Any Worm Grunters on Here?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Good video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qro_Gn7Gdg

[fishpharmer]

That's unique for sure.  David, you gonna try worm Gruntin?

[WDH]

Company that I started work with owned 1,000,000 acres in the Perry, FL area.  We sold permits to the worm grunters to grunt worms on Company land.

[Jeff]

Saw that done the first time on dirty jobs.

[fishpharmer]

Mike Rowe is almost as humorous as Poston.  ;D.    Makes me wonder if  worm gruntin will work in other parts of the country. 

[doctorb]

We used to mix a little powdered mustard with a glass of water and put it down a worm hole in the lawn at night.  Night crawlers would pop right up.

[WV Sawmiller]

I grew up in Escambia Florida  north of where this took place but I did go fishing for a week with a pseudo grandfather there when I was  teenager. Plus we used to visit my grandfather in Dixie County Fla and fish the Suwanee River south of there. We bought earthworms that came from this area (Blountstown). I knew they had worm grunting contests there very year. Nearby is the own of Two Egg and their annual festivities include a Possum beauty contest.

The soil where I grew up was too sandy and not real conducive to earthworms. We had wigglers and red worms. My wife grew up in North Ala and they would sometimes vibrate them up. She called them Fiddle worms and the technique fiddling. They'd sometimes saw off a small tree about 2' above ground level then use the handsaw to vibrate or fiddle them up. I've heard of folks taking the chain off a chainsaw sticking it in the ground and revving it up to vibrate them out.

Where I live now we have plenty of night crawlers. They also grow to 10"-12" long and as big around as a pencil. Last summer I became expert in catching them. For best results you need fresh mowed short grass. They will be in bare areas but are really spooky there. After a soaking rain on dark nights is best. A dim headlight works better than a bright one and some folks use a red lens which I will try this year. You walk slowly watching the outer edge of your light beam. Look for movement, shine then shape. Movement is usually the first telltale. When you find him he will be partly out with his tail in a hole into which he will quickly slurp back into if alarmed. Often it is hard to tell which end is the head and if you grab for the wrong end he will likely escape. What I found works best is to pin the worm with one finger then determine which is the head end and grab the worm from the other side of your pinning finger as close o the tail end as possible. Don't try to pull him out too hard as he will break. Just hold pressure till he releases. Friends of mine say they give slack then pull. Evidently the worm thinks he is free and will release his tail hold. I find the steady pressure technique works better for me. I've heard of pouring dishwater on the ground drives them to the surface but I can't swear to it.

I'm sure other places have some bigger worms but really big ones here occasionally loosen boulders on the hillsides and start landslides and when caught have been known to dislocate someone's shoulder so be careful.