Pet store bait

[catchinon]

Two prong question.

First, does anybody have experience buying worms (or anything for bait) at pet stores. My local store has a variety of "worms" in different sizes and counts. Any idea what might be best?

Second, does anyone have experience with European nightcrawlers? They are medium sized and tougher and more active than other earthworms. Anyone know where to get them locally? I don't want to order 3000 ([]) off the internet and hope they arrive alive.
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[TrickyFish]

I almost always buy my bait from pet stores unless I need something that they don’t sell. It’s almost always cheaper and they are usually better about keeping it in stock. I don’t bait fish much, so the only thing I really buy from the pet store is wax worms for ice season. Never had a bad experience.

Don’t have anything to add about the euro night crawlers though, sorry.
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[catchinon]

Thanks. They have various sizes of mealworms, not sure about waxworms. Any idea if one size is better than another? They also have some "Superworms." Anybody know about them?
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[pa]

For the last few years I have bought my night crawlers from Harmons Grocery stores. In my humble opinion they are the best. They are fat and fairly long as well as alive. Currently they are bout 4 bucks foe 2 dozen. As there are 2 Harmons stores within 3 miles of me so very convient .
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[TrickyFish]

I order mine since I have other uses, and I always go for the largest size. I think it is the most versatile since you can downsize if you need to. Just use half a mealworm. There may be some finicky fish that may not take it, though. About the super worms. I have never used them as fishing bait. It is actually a different species than the mealworm. More lively too. While I haven’t used them, they may be beneficial in “matching” some hatches. Maybe some stonefly or cranefly larvae. That is just a guess though.
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[Taggmon1]

I know you posted this few days ago. I have used the super worms from pet store for ice fishing. Mostly dead sticking or on tipups for trout at fishlake, otter creek and panguitch. They work great. But they die in cold temps unlike regular mealworms. But being dead they still work great and the stay on the hook.
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[FatBiker]

Picked this up at PetSmart this morning. It's going to make some fine panfish jigs.
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[Mooseman75]

Have you or anyone you injected air in your night crawler. They have needles for this, supposedly they float better and appear bigger. I’ve never tried it but seen it on YouTube a couple time lately.
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[catchinon]

Not me, but I've heard it really works.
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[PBH]

I understand that german brown trout take european nightcrawlers much better than canadian nightcrawlers.

But, we can't stop there. There are 3 known types of nightcrawlers: European, Canadian, and African.

to understand which may be the best for use as a live fish bait one main question must be answered: What is the subteranean ground speed of an unladen nightcrawler?

the answer depends on on whether we are talking about an African nightcrawler or a European nightcrawler.

Some nightcrawlers are migratory. Just like the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, the nightcrawler may also move south with the sun. Coconut husks are a favorite for nightcrawlers. They grip the husks using their setea.

Back to the subteranean ground speed question: in order to maintain subteranean ground speed a nightcrawler must move its setea 43 times per minute.




you have to know these things when you're a king, y'know.
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[catchinon]

You made me on two counts. I haven't heard anybody using the term "German brown" much since I heard it from my grandfather back in the day. He also called cutthroats "natives." The man loved to catch brook trout on flies from beaver ponds. I guess he remembered when the various species were introduced. You took me back to that time.

I loved the allusion to Monte Python. [laugh] When a student comes up to me when I'm subbing, sometimes I ask, "What is your name?" "What is your quest?" Etc. Few ever get it.

I was just re-reading your post to see if I missed anything before I hit Post Reply. Sure enough, I hadn't realized that you were being -in-cheek about the Germans preferring European nightcrawlers. You're a sly one, you are, you are. My quest right now is to catch some browns; I was all ready to run and see if I could get some Euros. Ya had me goin'. []
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[HeberCreeper]

I've been keeping some Euro night crawlers in a cooler in my garage for almost 2 years. I got them from Uncle Jim's Worm farm..about 500 for $20. They are quite hardy and easy to keep. They are also quite prolific when the temperature warms up. They are a bit more difficult to bait up on the hook due to their smaller diameter. I've fished them side by side and found them to work better when the fish are finicky and prefer a smaller presentation. When the fish are biting good, I use a Canadian.
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[fast_randy]

I love Wal-Mart night crawlers. And I have carried a small syringe in my tackle box most of my life for adding air. I think it might kill the worm a little faster so I only use it in mossy conditions. Like for instance: at Blackfoot Reservoir, most people use night crawlers and marshmallow to float it up out of the moss. But I have found corn and night crawlers work better. I thread 4 or 5 kernels up over the hook onto the line, and then my worm and a shot of air.
I was also raised calling them German Browns and Natives.
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[ponyboyf350]

One of my fishing secrets has been ordering from Rainbow Meal Worms online.
Huge, healthy mealworms, nightcrawlers, and various other potential baits at wholesale prices.
It's live bait coming via a delivery service, so be careful with the cold weather. Plan delivery accordingly so they arrive alive.
https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/login.php
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[catchinon]

Yeah, I bought some red wigglers at the pet store last year. Way too little to get on anything but the thinnest hook. I think the Euros might be just right as Goldilocks would say. If you have a few you would like to sell, PM me. I guess you live in Heber? I'm in Spanish Fork.
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[gaetzchamp]

Never bought worms from a pet store before but have purchased mice that German Browns seem to enjoy.


Gaetz
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[lovetofish]

I do this fairly often. I have a friend who is diabetic and gives me a few of his used needles. They are very small in size and I stick them into the worm and fill them with a little air. The float quite nice and it's better than using a marshmellow.
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[Kent]

Someone told me that the superworms worked great, so I tried them. I found that they died more quickly in the water than mealworms do and I had less success with them than I did using regular mealworms.

I second the recommendation of buying from rainbow mealworms. I ordered 1,000 mealworms from them for this ice season and they are still going strong (except for the ones that have been sacrificed to the fish).
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[mme1]

there is an add on ksl for European night crawlers,red wigglers and alabama jumpers located in salt lake[fishon]
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[Tin-Can]

I mostly just pick up a tub of night crawlers from a Maverick station on my way to where ever, but especially for the Bear River or Benson Marina if I'm looking to hook up a Carp or three for cut bait.
I don't think I've ever even seen European worms anywhere. I did use a few big ugly worms in the UK that the Brits were calling Blood Worms. Don't know where they got them, but the salt water fish in the tidal basin on the coast at Kings Lynn sure hit them hard.
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