Among the variety of baits for fishing, worms remain a universal option. Predatory and peaceful species of fish bite well on them, they are unpretentious in storage, and the variety of species allows you to choose the best option. Avid anglers are engaged in breeding worms for fishing on their own, amateurs prefer to accumulate the right amount for a single catch.

Types of worms for fishing

This natural bait of natural origin has several advantages - easy to find, the ability to quickly put on the hook. Appearance, behavior and size depend on the species - crawling out, for example, is characterized by medium dimensions, often found not only in the ground, but also on a hard surface after rain.

All types are suitable for fishing, but the following showed the most productive results:

• Large earth or creep. Belongs to the category of large ringed, the maximum size is up to 25 cm with a thickness of up to 9 mm. An earthworm is active when pressure changes, precipitation occurs. The crawl out may not appear completely on the surface; when the soil oscillates, it hides back. It does not live long in the heat; it is required to store crawls in moist soil. On the hook show long-term activity.
• Dung. Habitat - accumulations of organic matter, manure. The best place where you can dig up worms for fishing relatively quickly is the territory of farms, old sheaves of hay, straw. The sizes are smaller than the species described above, it prefers to form colonies, which is convenient for quickly collecting bait. Features - the presence of a specific smell, you need to store dung worms in moist soil in an airtight container. They have high mobility.
• For Australian earthworm you need to create special living conditions. In the middle latitudes of Russia, they are not found, they breed only in artificial conditions. Subject to the breeding rules, they quickly gain the desired length and weight, can be kept in an airtight container for a long time without reducing activity.

More often they choose creeps - worms are found in any soil, they are easy to dig up. They are quickly bred at home. There is also an alternative - silicone worms. Unlike live ones, they can be used repeatedly, no special storage conditions need to be created. Artificial worms are sold in specialized stores, or are made independently. It is recommended to buy factory-made silicone worms, as they are much more durable than homemade ones, and have a specific aroma.

Growing basics

Before you breed worms at home, you should decide on their type. The least whimsical is a breed of creeps for fishing. Standard soil is suitable for them, you just need to add a little organic fertilizer and bait. To make a box for worms with your own hands, you can take a factory model of a vermicomposter as a basis.

This is a box made of plastic, in the walls of which there are holes for draining condensate. The second container is made of a similar shape, but large in size. The inner box is inserted into it at a slight angle to drain the water.

How to breed worms at home:

• The soil. The recommended composition is humus and crushed cellulose (cardboard, thick paper). The ratio is 1:1. Humidity - up to 80%.
• microclimate in the room. The temperature should vary from +17°C to +20°C. Lighting is not intense, about 60 W per 20 m². The ventilation flow speed does not exceed 0.5 m/s.
• The breeding stock. The optimal number of individuals is up to 1500 pcs. For breeding 1-2 families, 1 m³ of soil is needed.
• Proper preparation of worms for colonization. Small indentations are made in the soil in which the worms fit. Then the holes are filled top part the box is closed. After 2-3 days, you can add bait.
• How to feed earthworms at home. As bait, you can use rotten plants, cabbage leaves, bread. Added to stimulate growth a small amount of coffee pomace.

Feeding with synthetic fertilizer is strictly prohibited. Also, worms will not reproduce properly when using chlorinated water. It is recommended to install rainwater collection tanks.

Where and how can you collect

The advantage of this type of bait is the variety of places of extraction. Traditionally, worms are dug up in the garden, but due to the relatively low density of habitat, this will take a long time. An alternative is a short trip to the forest or to the nearest farm. You need to choose places where the soil is fertilized with organic matter.

These tips will help optimize baiting time:

• The time is early morning. Increased soil moisture provokes worms to rise closer to the surface.
• Creating vibration. Small fluctuations in the soil give a signal - a mole may be nearby. This is also the cause of uplift into the upper layers of the soil.
• Collection and storage of worms in a sealed jar. Wet soil is poured into it first.

Ways to create ground vibrations are to stick a wooden stick into the ground and rotate it, or to put a metal sheet and lightly tap on its surface. After 3-5 minutes, the first specimens will appear from the ground.

Storage methods

In addition to breeding rules, you need to know how to save worms for fishing. If the time of extraction and the beginning of fishing is less than 1 day, the bait can be placed in a cloth bag, having previously covered it with fertilized soil. But for long-term storage, this method is not suitable, as the soil will dry out quickly.

