When a regular container of 18 or 24 nightcrawlers are kept in the frig., how long will they last?

If kept for several weeks, do I need to feed them some cornmeal to keep them healthy and fat. add water, or do anything?

I have had em in the refrigerator for three to four weeks numerous times over the years and never had any problems. I also never fed em. On the average though a carton of worms last me a day. I usually go through five cartons a week.

Thanks for the reply Banker. Going through five cartons a week, you definitely don't have to be concerned about how long they will last. Recently, I've been cutting night crawlers into pieces before I leave the house and keeping them in a little corn meal, like we discussed in another thread. I try to take no more than I'll use, don't want any left over. I take a carton of super worms along in case I run out. The super worms stay alive and I can take them back home and keep them indefinitely as far as I know. Doing it this way, a carton will normally last several weeks since I fish for sunfish no more than one or two times a week.

I always carry two containers while I fish. I also have some artificial baits in case the bite is non stop and I will switch to a Berkley Trout Worm. I keep my fresh worms in a playmate ice cooler covered with an Coleman Ice Cube. You must keep the worms cool all the time. That keeps em alive and fresh for the next trip. I have five Coleman Ice Cubes and they have more than paid for themselves.

When I was only fishing with my buddy in his boat, I always kept them in a cooler also. Now that I'm fishing in a float tube, i have limited space, so resorted to the night crawler chunks on meal tip, plus a container of super worms, in the tube pocket. Glad the tip about cutting up worms and placing the chunks in a small, pocket size container with a little cornmeal was posted. Has made it easy for me to use night crawlers in the tube without needing ice. This forum has helped me a great deal, and you have been one of the helpful contributors.

I do not use ice or a cooler for nightcrawlers. I only stay out a few hours in the early morning and I usually have a few worms left. They keep for weeks in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator. The white foam cartons keep longer than the Walmart cups. I think the worms are bigger and healthier too.

The worms in the foam containers are put out by Magic Bait and you are right "Smithaven" they do keep longer and seem healthier also than the ones in the cartons and other brands. Just my two cents.





Side Note: There are a couple of other brands that use the foam cartons and it seems to me that their worms are in pretty poor condition. Magic Baits are the best.

I had a carton that I bought a couple weeks ago and had kept them in the fridge.
Yesterday I made a trip in the morning and upon return I left them out on the back covered patio.
This morning hoping for the best I went out and checked and they were all on the top under the lid nice and crisp.
They seemed to have died gallantly almost forming an SOS but to no avail!
Hoping PETA doesn't read this post!

And to think I don't feed em as well! Peta will have a field day with me!

Side Note: Jim: This Texas Heat even at night will take it's toll on night crawlers. That is way I always keep my worms under a Coleman Ice Cube while I fish! Great example Sir.

Yep, they won't last long. I carry a small soft sided cooler with ice and I got back from Calaveras and I had four nice ones for the pan that I had to clean, and I washed out the cooler and forgot the worms on the back porch.
Didn't think about them until this morning!....Ooops!

Smithaven, the night crawlers at the Walmart I go to are in the tubs/plastic cups. Half of them were dead and decaying the last time I checked them. So, I go to Academy to get them. Their worms are healthy, but they are also in the round cups. I wish someone near me sold them in the square foam boxes.

I know the feeling quite well Jim! What did you catch at Cally?

Fished from the bank between the two launches from about 7 am. to 10 using float and drop shot.
Started using the drop shot more and it's been working for me with a cricket hook above a split shot weight.
caught fish from daylight to about 9 and it started to slow down quite a bit.
Most were small 4 to 5 inchers but a lot of them all on worms, and quite a few small Rio's as well. Seems to always be a healthy number of Rio's but I haven't found the big ones yet.
Kept four 7 to 8 inch blue gills for the grease.

Don't use live worms very often. For me it is 95 percent artificial.

i've ben usin' GULP nightcrawlers on a jig and catchin' a bunch of perch, even bass/cat...GULP is good stink