And he won't buy worms at Walmart anymore.

I'm 50% sufficient now on wigglers and meal worms, taking only what I need.
Have...to....resist...the...temptation...to...harvest...just.....yet

I'm guessing I have about 500 meal worms that are from 1/4" to 1" in length that I started from a batch of 25 from Petsmart.

I have at least 500 red wigglers in my 10 gallon bucket started from the 100 I ordered off the Internet...and lots more little babies when I peer deeper into the bucket!

Hopefully by the summer - no more trips to buy bait!




Red Wiggler ingredients: Old grass clippings, shredded paper, banana peels, coffee grounds, bag of leaves from fall and a bit of sand.

Meal Worm ingredients: Oats, a teaspoon of powdered milk a week, carrots and apple cores.

Awesome drrouter! Let's get some pics of the set up!

Thanks drrouter... I will keep you number on speed dial for those times I cant make the trip to academy

Cool that you now grow your own

I tried that and failed.....bought $30 worth of european night crawlers (about 350 of them)....and that's exactly what they did...crawled away at night. I figure it's a scam and they're crawlin back to Houston for that guy to sell again.

This is my first attempt for both meal worms and red wigglers. The red wigglers are doing quite well, the meal worms are finally starting to grow too!

Sounds like a good operation. Nice Job "DR".

Use these:



In this:



To grow these:



If you really want to knock em' dead, use a fly hook, about a size 14 with the meal worms, a weighted bobber and just let the worm float naturally down in the water!

"Drrouter" you are truly the bait master next to the "Dafanman". Nice Job.

Congrats on your "wormy" skills. A few years ago I grew red wigglers. Was very successful in growing them - they multiplied like crazy. But they would get 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long and skinny. So skinny I couldn't thread them on a hook. They just never thickened up. I finally gave up and side dressed my green bean plants with the worms and "dirt" and had the best crop of green beans ever.

Let us know how yours do - and what you do to thicken them up.

...don't you mean master baiter...LOL Sorry had to go there!!

Actually Dr that is super cool. I was suppose to go check out your farm the other day and as we left I completley forgot! Hopefully next time.

I usually catch my own earth worms or night crawlers or w/e you want to call them. I mix Alittle dish soap with water in a 10 gallon bucket and start pouring it in the flower beds. Makes the worms come right to the surface. Something along the lines that they can't breath or something. Might be a good way to find some healthy breeding stock so you don't have to order online. Still cool though, I started raising self cloning crayfish in a small aquarium to feed my fugu puffer in my big aquarium. Was going broke feeding him. I'm sure the crays would make good bait but I wouldn't want to introduce them to an established native Eco-system

My wigglers are also a bit skinnier than those you would find in a retail store.

I've been told, and I plan to try, adding a significant dose of corn meal to their diet, which will (hopefully) fatten them up.

Having said that, the larger, older wigglers are definitely big enough to put on a hook.

Mealworms are much easier to maintain than are the red wigglers, you can keep them indoors without much of a fuss and they're relatively maintenance free. The wigglers require a lot more attention to the temperature, humidity and heat of their environment. And unlike the wigglers, mealworms don't normally attract fruit flies, other pests, etc. It's about as 'set it and forget it' as it gets.

You must be talking about marbled crays. These are very dangerous to use as bait. I know you said you do not, but I wanted to make it clear to any other who might see this as an idea. It only takes 1 marbled cray to establish a complete colony, reproducing a brood of 50+ twice a year. If just one gets off a hook it could decimate entire ecosystem of native crays. Folks please do not even consider this option.

I just wanted to make that clear, did not mean to hijack post I have traded these over the years, and anyone given to copied all information from license, and made sign contract stating if they were to ever get rid of them, either give them back, or destroy them before disposal.. Thanks

Ya I've read they can be devasting. And I have 2 big ones that have broods of 100+ 3-4 times a year so I imagine they could mess up the natives super quickly!

But they save me a but load on live feeders for my puffer fish!

Back to bait, I've always considered trying to raise meal worms, but it's never gone past the consideration part of it. Maybe I'll give it a shot though.