• transfer them to a warm place for a day to increase activity;
• add anise or other flavoring to the soil to give an attractive smell;
• an hour before fishing, transfer to dry sawdust - it's easier to get the bait.

You need to put it on the hook carefully, the maximum number of punctures is up to 3. Otherwise, the activity of the bait will decrease.

For effective fishing, the behavior of worms should be as close to natural as possible. This is achieved by observing the rules of cultivation, extraction and storage.

Worms are very popular, in many regions the most commonly used bait. More often, red dung worms are used, however, in some reservoirs, fish react negatively to their specific smell. For other fishing conditions, you just need a much more voluminous bait, as, for example, on. Also, the crawling worm is often more affordable than the same red dung - even in the city, under suitable conditions, you can collect this bait, but you may not be able to find dung (except in fishing stores). Among other advantages, crawling earthworms, under the right conditions, can be stored for quite a long time without losing their mobility.

Features of crawl search

Photo 1. Creep out after the rain.

How to catch a creep? Many anglers living in cities do not even realize that even in urban areas you can find this bait, you just need to know where, when and under what conditions to look. What is characteristic, it is crawling out, unlike other worms, that they do not dig, but they catch it, and they catch it in the evening. The most suitable option would be an evening or night with a reduced one, while the probability of success increases many times over if it rained the day before.

Important! If there is no rain and is not expected, you can moisten the soil yourself in advance - in this case, the worms, which experience a lack of oxygen due to high humidity, will crawl to the surface.

Photo 2. Under an old log.

The easiest way to find this bait is somewhere in the countryside, but if there is no way to leave the city to search, then you should try looking in parks, as well as in any other green spaces - sometimes they can be found on lawns, stadiums and golf courses .

Important! When searching in parks or gardens, you should pay attention to the ground under fallen trees, under stumps or large pieces of bark. The chances of success in finding crawls increase if the tree has already begun to rot.

An important component of successful worm hunting is light and sound camouflage. The fact is that creeps are very sensitive to ground vibrations, as well as to bright white light, and when exposed to these irritants, they hide back into the ground. Therefore, when going for this bait, you will have to take care of soft, low-noise shoes, as well as a flashlight with a red light filter, which does not frighten creeps and does not force them to hide. Cellophane, or a piece of any other light-permeable plastic, dyed red, is quite suitable as a light filter.

Having found a worm, you should immediately gently press its body to the ground where it crawls out of its hole. After that, without applying significant effort, it is tedious to pull out the part of the crawl out remaining in the ground, it does not make sense to pull hard at the same time - in this way the bait will break rather than be able to pull it out of the ground.

Long term bait storage options

After the worms are still mined, the question arises - how to store crawls? Often there is a need to store such bait for quite a long time before it is used for its intended purpose. There are several ways to store worms. The most common option is in some kind of container with filler. In this case, plastic jars or containers will be convenient as a container, in the lids of which you must first make several holes for air to enter. A small wooden box will do, but glass containers are far from the best choice, as they can break at the least convenient moment for this. As a filler, you can use:

However, after a couple of days of such storage, the worms will crawl to the surface in search of food. If there is a need for long-term storage, then you will have to feed them. Food waste like potato peel, any porridge is quite suitable for this. Long-term storage of creeps is associated with the death of a certain number of worms. If the dead are found, they must be removed, since the substances produced during decomposition can quickly kill the still living bait.

Some anglers also use an alternative method - a fabric bag is used as a container, and highlander bird grass serves as a filler. The fabric of the bag is moistened, and the bag itself is not stored in a cool place. In feeding, as they say, with this method, the worms do not need, only periodic moistening and periodic replacement of the grass are necessary.

Photo 4. Air holes must be made in the lid.

Hooking methods

The way in which crawls for fishing, and any other worms are mounted on a hook, depends both on the individual preferences of each individual angler, and on the characteristics and food preferences of the target fish.

Often the worm is put on the hook in loops, starting from the head end, and a piece about 1 centimeter long is left to hang down. The bait in this case turns out to be voluminous, although according to some anglers, it looks unnatural at the bottom. Other fishermen pierce the worm only once, closer to the head or to the middle of the body. So at the bottom it behaves more naturally, although there may be an increase in the number of idle hooks.

Important! You should not try to hide the sting of the hook inside the worm - you will hardly be able to get more bites, but there will be more failed hooks, as the bait will simply slip out of the fish's mouth.

When using small crawls, they are simply put on the hook almost completely, bringing the sting closer to the end of the tail. In the same way, large worms are sometimes planted on hooks of large numbers.

