved my pet KOI out side 2 weeks ago, I haven't hobbled down to the basement. Thought I'd better check on them and I was surprises that they were fat and sassy. But now I need to fire-up the paper shredder cause about 1/3 of the bedding has been turned into worm casing. It's been about a month now since I set it up and I ain't fed'm yet. Basement (Michigan Cellar) temp is holding right at 58degrees.

Martin

[walleye express]

has anybody ever used the stuff that makes your worms glow? You feed it to them and then they turn green or something?

Worms love to eat newspaper.


I never have, but heard that it stains your cartpet when they hit the floor. Also, another guy chimed in that says he uses the newspaper idea and adds food coloring to make the crawlers any color he wants them. I can see it now, "Firetiger Crawlers" used to win PWT event. :dizzy:

[slowpoke]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133765&highlight=slowpoke
Thanks for your worm bedding idea. Here is some more bedding ideas from an early post.

[c172driver]

Outstanding post regarding worm bedding. I have one additional suggestion: Don't use newspaper with colored ink. Colored ink print was lethal to crawlers in the past and I still won't use it.

Maybe the colored inking process has changed over the years, but this old guy learned the hard way years ago . Thanks for the post and sharing the technique.

I think all newsprint ink is now soy based. I shred any newspaper (black or color but not the advertisements) for my little red worm farm and have not had a problem yet.

[Rondevous]

I went to Gander and bought a large bag of cellulose type bedding for about 5 bucks.
Then I added half the bag to a 5 gallon bucket.
Follow the water instructions carefully, I used distilled water.
Then in three nights while it was sprinkling I picked over 35 dozen crawlers off the short spring lawns.
Soon I will start up the second bucket, with the other half of the bedding.
To get the worms out I dump the 1/2 filled buckets into a plastic bin and the crawlers aree easy to pick out.
Then I return them to the bucket, bedding and all.
They find their way back into the bedding.
All of this is kept in an older fridge in the garage set on the warmest setting.
Be careful how cold the fridge is set, or you might just freeze and kill the entire batch of worms.