Wormbeds

Wormbeds are an economical way to have a constant supply of live worms for fishing. Also, they provide a source of one of the best natural fertilizers... worm tea.

There are many types of bait that can be used for catching fish. My favorite is live worms. You can raise worms yourself, grub for them, or buy them.

My grandmother raised worms in one corner of her backyard. This supplied an abundant amount of bait over the years for our fishing expeditions.

Most weekends were spent helping my grandmother with yard work. One of the chores was cutting grass. Some of the grass trimming were always dumped on the wormbeds. Egg shells, potato peels, cornmeal, tea and coffee grounds were also placed in it to provide food. During dry weather she would use the water hose to keep it moist enough for the worms to thrive.

Anytime we wanted worms, we would go out to the wormbeds and roll back the layers until we found where the worms were hiding and fill a coffee can with as many as we needed. Then we would head off to the pond for a few hours of fishing fun.

My mother taught me another way of finding worms called grubbing for worms. It works by finding a wet area where worms live, taking a tobacco stick or 1 x 1 sized stick and driving it down into the ground about a foot. Then take a small brick or a block of wood and rub back and forth across the top of the stick. This causes vibrations in the ground that runs the worms to the surface of the dirt and they can be picked up and placed in a container with a little dirt while you get enough to take fishing. 

There are other ways to find worms without buying them. Walk around outside after a heavy rain and you can find them in and around mud puddles where they have come to the surface for air. Look under clumps of grass or pieces of tin or lumber laying on the ground can sometimes result in worms or crickets. Be sure to watch out for snakes and spiders when using this method.

Be sure to check out our Bait page for more choices of baits.

Regardless of the bait you use or the method used to attain your bait, may every fishing trip be productive and relaxing.