Red Worms vs Nightcrawlers

  By Ian

    Whenever I go out in the rain, I see many garden worms laying out on the sidewalk. They come in different shapes in sizes, from different colors and species. There are those long brown ones, those "jumper" worms. You touch them, and they start jumping and wiggling around. There are those sluggish purple red worms, that are sort of fat. There are other species as well. Go take a walk outside after a rain. You will see the variety.

  There's no mistake that freshwater fish love worms. I have caught everything from bass to trout on worms. The kids on the Buddy Program (The YFS has a "Buddy Program," where countless kids are taught fishing, and many have gone on to become avid anglers and ambassadors of the sport. You can view the page "Our Work" for more information) love them, as do the YFS officers leading the program. Creek panfish and fallfish are caught in large numbers, much to the glee of those participating in the program. There also are the memories of your first fish, when you were just a kid dunking worms in a pond. I had caught a 2lb bluegill on a worm when I was 7.

  As common as worms are on the ground, people still buy nightcrawlers in stores, for around $4 for a pack of 18. I feel like for ordinary applications, that is a mistake. Worms are easily found under logs and rocks, in the rain, or by digging. I have found the "jumper" worms to have a lot of action on the hook, triggering bites from nice sized fishes of all species. If you need a bigger worm for a larger application, however, you may need nightcrawlers, but for ordinary applications, garden worms will do fine.

Tight lines,

Ian