on the dwr web site on the general fishing forum ,some guys were talking about soaking the lawn and then geting a electric cord and wrapping the wires around 2 screwdrivers and shoving them in the (wet lawn) and pluging the other end in 2 a outlet, 2 shock the ground and make the worms surface [laugh]! and the best part is they say it works better with a few beers in ya ! wow is it just me and my cautious ways or does this just sound plane stupid ! (or maybe it really works not shure ?) but i would like 2 see someone do it before i ever try it [sly]
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I have done that and yes it works. The problem is the worms do not last real long but if you need some for a last minute trip they are ok.
The screwdrivers have to be pretty long also. The worm shocker I got from my grandpa was made from a paint roller with the part that holds the sleeve straightened out. If you stand too close to the rods when they are pluged in you can feel the current in the ground. The idea is that you shock long enough for the worms to surface then you kill the power and retrieve your worms.
Good luck...
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My Dad in his great wisdom and wanting to take his young boys fishing tried this. Although I didn't remember that working because his next idea was to dump a bottle of Clorox on the lown. That produced a few more crawlers then shock theopy.
I loved Dad's lessons.
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I have heard of this being done, but NEVER by plugging into an outlet. I heard a car battery was used... little safer if ya ask me.
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k, i guess im just a pansy then ! im gonna tip back a few ice cold barley pops and try to invent one of these here "worm shockers "[crazy] ! if i survive i will let u know how it goes now i 'm woundering if 220 would work gooder [angelic]!!!! just kidding if there are any kids reading this please dont try it !! atleast not with out your parents !!! so how far apart do you space the stakes !! now im getting a little nervios !!
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my grandpa built a set of worm shockers. he had 4 metal rods all wired together about 5 feet apart. they all had plastic handles. this technique was amazing. the worms would just come to the surface and lay there. we used to use them as kids and never had a problem getting shocked. sometimes you'd feel a tingle while pulling worms out, but most of the time the worms whole body would be out of the ground. (so no tingle)
but, as has been stated earlier, they dont last long. great for a day trip, but if you need worms for a weekend this isnt too good. but perhaps with a car battery, instead of 110, they would last better. i dont know. his set are in his shed- we just buy our worms now! but, they do work- and its perfectly safe!
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I am not real sure cause it has been a few years since I did do this but... The electrical current in a house is AC alternating current meaning only one side is really "live". As I remember only one rod will work if you wire up to both sides only one is really live. Mabey there is a electrican in the house that could clarify. So if you want two probes just wire two with the same live side or 4 to the live side. If you have a multimeter you could possibly verify this. You will also know cause if you wire two to the two sides one will produce the worms and the other won't produce cause it is not "Shocking".
Yes and kids don't lick the hot side and as far as wetting down the lawn that means moist and not standing water. In fact I believe that I never really wetted down the area I did this at, I guess it will help the electricity to travel further but it won't make worms appear where they are not. The worms just want to get the hell away from the shock and up they come.
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me and electricity don't play well together below is the content from another post were i described how we used to collect them in texas
[size 1]easy way to get worms at anytime night or day rain or shine is to go out in your yard and throw out some powered laundry soap next take a hose and spray away spreading out the suds which cuts off the oxygen and brings up the worms then just pick them up put in dirt and go fishing!!! [/size]
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We did this all the time with my grandpa. He made them with 3 foot long metal rods and wood handles. 4 of them about 4 feet apart. I don't know how he wired them but they were plugged into a normal house outlet. We then had worm boxes that we kept them in. We didn't have any problem with them not lasting long. If we took good care of them they lasted all summer long.
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That's right, all you need is a single rod hooked up to the black wire. This is a dangerous proposition but it can be done safely as long as you have most of the rod insulated except for the last several inches and make sure you keep away from the end. It works best to make one with a retractable sleeve on the end to avoid shocks. Mr. J.
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My dad built one years ago. It was just one single rod and all you need is the hot side of the outlet hooked to the rod. The earth provides the ground and the electrical current through the earth caused the worms to surface. I also bought one several years ago from Cabela's.
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DON'T DO IT!
A good friend of one of my little brother died doing this. He had a homemade wormgitter. He grabbed a worm that was too close to one of the pieces of rebar that was driven in the ground. He was one of the Finlinsons from Oak City. (Ok, so that limits it to about half of Oak City). I have also used one before, but got shocked pretty good once, so went back to just collecting them after rain.
Just a warning.
I know that Cabelas used to sell one that used a high voltage, very low amperage current that was totally safe, but I've never used it.
Matt.
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[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=201508;search_string=shocker;#201508"]Click here for another thread on the subject:[/url]
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