I need to extend a thank you to andy, E. Sub and others that discussed night crawler collecting and the keeping of them earlier this year. I've always wanted to collect my own, but never got motivated enough. Their pictures definitely were motivating!

Anyway, the most I have ever found in my own yard has been 2. Not 2 dozen, but 2! Its been disappointing. But my parents yard, only 6 blocks away, is loaded. I finally made out there after dark one night and picked about 5 dozen...perfect for the round up. Made it out again, got another 5 dozen and they lasted a couple weeks. 10 dozen at say an average of $2 a dozen...that's gas money for a couple local fishing trips!

Last weekend I was at the in-laws and was running low. I was disappointed that I was going to have to buy some before I headed out the next morning. And then it finally clicked...as I walked through their yard, I looked at their garden. Why didn't I think of that before!! They live in country and have a 100ft x 50ft garden. That's 5000 sq ft of potential crawler paradise! I waited to dark, shined a flashlight across the dirt to see if any were out and...

You know how women tend to get excited when they see a shiny diamond? Well, that garden glistened like a fisherman's diamond!! Short story: 30 dozen crawlers in a couple hours of picking!!

And the even better news...now I have something to look forward to when I get dragged to the in-laws!! Now I just have to find time to use them all...

Great story. I need to start collecting my own too!

How do you store that many crawlers? I have had mine die just by stepping into a hot car. How do you make sure they live?

30 dozen! ha! nice!!!
And you didn't even have to run the hose?

I pick all my crawlers (when I know I'm going fishing that is..) at my parents place. I run the hose in the backyard. I brought 10 dozen to the roundup, all of which were picked in about 30 minutes in my parents backyard

The skeeters are so bad here that they could carry you away in the daylight hours I can't even imagine trying to get out to look for crawlers.......I swear I can hear the skeeters from in the house.....

Fortunately, the weather has been so cold that they've lived fine in the back of my truck in a worm box. As it got warmer this week, they got moved to the basement, where they seem to be doing pretty good. Keeping them cool is key!

Yeah Paula, I forgot a couple times what I was doing and slapped a mosquito with either a crawler, mud, or both in my hands. They have been horrible, haven't they! I had not used mosquito spray in years, but this spring I've had to break down and buy a can. I've even wore a head net once so I could fish.