If the main object of catching is a fish, famous for its ability to quietly pull the bait off the hook (for example, roach or dace), then it would be appropriate to leave the hanging end as small as possible - so the number of crawls pulled with impunity will be minimal.

Muckworm

This is the most delicious worm for fish and experienced anglers prefer to fish with it. Dung worms are short and thick, easy to put on the hook. You can distinguish a dung worm by color and habitat. Dung worm red, sometimes with an admixture of yellow. If crushed, a yellowish liquid with a pronounced odor is released. These worms are found in rotting manure or under abandoned hay, as well as in old greenhouses. The main thing is that the ground is not too wet or too dry. Fish of the carp family are excellent at this worm.

Earthworm.

It is larger than the dung worm, and its color is gray as dust. Sometimes it is mixed with pink. Great for bottom line fishing. Fish bite on it not so willingly and fishermen do not really like to use it. You can get it in the garden, where you can dig up worms for fishing. Very often, digging up the garden, you can stumble upon these worms. These worms hide in the ground at a depth that depends on the air temperature. The lower it is, the closer the worm is to the surface.

Subleaf.

This worm is bright red, sometimes tints purple. It is very easy to get such a worm, just go to the forest or other planting and look under the fallen rotten foliage. They live right below it. These worms are quite large in size, but they are rarely used for catching. This worm stops moving as soon as it is hooked and loses its popularity with the fish.

Crawl out.

This is a very large worm. It can be about a centimeter thick, and up to 30 long. It is very difficult to get such a worm, because their holes lead very deep and it is very difficult to dig it out. But you can take the trick. You need to go to the trampled paths in the garden or park and take a closer look. Seeing piles of earth and moving them, you can see round holes. This is the habitat of the creep. Now you need to wait for the night and come to the place. By shining a flashlight on the "houses" you can see that the worm lies nearby. You need to gently grab it with three fingers and pull it out, otherwise it can deftly crawl into the ground. This worm is great for catching big fish.

Green worm.

Found in a specific area. In marsh tussocks, watery meadows, oily soil, near reeds. Digging such a worm is troublesome, because it is easiest to get it in the spring, when it is not hot. In summer, it can burrow into the ground up to three meters. Great for catching medium to large fish. Does not freeze on the hook and is not torn by small fish.

Water underlay.

As well as the usual subleaf lives under the foliage. Only in aquatic plants. Can be found on water lilies or lilies. Carp and rudd are excellent at it, because it is their natural food and favorite delicacy.

Zheleznyak.

Excellent bait for predatory fish. Lives in clay soil, for example, on the banks of rivers. Such a worm needs to be prepared, kept in moss for several days, so that it acquires a lighter color and gets rid of an unpleasant odor.

In general, most worms love moisture and coolness, so you need to look for them in places that meet these conditions. In summer and spring it is easier to dig up worms, in late autumn and winter it is more difficult. Therefore, if it was not possible to prepare worms for cold times, then you need to go to compost or manure heaps and . The ground there is moist and warm, making it an excellent wintering ground for the worm.

Until recently, all domestic fishermen caught worms for fishing exclusively in this way. They went to their places of accumulation and dug. The situation has changed, which was influenced by the fishing market, which included this bait already packaged in jars. Fishermen, especially the representatives of the last generations and people living in big cities, "forgot" about the traditional extraction of the worm and realized that it was easier to buy it. In this article, we will tell you where to go, where to dig up worms for fishing, what species there are, where they live, what to take with you, and also provide some tips for storing baits.

Preparing for mining

The worm has appeared in fishing since antiquity. At that time, people did not yet know about the existence of such a number of species. There is an opinion that they were initially tested in practice by rain creeps. People have found that their elongated body fits wonderfully on a hook.

Most not only peaceful, but also predatory fish peck at this bait with a special desire. Gradual acquaintance of a person with Vermes (emphasis on the first letter "E", this is the Latin name for the natural type - Worms) has led not only to an expansion of knowledge of biology, but also to a variety of bait choices.

During the mating season (for all species in different ways), you can stumble upon a ball of individuals!

Later, people realized that these animals live in water, and in earth, and in manure, and in sand, and even inside flooded wooden structures. They are found under fallen leaves after rain, near the rhizomes of trees and shrubs. First you need to decide on the place of extraction. Where and what kind of worms live, we will tell in the next section, but for now we will analyze the standard ammunition of the getter.

