Finding bait is easy, just look down

Back in youthful days I earned my spending money on a paper route for the Portsmouth Times.  It was a long route and I usually distributed around 110 newspapers on my bike with its large basket. So, I never wanted to spend my hard earned money on bait, preferring to save for a new Schwinn bicycle or a Remington. 22 rifle. Which meant that when I wanted to go fishing, which was often, I caught my own.

I found several back and side yards in the next little town filled with nightcrawlers, and every  creek around had plenty of minnows and crayfish. So, when I wanted to fish for catfish or bass I caught enough for the next day and when I planned to hit Millbrook Lake for crappie I bought and used a minnow seine and minnow bucket. When I grew up and headed north to teach biology I saw no reason to change.

Wherever you live in Ohio there’s likely to be plenty of nightcrawlers, often within walking distance. All it takes is an old house with a yard holding rich, dark soil, a golf course or cemetery (with permission), or similar holding ground for the juicy worms. I use today what I used early on, an old flashlight that cast a fairly weak beam, and a container for the worms. The crawlers come out at night to cast their droppings and sometimes mate, and the best time to seek them is after a good rain when the grass and soil are wet.

You’ll ease along very quietly since the worms are sensitive to vibrations and zip instantly back into their holes, working the flashlight back and forth and looking for a pencil-like shine in the grass. The second you see one, shift the light, because they’re sensitive to that too, and will quickly disappear. Then you bend over, place a finger or two right where they enter the ground, and very gently pull straight up. Do it too quick, and you’ll tear them in two. Do it right and another worm hits your jar or can.

I like to keep my crawlers in a purchased box filled with damp sphagnum moss that can be purchased at most sporting goods stores, and I keep them in the refrigerator until needed.

For minnows, buy a minnow seine at a sporting goods store, one with floats at the top and bits of lead along the bottom, and cut two five foot poles to tie along the sides. Then head for the nearest creek with permission, look for school of minnows, wade out into what is usually ankle deep water, and slowly seine toward the shore. Then sort your catch into a bucket or two filled with the creek water, and head home. If I’m going fishing right then, off I go.  If the next morning, I fill five gallon buckets with water, put a dozen or two into each bucket, and occasionally aerate the water before dark by pouring small buckets of water with plenty of splash into the holding buckets.

Crayfish – much the same, though I usually keep these in damp moss and in my refrigerator for next morning, keeping in mind that you can possess no more than 100 crayfish or 500 crayfish, minnows, and other bait fish.

Dick Martin is a retired biology teacher who has been writing outdoor columns for 30 years. You can reach him at richmart@neo.rr.com