If you have a lawn, or some grass or access to a patch of green, you have a nightcrawler farm. All through the fishing season night crawlers are an indispensable bait to the fisherman. Even though very few fish swim through the earth, they all recognize a worm and will happily gobble it up or at least give it a taste.

Fishermen here in Maine usually pay $2.30 to $3.50 for a dozen crawlers of average size. Why? because they catch fish. Most fishermen also don't take the time to pick them or keep them.

With a little bit of effort, you can have plenty of big fat crawlers all season long.

Most likely someone in your home drinks coffee. With this and a patch of lawn you are ready to start picking worms and crawlers. If you have kids, give them a bucket and re-write your lemonade stand to read "Crawler stand" its surprising how many fishermen are probably living in your neighborhood. More amazing is how many will prefer to buy bait from your kids.

Keep collecting your coffee grounds in a can. Every time you brew a pot, just dump the grinds in. Once every couple of days spread your grounds out in a 10 x 10' or so area on your lawn. This won't hurt anything and will feed the lawn. If you forget to rake a few leaves in this spot... well thats all the better. Early in the spring, after the thaw, night crawlers are hungry. You will find them all summer long though, so don't stop after the spring. If its possible, keep your target hunting ground in a place on your lawn that tends to hold more water than other areas.

Pick a night after a bit of rain during the day, grab your bucket and head out to your patch a couple of hours after dark. You have to walk quietly. Tip toe even. The slightest thump or heavy step will make the night crawlers pull back into their hole with surprising speed.

Shine your flash light on the grass and watch for a creepy crawly shiny crawler. You need to aim and grab quickly. Crawlers are light sensitive. This means once you have one in your light, don't move it. Usually after you move the light off they will pull back in. Worms are full of instinct and darn fast when they think they might get caught. sometimes its hard to tell the front from the back. The more fleshy color is toward the rear, darker color toward the head. When in doubt, just grab the middle. Before long, finger and thumb will be pecking the ground like a quick little Robin. Once you get hold of one, slowly keep pressure, easily pulling the crawler out of his hole. If you pull too fast or too hard you will rip them in half. Down in that hole is a buch of cillia and a big paddle tail holding it in. A crawler will survive if it breaks, so they will forfeit half a body if they think they are going to lose their fight.

If all is quiet, occasionally you get this creepy realization that there are crawlers all around you. you can literally hear them like a slimy rustling of wet spaghetti. Occasionally they will move a leaf or a stick. If you wave the light around too much, many will pull back into their hole. It's a little unnerving to realize you are surrounded by big fat worms. Then you get excited imagining what kind of large mouth bass or catfish would swallow up a 12" crawler.

Before long you will have a pound or so of crawlers and be completely ready for fishing the next day, or setting up your crawler stand. I Picked up an old rubbermaid tub for a few bucks, tossed in a few spade fulls of rich loose topsoil and some more coffee grounds. Followed by my crawlers.

Worms and crawlers are very easy to keep. feed them your coffee left overs, corn meal, lawn clippings or even newspaper. Worm food can be bought from many places that sell fishing supplies or sporting goods. Worms will also enjoy other biodegradables. Too much salad or left over brussel sprouts though, and it will mold or rot before the crawlers get through it all. Turning the soil on occasion will help as well. There should be a few little air holes in the top of your lid. Obviously too small for them to crawl out. Most won't bother the crawl the sides anyway.

Very little attention is required to keep crawlers happy and healthy. Life in a cool cellar will suit them just fine. With very little effort you can have crawlers for fishing or selling year-round. Even in ice fishing season you will find fish seeking these tastey fellows out.

It truly is amazing how big some night crawlers get. in excess of 12 inches in some cases. Even getting to 1/4+ inch thick. I'm sure they get bigger when fed and kept fat and happy. I have just never really kept one that long.

So if you like to fish, or want to give your kids a new project. Let them set up shop at your next yard sale. Set them in motion, when their done...take them fishing. They say when a person is fishing, they aren't always trying to fish for fish. When you take your kids fishing,you're doing something much better.