Fishing: Night Crawlers

For the most part, lake fishing requires the use of live bait. Minnows and worms are far and away the most common bait, but occasionally crickets have been used. Minnows are purchased at small establishments along the route to the fishing grounds. Although worms can also be purchased at bait shops, my Dad always caught his own.

I say “caught” because they are literally caught, not dug up from the garden. When a fishing trip was being planned, my Dad would instruct me to water well the grassy space between the blacktop lanes of our driveway beside the house. Also, to soak the victory and flower gardens, and as well as the grass between the sidewalk and curb at the front of the house. When it was totally dark in the evening, we would go outside with flashlights, and search for night crawlers. One had to tread very softly as the worms are sensitive to the slightest vibration of the ground and would retreat into their hole. Spotting a night crawler, one would have to be extremely fast to snatch the worm before it could retract itself back into its hole as it always kept about a quarter of its body length in the hole for quick retreat. It took me a couple of years before I became quick enough and fearless enough to catch my share of bait.

Somewhere my Dad learned that we could more easily capture our supply of night crawlers through the use of technology. He procured two aluminum rods about a half inch in diameter and about two feet long. One end was filed into a point to make insertion into the ground easy and the other end was attached to an electrical wire and wound heavily with black electrician’s tape to serve as a handle. After a few feet the two separate wires from each rod were brought together and connected to about fifty feet of building wire and terminated with a standard electric plug.

In use, the two rods would be pushed into the grass about four feet apart. I was then instructed to plug in the other end into a regular 110 volt outlet inside the house. In short order, one could observe the night crawlers emerging from their holes. Now they could easily be caught because they were reluctant to return to their electrically charged homes.