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By Shirley Grenoble
For the Mirror
As much as Walt Young has tried to convert me, I cling to my bait-casting stuff and so it is time for old-timers to start looking for worms.
Well maybe in a couple weeks would be better because of all the snow we recently endured. I smile a bit at the leaves I didn't get raked up in the fall and know that soon I'll overturn them looking for fat earthworms. So go get a coffee can ready and start scouting for the worms. It won't be long before you have a full can.
The fly-fishing zealots among us have already created their dandruff-sized works of art from feathers and fur and stored them in alphabetical order in perfectly compartmentalized plastic boxes and tucked them in their Orvis vests.
Walt told me that during this last horrid winter he had tied enough flies to last him several years. That has to be a vast cache because he fishes nearly every day.
The rest of us, the baitcasters and spinning rod users need to catch all we can find under logs, leaves, etc. That time will be soon, if not right now.
Yes, we can buy it at the local bait shop but if it's like everything else this year, they will cost $3 apiece so it's better to search wet leaves and under things that are left outside than pay that price. Later, when the ground is dry the chore becomes a major pain in the neck.
You can keep worms in most any container if the soil in it is kept moist. I do concede to buying the worm bedding earth mixed with coffee grounds or garden mulch. Keep them in the shade or your worms will be cooked when you arrive home on a hot day. You must keep them covered securely or believe me, they will crawl out.
Those who prefer night crawlers will be outside after dark patrolling your yard with a flashlight. With a worm or night-crawler, grab hold of it and just hold still for a moment until it relaxes its muscles, then you can pull them out of the ground easily. Many anglers cover their flashlight with red cellophane because worms aren't spooked as much by red light as they are by strong flashlight beams.
Actually, as the season wears on, my favorite way to fish for trout is to use gator bait as you go along. Bugs of any size -- grasshoppers, beetles, worms -- can be found just about anywhere in the bushes. Don't stick you hand into thick places because you could be greeted by a snake.
I remember one year -- long ago -- I was fishing Schrader Creek and they were having a plague of really big black bugs. They were everywhere on the trees so I put on gloves and picked them off and got them on my hook. They worked well.
Arkansas anglers have a unique method for gathering bait called worm fiddling. They drive stakes a couple feet into soft ground and then a flat piece of wood is rubbed across the top of the stake to produce vibrations. This of course causes worms and night crawlers to come to the surface to escape what probably seems like an earthquake to them.
This is such a popular tactic in Arkansas they have annual contests and are a crowd-drawing event. I actually have not tried this technique yet but some day to give it a try.