Keep those worms cool

[WV Sawmiller]

   I get out and catch nightcrawlers at night especially after a rain but found most were only living a few days in a bucket of sawdust and dirt even when I kept them in a cool, shaded storage area. My mom came out in late June and I took her fishing and bought a cup of nightcrawlers from a local bait shop and noticed they had them stored in a fridge. We used about half of them and after our trip I stuck the cup of them in my spare fridge in my barn and forgot about them. 5-6 weeks later I was going fishing and checked them and they all were very much alive. I used them over several trips and dug and added a few more. When I'd go fishing I'd keep them in my cooler on ice. That seems to be the ticket.

   I'd take out a worm and cut him into 1/2-1 inch lengths to use to catch bait for my catfish lines or on the jig hook on my jig spinners (Beetle spin type lure). Keeping them chilled seems to be working great to keep my bait alive even for weeks to months. 

   BTW - I found that using a jig spinner with the typical plastic wiggly tail  jig tails/grubs especially for bluegills and crappies such I find the fish often strike short and just tap the grub/tail and don't get the hook. I find using a piece of live bait like a cricket, piece of a night crawler, chunk of a minnow or crayfish tail, etc works great to increase the success rate of my fishing. The spinner attracts the fish then when they smell the live/cut bait they attack it with gusto. You might try that if you are getting a lot of short strikes.

[Ljohnsaw]

I thought everyone kept their night crawlers in their fridge.  Though my wife didn't always appreciate it.  I can usually get about 3 or 4 weeks out of them, though I really try to fish more than that!  I keep them on ice in my lunch box on the boat - they really don't like the heat.

[petefrom bearswamp]

When I used to keep night crawlers for long periods, I just went to the woods scooped up a lot of Hardwood leaves put them in a container and in a cool place and kept them all summer.
I would periodically dump them out and remove the dead ones, and once in a while add more leaves and moisture if needed.

[Wudman]

I put burlap on top of my worm bed (in total shade) and kept it wet.  Maybe I need to construct a few and get back to fishing like I did as a kid......Nope, don't think work would let me fish 10 hours a day; everyday.   

Wudman