How to Store Live Fish Food

Compost worms are the most versatile fish food.

There is a wide variety of live fish food or bait available for fishing. However, the most versatile, safest and easiest bait to store is the compost worm. Worms can be used to catch nearly every kind of popular game fish and are even used to feed aquarium fish. Unlike other kinds of live fish food, compost worms do not present any health risks for people, nor do they pose a risk of disease for the fish population. The easiest and cheapest way to store worms for fish food is to give them a home in a worm compost container.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Plastic container at least 3 feet long by 1 1/2 feet wide by 2 feet high with a lid
• A tray with the same surface area as the base of the container
• 4-5 bricks
• Scissors or knife
• Shredded newspaper
• Hay
• Compost
• Manure
• Dead leaves
• Sand
• Compost worms
• Vegetable waste

1. Poke aeration holes in the lid of your container with scissors or a knife, making holes at least 1/4-inch wide and space them 3 inches apart. Do the same at the base of the container to allow for drainage.

2. Cut a section of newspaper into long shreds. Scatter shreds at the bottom of container and add equal amounts of hay, compost, manure and dead leaves. Add half as much sand as you did any one of the other materials. How much of this material you need to add depends on the surface area of the compost container. This is the bedding for the worm compost. It should be between 8 to 12 inches deep. Spray the material with water and squeeze it out with your hands. Let the compost bucket sit overnight, outdoors, to allow the water to drain out. The bedding should be damp but not soaking wet.

3. Add compost worms to the container, using 2 lbs. of worms for every 1 lb. of vegetable waste you plan to add to the compost container each week. Be sure to use red wigglers, manure worms, compost worms or European night crawlers; do not use larger garden earthworms, as they're less likely to survive for a long period in the container.

4. Place bricks on top of the tray (this will allow for drainage); put lid on compost container and place container on bricks. Store in a cool, dry place like the shaded side of your house.

5. Put vegetable waste from your kitchen in the compost container; close lid. Add vegetable waste every week to feed the worms.

6. Open the lid of the container once a week to check progress. Once the majority of the bedding becomes dark brown or black and looks like compost, you will need to separate the compost from the worms. Place compost on lid and shake it back and forth until you can see worms. Place worms back into the container, along with more of the bedding material listed in step 2. The worms will die if you do not remove the black compost soil. Use the black compost soil to fertilize your garden.

7. Worms can be removed whenever you need live food for a fishing trip. Simply open the lid and remove the worms by sifting through the compost with your fingers.

Tips & Warnings

• Never add meat, fat, oil or grease to the compost, as this could attract flies or rodents.

References

• Hobby and Lifestyle: Fishing Bait
• Worm Man's Worm Farm: Raise European Night Crawlers
• World Book and News: A Bucket of Live Bait Can Carry Deadly Disease
• http://www.vermicompost.net/worm-composting/wormery-composter/how-to-raise-worms-for-compost.aspx: Raising worms for compost: Successful strategies
• Urban Agriculture Notes: Composting With Red Wiggler Worms

Resources

• Kazarie Worm Farm: Fish and Reptile Food