How to Raise Fishing Worms

Vermiculture is a good way for kids to make a little spending money. It takes about six months to grow worms to fishing size.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• 100 Red Worms
• Topsoil
• Plastic Food Containers
• Burlap
• Scrap Boards Planks
• 1 lb. shortenings
• 1/2 lb. cornmeal
• organic matter such as leaves, straw and old newspapers

1. Purchase about 100 Red Wigglers worms for breeder stock. These are top feeders and won't burrow in the soil like garden worms.
2. Find a watertight container - an old bathtub, a metal drum cut in half or a plastic storage container.
3. Fill the watertight container with soil (4 to 8 inches deep), depending on the container's size.
4. Mix in an inch or so of organic matter, such as leaves or rotten straw.
5. Mix 1 lb. cornmeal and 1/2 lb. vegetable shortening into the top 2 to 3 inches of soil.
6. Add worms.
7. Cover the tub with damp burlap or board planks.
8. Add another dose of the cornmeal/shortening mixture in one month and then every two weeks. Add about 1 qt. of water while feeding.
9. Keep the worm bed cool and moist in the summer; it's best to place it in the shade.

Tips & Warnings

• A tub 2 feet in diameter and 10 inches deep will give you about 3000 to 5000 worms in a year. When you harvest for bait, be sure to leave some worms for breeding stock.
• Don't feed worms meat scraps or bones.