Keeping bait fresh

[Mildog]

I also started my sporting goods career catching worms ! The place I lived when I was in High School was loaded with crawlers all I had to do was flood the lawns and they would come up. I used to joke I made a mistake not staying in the bait business !! (seriously) Once I got a call from the shop I ended up working for and even became a part owner of (that's another long story) the shop was in a crisis and needed crawlers very badly. I asked him how many and he said I will take whatever you can bring me. Since I knew all my neighbors and mowed their lawns and had permission, I was good to go. I set out a few hoses had a bit to eat and then proceeded to collect as many crawlers as I could in an hour. I had a container that would hold 100 crawlers so I could count them quickly. I ended up with 2000 plus crawlers. I rounded it down to to even 2000 to be sure I was not shorting them. I rushed down and delivered the crawlers and got $29 bucks per 1000 back them so I made $58 bucks in about an hour of work!!!!! I don't think I have ever equaled that since LOL. That was a lot of money back then ( I think I started at the shop for 3 bucks an hour, thank goodness I supplemented my income for few more years with the crawlers) ! I got an interrogation from store owner when I brought them in, on how did I get so many crawlers so fast and they better not be electric shocked and die on them. I told him that was my secret but I guaranteed they were not shocked and they would be fine when packaged into bedding and kept cold.
I ended up working at the store for 25 years ! I started at the bottom. I built a bedding box to store crawlers in and also packaged as well as worked the floor helping customers. Back then used to use Buss Bedding not sure it is even made anymore, I think it was made from ground up recycled newspapers. It kept worms great if they were kept cool, and so much less mess than the dirt they are usually packed in.
One other interesting note. People think worms drown, and that's why they come up when flooded. I don't think so. I think they come up because the wet ground being compressed around them. Not sure but that's my theory. As far as not drowning, here is some info on that.
We had a large fish tank at teh shop, one of my jobs was to clean it periodically. I used to find crawlers in the big filter container batting that we used every tiem I cleaned out the tank, as they would occasionally get sucked into the filter before the fish got them. They were alive and well and got to try another shot at evading the hungry tank fish. One of our owners had a smaller tank in his office with some game fish in ( back then it was easier to get a permit to have game fish. He had a couple bass and a crappie. He added a green sunfish and it eventually killed every fish in the tank by biting fins and scales off them. ( Green Sunfish are very aggressive fish ) He also eventually died. Well the tank sat there empty but with the filter and aerator still running for a few weeks. One day he noticed some thing moving and checked it out it was a couple crawlers that were still living in the gravel bottom of the tank. So I assume they were getting enough oxygen from the water.???
I have fond memories from the old days at the shop, met so many great people and learned a lot over the years from so many.
That's where I met Tube Dude back in the day and shared many a day on the water chasing finny critters in our tubes. There's a few stories there I can say !!!

Mildog out

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Here is a tip I learned from an Excellent Walley Angler that was a co-worker of mine at the fishing store we both worked at.
This will sound crazy, but try it and you will be amazed at how well it works.
Take the crawlers you think you will need for your outing and remove them from the bedding and or container they were stored or purchased in. Then, its best to use an insulated beverage type container or similar to that. Place a couple cups of water and plenty of ice cubes or crushed ice in to the container. You will want PLENTY OF ICE in the water. Then place the crawlers into the container in the ice water bath. Add ice as needed through the day if it is melting away. NEVER LET THEM SIT IN WARM WATER. The crawlers will firm and plump and will stay great all day, as long as there is plenty of ice in the water mixture and they don't get warm. You want them Icy cold and wet. If No water, Just ice they will freeze. Many times at the end of the day I will remove any WHOLE leftover crawlers and place them back in bedding in the container and put them in the fridge. My wife isn't too thrilled but she tolerates it, and she can attest they will keep for several months. (done it many times)Just check every couple of weeks, shake them up a bit and add just a few drops of water if needed and turn the container over for a few days. You do not want the bedding to get too wet, they will die. Not a pleasant thing to have in the fridge. LOL
Sounds crazy but it works awesome. and much nicer to handle the worms without bedding or dirt getting all over Boat, tube hands etc. I have used this method many times over 40 years it works.

TRY IT YOU WILL BE PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS !

The fellow angler that taught me this was Greg Jonas. Some of you may remember him, I think Pat Tube Dude will. Sadly he passed away one morning when he tried to swim out to retrieve his boat.
It was an early morning after a night excursion chasing walleye at Deer Creek, his boat had drifted away as he went to get his truck to trailer his boat. He drowned in less than 10 feet of water not far from the ramp.
The reason I mention this is two fold, one is to remember and pay tribute to a great guy and angler and Two, WARN OTHERS. Never try to swim after your boat with out a life jacket. Your boat is not worth your life. I had another friend do this once and he just barely made it and came close to drowning, when he reached his boat he was too weak to climb in. On what he figures was his last attempt before he succumbed to hypothermia he made it in and took several hours to recover but luckily he survived. Fortunately he was wearing a life jacket it almost certainly saved his life.
Tight lines
Mildog

There are still a few of us who fondly remember Greg.  Here is a picture of him holding a nice brown caught through the ice at Deer Creek...the first winter it was open to ice fishing...perch only.


Pat,

Great picture, I was doing some straightening today ( should be fishing) and ran across and old photo album book from the shop, that Bonnie rescued in the final days and gave to me. I was not there when that happened. I found a few pictures of Greg of that Vintage, looked just like that. One with a big Northern, he used to love chasing them in NV lakes that had some trophies back then. Thanks for posting.
Great memories !!
Mildog out