Has anyone used, bought or made one? I'm just a driveway picker at this point but I was thinking of making one ... what could go wrong? lol

Supposed to work well, as does "Fiddlin'", drive a stake in the ground and rub a board across the top, the vibration brings them up.

I made a set. Works good but the crawlers didn't seem to live as long as I'd like. Great if you just need a few to go fishing that day. I just stuck a piece of broom handle on the end of a couple pieces of 1/4" rod and hooked each side of a drop cord to each rod. Careful picking the ones too close to the pole. Lol

PS a smart person would probably hook it up through a switch to kill the power and snatched them up before they go back down, but what fun would that be? lol

Best night I had pickin was 6,000 crawlers.No electricity or fiddling,just a golf course,rain,quick hands and a strong back.
Ahh but I was so much older then,I'm younger than that now.-----I wish.
Tom

That's how I catch most of them we use. Sure is tough to stand back up straight again after some time of picking. Hard to pay $3 a dozen at the bait shop too though!

Called the local police last summer,to let them know I would be picking crawlers in a couple of parks.They said because I called they would let me do it that night --but never again.
I Couldn't figure out what an old fart with a bucket and flashlight,could possibly do wrong.
Tom

Same scenario here Tom! Picked a city park for years but then a 10 p.m. curfew was enacted. Was escorted out of the park via squad car at 10:15 p.m. Grubby jeans, headlamp, bucket of worms and slime covered hands had me profiled as a major drug dealer evidently! Local community college which is further away has great crawler population and I can usually pick 500 or so after a good rain. No electricity used, though!

Chris

Chris,bugs me no end that we cannot use the parks.
Police told me --if they let me do it,everyone would be doing it-what a joke.
Tom

Most towns have crawlers......look in the gutters along the edge of the streets the morning after a rain.

No crawlers in our town,sandy soil.So I have to travel to find them.Better numbers at night and easier picking when they are breeding,you get two at a time.
Used to pick edges of one road,but with increased traffic--it ain't safe.
Tom

I remember my grandad used to mix up a solution of mustard powder and water and shoot it down the worm holes with a turkey baster..... 30 seconds later the worms would come crawling completely out of the holes. He'd pick them up and dunk them in a pail of water to rinse them off and then put them in his crawler carrier.

I guess that the mustard solution must irritate the worms skin.

Yes to both... Haven't done it for 30 some years, but golf courses after a rain at night. We would wrap a white handerchief over the flashlight to dull the light beam. With the advent of LED lights the handkerchief may not be needed (no heat). Let us know if LED lights work.

Eagleye my dad made one for me about 1965 they are very simple. Take an extension cord and cut the female end off (2 strand no ground) separate the two and fold the black one back and tape it to the cord solder the other strand to a piece of smooth rod you have sharpened on the other end. Fashion a wooden handle that covers the solder joint. Water a location until damp and stick it in the ground. Then go plug it in go back where you put the probe and feel the ground about a foot back from the probe. You will either feel the electricity or not. If not go back to the outlet and rotate the plug 1/2 turn you should then be able to feel the electricity at the probe site.
A couple of words of caution;! The ground needs only to be damp! Standing water will conduct all of the current and give you a nasty shock!
Always have the cord unplugged when handling the probe to avoid a bad shock. Stick the probe into the ground and THEN PLUG IT IN. I failed to follow those instructions an got quite a jolt. Use at your own risk they do work but they can also electrocute you if you get careless.

Are you picking them up in your yard? If so, just turn a hose on in your lawn and have at them. I turn the hose on for 10-20 minutes in a small area and can then pick a few dozen up, day or night.

They like to congregate where you spread wood Ash in the lawn

After a good rain the parking lot at work is loaded with them. It’s still dark when I get there in the morning but don’t have time to get them

My boy and i picked about 100 worms up in a 10’ x 10’ area in about 10-15 minutes last summer in the middle of the day. Just turned the garden hose on in that small area for 5 minutes before and let it run while we picked them up.

Try again

anybody else ever stay out too long and think you're back may never be straight again??