Tips for Making a Nightcrawler More Efficient

• Always keep your nightcrawlers cool. This might mean keeping the Styrofoam container they come in nestled on top of some ice in the cooler. There are also some great storage containers that can keep nightcrawlers cool and healthy. The better shape that bait is when you drop it in the water the better chance of getting a bite.

• On a live-bait rig with a plain hook always add a small puff of air into the nightcrawler with a worm inflator. Anglers go wrong when they fill that nightcrawler up like a balloon. It only takes a small puff to keep the bait off the bottom and able to wiggle and waggle on that hook.

• If you have to cover some ground use a spinner rig with a three-hook worm harness. You need those extra hooks because so often a walleye or perch just grabs the tail of that nightcrawler and pulls it off a single hook or steals half the bait and never gets hooked. Using a harness means you will catch more fish on that tail hook.

• Never tip a jig with an entire nightcrawler; half is plenty. Break the nightcrawler in two and stick the point of the hook right in between both ends of the bait instead of threading that worm on the hook. It just works better this way.

• Add a nightcrawler to a crankbait, a half a piece anyway. On a deep diving crankbait that half a nightcrawler on the front treble hook will add the right amount of scent to create the superbait.