Nightcrawler, mealworm, leech, and red wigglers are some of the popular and most used worms for bait fishing. Nightcrawler, in particular, is one of the most used baits. They are easy to obtain and great at attracting fish.
But do you want to push your success rate a little further? Fish with green worms. The green worm is not a type of worm species. They are namely nightcrawlers, just dyed green, neon green to be specific.
Green worms are not natural; they are raised to be green. It takes some time to prepare the worms. If you feed them the specific food, they will become neon green in about two days. The green color will increase the bite/strike rate.
Worms are the best bait to catch any kind of fish. The movement of worms in water and their distinctive odor are great attractions for fishes. As soon as they see the worm, they will bite. It’s hard to resist the temptation to bite the wiggly waggly tasty, smelly worm if you are a fish, that is.
The Green Worm For Bait Fishing
Worms are a part of the natural diet of carnivorous fish. They find and gobble earthworms more often than you might think. Hence, when worms are presented to them in the form of bait, they most often result in a catch.
Nightcrawler, being healthy and chunky, does manage to attract a wide variety of fish. And the green worm is a green-colored nightcrawler. The green color of the green worm makes it more enticing by blending in the worm with the green of natural vegetation and ultimately lowering suspicion.
As a result, you will get more bites. When you do get more bites, you will score more catches, even if your fishing skill is abysmal. Besides, the vivid green color is hard not to notice. So, with the green worm, you get all the privileges of nightcrawler, but in green.
Preparing Green Worm
Green worms are mostly prepared at home just before a fishing expedition. As I mentioned before, they are dyed green. You can buy the special food for nightcrawlers from a nearby bait shop or order online.
Either way, put some worms in a pot along with some moist soil and add the recommended amount of the food in the mix.
Leave the pot in a dark spot for about 2-4 days. Be sure to check on them so that their soil doesn’t dehydrate. The time varies based on the product used. After a certain amount of time, your nightcrawlers will have turned neon green.
Be sure to prepare the worm just before they will be used because the color is not permanent and will fade away soon after you move the worm to a regular diet.
Best Catches For The Green Worm
Even though worms creep out many humans, they do make fishes drooling. I’m not sure if drooling is a thing underwater, but fishes do like them a great deal. If you feel cringy about the worms putting power bait on the hook can be a good alternative for you.
Worms attract a wide variety of fish species like the sunfish, pike, smallmouth, and largemouth bass, panfish, grass carp, catfish, and more. The green worm does not attract new species, but it will increase the bite rate.
From my experience, Basses and pikes go nuts for worms in general, and so is the case with green worms. Them, being the apex predator in the habitat, does not have much to fear.
All they have to overcome is suspicion and confusion. Green worm does a good job at covering both. But in general, you can safely expect any carnivorous fish species with green worms.
Are Green Worms Safe?
Yes, they are. You are not dyeing the fish with color yourself. The color isn’t going to be washed off from the bait upon contact with water. You are feeding the worm the color.
So, it is more permanent than that. For the most part, the ingredients of the food are well researched and made to be environmentally friendly. They are not toxic, so you can ‘technically’ eat it too. But I’d not recommend it.
Anyway, they aren’t toxic, so when you feed the worms, they don’t become toxic, and as a result, the fishes aren’t intoxicated either. So, the fish you catch using green worms are perfectly safe for both eating and releasing.
Are Green Glow Worms Better Than Regular Worms?
This is debatable subject, but in theory, green worms should attract more fish. If you plan on catching bait fish, you are better off using a regular worm. For example, if you plan on going beach fishing and need fish baits, you can use regular worm to stock up spots.
On the other hand, you can get bigger fish using green worms. The reason why you would consider using a green worm is because of the vibrant color that attracts more bites. In a practical situation, things are a bit different.
Regular worms, green worms, they don’t make that much of a difference. However, bloodworms are entirely different. Bloodworms can out fish green worms by 10 to 1.
If you are cichlid fishing, green glowing worms tend to attract them better. I would say that the green variants attract the bites faster and there is high chance that you will hit bigger cichlid at a higher rate.
What I’ve heard is that these worms do make a big difference up north when it comes to walleyes, redhorse, and stuff like that. On a regular day, it’s hard to compare between the two different worms. However, on a tough day, a green worm can make a big difference.
Can You Make Your Own Green Worms?
Yes. The whole process takes about 24 to 48 hours at max. All you need to do is buy some Canadian nightcrawlers and glowing radioactive green powders, aka Worm-Glo. Don’t worry; it is completely safe and not toxic.
The Worm-Glo can turn live worms into green worms and also increases the size. It’s better to use Canadian nightcrawlers because they are the fattest and the biggest nightcrawlers out there.
And with a little bit of effort, you can turn those fat worms into shiny green alien-looking worms. Not sure if you will get any advantage, but it’s safe to say, fish will bite out of curiosity.
And as the popular saying goes, it’s the curiosity that killed the fish, not the cat. Pun aside, it won’t hurt to try them out.
Conclusion
Fishing is always fun to do. It’s more fun when you are fishing with others. If you are into bait fishing, I’d recommend trying out the green worm. It takes a bit of time, money, effort, and preparation, but the result is what makes it worth it.
Bear in mind; it will not make a night and day difference upgrading from nightcrawler to green worm. It will rather be a slight increase, which will be more obvious the longer you keep at it.
It’s a deal of getting slightly more caught in exchange for a little effort. I’d personally take a bit of “good luck” with me. A bit of “good luck” will be more valuable in competitions if green worms are allowed.
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