Worms and DIY Wormery
Introduction
The lobworm is not hard to keep, for a few pounds you can make a wormery that will keep the worms for many months. I've been doing this for years now and is good for summer and winter. I'll always carry lobworms with me, irrespective of the time of year and need a ready supply on hand. A couple of years ago I used just one bait - lobs and caught a lot of barbel on them. They will often bring barbel when nothing else seems to work. Beware though, most things that swim also love them, but apart from eels I can usually live with the other species they catch.
Two Low Cost DIY Wormeries with Tatty Plywood Cover
The Wormery
For a single wormery (I keep usually keep two going) you will need the following:
Small plastic dustbin with top - mine measures roughly 300mm diameter by 420mm deep.
Piece of hessian sacking or fine mesh (to prevent escapes) - enough to cover the top with some overlap. You can try Garden Centres or Aquatic/Pond supplies for these.
Newspapers.
Dried autumn leaves (in my opinion the best) or some kitchen waste - potato peelings, used tealeaves etc - not too much.
Shady spot in garden and hole for dustbin to sit in.
Make some small drainage holes in the bottom of the 'bin - not too large or your lobs will soon disappear.
Tear up some newspapers and then soak and break up. Add to this a couple of handfuls of dried (autumn) leaves. Squeeze the excess water from the coarse pulp. Fluff up and put in your bin so it's about half full.
Cut your hessian or mesh material so it fits between the lid and bin lip - this prevents the worms crawling out through gaps in the top.
Bury the bin (about three inches from the lip) in a spot in the garden or put in in a shed - away from direct sunlight. I cover mine with a piece of plywood to shield from direct sunlight and rain. This is to prevent rapid temperature change - which lobs don't like.
Add your lobs and occasionally check for any dead ones and also add some more leaves or newspaper. Occasionally turning the material over is of benefit and makes the worms rework the newspaper. The bin I have described can hold around 150 worms. I used to have a larger 'wormery' but found that this size will make the worms easier to extract. I keep two going so if things go wrong you have a back up supply.
Wooden or other containers will also be ideal - it's just that these little dustbins are readily available and cheap.
Getting Your Worms
I usually get mine by picking a suitable night (windless, warm and humid nights, especially after or when it's raining) and creeping around the lawn with a torch or headlight. It's best that you use a diffused light - so a bit of rag, or filter material over the light will help to increase your success rate. Stealth is the key - don't wear hobnail boots and thump around, a pair of daps, trainers or soft soled shoes are ideal. Creep up spot your worm and stoop, gently grasping the worm and withdrawing it from it's hole. Discard any you might break - this will only help turn the unbroken worms off.
There are other methods, digging the garden, buying some worms, looking under stones and other damp places. I'm not that in favour of pouring diluted detergent and other chemicals over the lawn, but this does work. If you really get desperate and are not in favour of night sessions, try putting a garden fork in the lawn and jiggling it from side to side for a time - this sometimes gets worms to come up. There was once a electrical device to persuade worms to break cover - I've not seen one of these for decades though. Another trick to try is when the ground is wet, try gently moving your weight from one foot to the other or shuffling around, occasionally a worm will oblige. Finally, don't dig the river banks - you will not make any friends by doing this.
Local playing fields and employing a few keen youngsters are also options - but beware of your neighbours and local constabulary - people get unsettled at the sight of people creeping around grassy areas at night!
Presentation and Hooking
I usually present my lobworms on hooks of sizes between 2 and 6, singly or in multiples. Don't forget small pieces or hair rigging as other methods of presentation. Flavouring and introducing a small air bubble in the worm (to counterbalance the hook or make a pop-up worm) with a syringe and needle are other options, but be careful with syringes - we don't want to flavour or put an air bubble in our bloodstream, the consequences of such could be very health threatening. To minimise the risk of self penetration (!), shorten the needle by cutting it off.
Keeping the worms on can be a problem with barbless hooks, but you have a couple of options to help keep the worm attached - you can use the 'Worm Stop' system that is available from the BFW shop or thread the worm up over the eye of the hook.
In Conclusion...
The last batches of worms lasted an incredible 7 months - this makes the occasional check and choosing a suitable site for your wormery well worthwhile. An ideal close season project - go on - you know you want to!
Cost - a few pounds at the most for one.
Bob Gill (bgit) March 2002
paul4 - updated (cosmetic changes only) Jan 2012