Nightcrawlers

948 Views 8 Replies 8 Participants Last post by boatnfish, Jun 9, 2003

J.C.C.

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2003

I know this sounds like a strange subject and the bassers don't do this but, some of us "eyes" guys and gals do. I was crawler hunting tonight. After all this rain I figured they would be in the garden inspite of the cool weather and they were. But I only caught 31 of them, all about a foot long

, but I missed way too many.

I was wondering how others that do this do it. I know my flashlight spooked most of them. I was using a small two cell AAA light with 2 layers of blue "overhead / flimsie" plastic covering the lens. Does anyone have a better light set up that works well for them?

I burried a five gallon bucket in the ground and filled it with ground up leaves. The bucket has slits in it to allow it to drain and lined with a fine mesh fabric so that water will drain but the crawlwers can't escape. They get even bigger in that bucket than the day I catch them.

I was looking to see if anyone has a better method of catching and keeping crawlwers and would appreciate any new ideas. You can't buy crawlers like these and I would like to improve my success rate. Any thoughts would be appreciated but please keep them clean.

Jim

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Dgreif

· #2 · Jun 5, 2003

went out tonight, caught 113 in a bout a hour or so in my front yard and garden, they seemed not to mind the light as much as they do the vibrations from walking on the grass/ground. tread lightly, and use the edge of your light, not the brightest.
to keep them, i always use a LITTLE dirt and alot of wet newspaper, they seem to survive a while on that and its not as messy when you use them.
hope this helped you out a little, i am no expert, just know what has been working in my yard.

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Mac

· #3 · Jun 5, 2003

I heard that a red lense works best......try that

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walleye mike

· #4 · Jun 5, 2003 (Edited by Moderator)

I use a red lense on my light. I get about a dozen per minute from my garden. And I just pick the biggest. Must have 80 doz. in the fridge right now. Went out only 5 times at 15-20 min. each time. Hard on my back. A good rich garden will yield more than you can use. I've been adding compost and leaves from the fall clean-ups for the past 13 years I've lived here. Mine is only 20x80 or so. One pass each way and I got my 15-20 doz.I get enough now to last all summer.(usually)

I keep them in compost or peat in a styrofoam box in the fridge in the garage. Change the peat or compost every month or so. And keep it moderately moist, not dripping wet.

You can see atleast 12 crawlers in this 2ft square area. Most places I have 4-8 crawlers per square ft.

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J.C.C.

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 5, 2003

Thanks guys for the feedback and tips. Nice to know I am not the only one that does this.

Mike / Mac, I will try the red lense cover. Not sure where I will get it but I will.

Dgreif, I am sure you are right about the vibrations. I even scared a couple in when I just set my bucket down.

Thanks everyone, and I am sorry for all the typos in my original post. I think I am relying too much on my spell check to catch spelling and grammer errors that I don't check back before sending. Too bas wi don hav spel chack on tihs slight?

Jim

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mark1110

· #6 · Jun 7, 2003

you can find a fairly inexpensive flashlight with a red lense at most any army/navy surplus store. one of those right angle jobs. Mark

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liptonbuddy

· #7 · Jun 7, 2003

You know what the best is? Watching your 79 year old grandma catch worms. Now that's classic!

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h2o

· #8 · Jun 9, 2003

Using saran wrap or baggie plastic and a rubber band around the plastic and flashlite. Use red nail polish on the plastic. Easy to do and not expensive... h2o Ask the wife don't just take her nail polish... hehe that'll keep you out of the dog house..... h2o

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boatnfish

· #9 · Jun 9, 2003

Head to your local golf course after dark, especially after a rain. They treat the greens with a chemical to keep them off, but the first ten feet or so around the green will be loaded with crawlers. Use the red lens over the flashlight and just pick up all you want.

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