You will need a tool. If the soil is very soft, then you can get by with a piece of plank or a flat piece of iron, a stick that lies at hand, and even do it with your hands. It is more difficult when they sit deep and the soil cannot be dug up so easily. You'll need a shovel. Its size depends on the degree of complexity of the work.

IMPORTANT! The most popular tools are small folding blades. They are sold in tourist shops, in departments for gardeners and gardeners. It is highly desirable that the bayonet of the shovel is securely held on the handle, does not bend, does not break.

A little more in size - an army "sapper". Such a shovel, by the way, is very reliable, even more practical than modern factory goods. In difficult situations, we take an ordinary bayonet two-handed shovel.

When digging, consider the size of the hook. If, for example, you are going to catch small fish, then you do not need healthy individuals. Experienced anglers, just in case, take half of the large worms, and the other - smaller.

Accumulated worms should be put in a container. It can be a mayonnaise bucket, a coffee can, or a sealed container to store food. Whatever it is, you definitely need a tight lid so that they don’t crawl out, and holes for breathing (Vermes also need oxygen).

If, roughly speaking, you go fishing right now, then we only put worms in the jar. For longer storage, it is necessary to put their native soil there (in which they dug), it should take about half the container.

The prey container, tools and hands must be clean - this is for fish whims. Any foreign smell will scare away the inhabitants of the reservoir.

Digging process

Fortunately, almost all people know how to dig, but there is a nuance in the extraction itself. Here are some tips:

• try not to make sudden movements during the process, this will reduce the number of worms chopped with a shovel. We also take “Marriage” with us - it will go as an additive to bait;
• do not forget to break the lumps - they can also sit in them. We try to do this with the blunt parts of the shovel so as not to chop;
• it is better to close the container more often so that they do not crawl out while you are digging. Although worms crawl, they are quite dexterous creatures;
• if you saw the end of a worm in a part of the soil, then you do not need to pull it out (the body will tear), but dig it out;
• The biggest mistake of beginners is to pour water into the container. It is absolutely impossible to do this, it is enough to slightly moisten the soil as it dries with non-chlorinated water (preferably from a reservoir). Worms from excess fluid will either die or become watery. Here, leeches, for example, is another question;
• you can’t put worms in one container with maggots. The first of the last are eaten with great speed.

IMPORTANT! It is necessary to feed. Breadcrumbs or small bread crumbs are great. During long fishing, the worms will eat all the particles of nutrients in the soil - you need additional food. Also, the fishermen pour them a little broth from the soup.

Species and habitats

First, let's break the myths about the representatives of the genus Vermes. The main myth: there are dung, earth, red, gray, white, mud, and there are also earthworms. Wrong. All of the above (in fact, there are more of them) are the conditional names of species that are combined into one family - Lumbricidae. That's what they call earthworms. They are included in Type Annelids, a detachment of higher low-bristle (oligochaetes) - these are the representatives used for fishing.

1 - tetrahedral, 2 - fetid, 3 - allopophora, 4 - reddish, and 5 - crawling out.

Almost every species lives in a specific environment, and it may suit the preferences of individual fish. We will give conditional names.

Dung

To search for this representative, you should go to places resembling a village or a village. We need to find the manure heaps that the local population creates by cleaning out the cowsheds. Here you will find two types of worms that live in such piles:

• rainy fetid;
• red dung;
• California red.

The California worm was specially bred with the desired result in mind. It reproduces very quickly, so you can even stumble upon such clusters.

The second myth: fetid, which means it smells bad - the fish will not peck. Wrong judgment, because fish are afraid of an unnatural, hostile smell. And such ringed representatives have long been familiar to them. A strong smell, on the contrary, has a good effect on attracting the inhabitants of reservoirs, so rural fishermen almost always catch the fetid worm.

Californian is the result of artificial crossing. These animals were specially bred in the USA for agriculture, so that they could withstand all conditions and perform the main work - they loosened, enriched the soil on plantations, fields, and in greenhouses. Since then, it lives almost everywhere, this worm is also common in our country. You may have seen worms in dung that are reddish on the front and paler on the back.

Three of these species live in the ground, but they wait until people dump the manure, and only after that they fill the heap. Red dung is completely painted in the corresponding color. The same species are found in the usual environment, but manure is their main delicacy.

Creep out

The most common worm in any area where there are trees, earth, grass and bushes. It was the crawl that gave rise to the spread of the myth of earthworms. The name speaks for itself - crawls out during the rain. They can also be found by digging shallowly near the roots of bushes and trees or tearing off the turf. By the way, creeps can reach 30 or even 40 centimeters!

