How to Fatten Fishing Worms

If you are raising a compost worm species for bait, such as the red wiggler (Eisenia fetida) or its larger cousin, the European nightcrawler (Eisenia hortensis), plumping them up will make them more appealing to fish. Most compost worms tend to stay on the skinny side when fed just their regular diet of kitchen scraps. Add poultry feed and supplements to the scraps to beef them up. The Reln Co. of Australia, which manufactures the Can-o-Worms worm bin, has developed the following "worm fattener" recipe.

Things You'll Need

• Poultry feed for layers
• Bran or wheat meal
• Wheat or corn flour
• Powdered milk
• Agricultural lime

Instructions

1. Mix a 50 lb. bag of poultry feed for laying hens with a 20 lb. bag of bran or wheat meal and 10 lbs. each of wheat or corn flour; powdered whole milk or skim milk; and agricultural lime or dolomite.

2. Sprinkle the mix lightly on the food scraps about once a week.

3. Harvest your fattened worms after several months.

Tips & Warnings

• Add corn meal or powdered milk alone to your food scraps if you do not live near an agricultural feed store selling poultry feed.

• Keep your worm bin moist, at 80 percent as measured by a combined moisture/pH meter. Commercial bait farms use this tactic to raise the largest worms, according to the "Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture."

References

• "Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture;" Glenn Munroe, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada; 2007
• University of Florida: Culture of Earthworms for Bait or Fish Food
• Thrifty Fun: Feeding Garden Worms

Resources

• Appendix 2, Worm Fattener: Can O' Worms Instruction Manual
• Raise European Night Crawlers
• Some Questions about Euro Nightcrawlers