Mud Resident

Very impressive specimens live on overgrown swamps, oxbow lakes, ponds and lakes. They can reach 50 meters in length, and are commensurate in width with the index finger. Such large worms are rare. Basically, a little less. These individuals live on banks overgrown with reeds, cattails, reeds or arrowheads, filled with a large amount of mud. There they feed on larvae. You will need to somehow approach, so as not to fail. For example, build a path and start digging. Their bodies are strong, fleshy, but the activity of this species is lower. They sit shallow, sometimes found on the surface. Such a worm is good to use on catfish as bait. It will fit a large hook. It can also be chopped into bait. It will be enough 5-6 pieces per kilogram of the mixture.

It is believed that ordinary worms live in mud, which have evolved in size due to excellent living conditions.

This individual should not be confused with the red dung species. You have probably come across a reddish worm while digging through the top layers of humus. It gives a reddish-brown tint, sometimes there are purple scales on the back. Another distinctive feature is the mother-of-pearl surface. Strong body, high activity, so be careful - it can escape quickly.

The photo clearly shows a pearly bluish tint in the light

Allopophora

Roach is actively attacking such worms. In form, it does not differ from many representatives of the allopophore; its main distinguishing feature is added to the correct name: “Yellowish-green”. Individuals are found everywhere, especially rotting foliage, gardens, kitchen gardens and steep banks. You don’t have to dig deep if we are talking about highly moistened soil. In less moist soils, it sits too deep - it will take a long time to work.

Tetrahedral

Not the whole body, of course, but only the middle and back parts of it. There, the tetrahedral is quite noticeable, hence the Latin name - Eiseniella tetraedra. It is small in length - from 3 to 5 centimeters. It should be dug only on wet soils, and this worm is also often found on the wet banks of reservoirs. It can also be found under damp moss.

By the second name, most likely, you will recognize this representative - Dendraben. Very tenacious and active individual. It has something of a reddish appearance and of a foul-smelling (rings on the segments) dung beetle. The body is fleshy. That is why he deserved special popularity among fishermen. This is also an artificial hybrid, bred in Europe for agriculture. You can dig it out of humus; in the wild, Belgian creeps have already spread widely. The condition is moisture and saturation of the soil with nutrients.

Dendrabena is even resistant to many chemicals found in the ground. This does not mean at all that such a bait is suitable for fishing.

Other representatives

We have listed the most basic worms that are found in our zones. There are, of course, many other species, such as the sandy polychaete. It lives mainly in the corresponding soils along the shores of the seas or river deltas. It is practically not necessary to dig these worms - fishermen look for them by characteristic tubercles. Many of the annelid worms are not amenable to catching, either due to their too thin body, or because they are problematic to get. The most popular among fishermen are dung species. The leech is also an annelids used to catch catfish, for example. It is not necessary to dig them out of the mud: throw a piece of meat (preferably with blood) right at the shore, they will attack it in a few minutes.

It is worth storing them, maintaining nutrition, humidity and temperature. They do best in cool soil. By temperature - a refrigerator set to low power, a cellar or basement. In the heat, the worms die out - these are no longer suitable for fishing. You can also not go digging all the time, but once visit the habitat, take a bucket, there is soil and about 40 individuals. They will live, multiply - there is no longer any need to buy or go.

Where you can find worms for fishing - every angler knows. These are places where moisture accumulates - in the shade behind the barn, under logs and boards. In general, where the soil does not dry out for a long time after the rain.

Here you can easily collect worms without even digging deep into the ground.

Also excellent worms for fishing can be found in the compost pit. Here they are thick, fat, bright red. Not a single crucian will swim past.

And what if for not a single drop of rain. Is the whole earth dry, like a desert? Let's talk about one trick that will help out in a similar situation.

Two sticks

You need to find any two sticks. One of them sharpen the end on one side.

This pointed stick must be stuck in the place in the ground where worms can be found most often. You don't have to dig too deep. 10 - 12 centimeters is quite enough.

With the second stick, you need to make sawing movements so that the vibration is transmitted under the soil. After a while, worms will crawl out in large numbers. They just need to be collected in a jar.

Why is this happening?

The vibration under the ground reminds the worms of the approach of a dangerous beast for them - a mole, and therefore they rush to crawl out for the purpose of self-preservation.

Well, outside, another danger awaits them, about which they did not even suspect - this is a man whose plans are fishing.