Night crawlers, as everyone knows, are great bait, especially for walleyes. They can be fished fast, i.e., spinner rigs, impaled on a jig, worked slowly on a Lindy rig, even hooked on the back hooks of swimming lures. When I am fishing for walleyes, I'll always have crawlers along. The only downside crawlers have is their care and they create a mess.

Years ago I would discover that crawlers that were stored in my cooler would get out. They would then be crawling around in melted ice water. I noticed that they would absorb water and actually fatten up. Another bonus was they were free of dirt or bedding. The mess was gone. Since then my night crawlers are prepared by placing them in a container of lake water--let's say a dozen at a time then put back on ice in the cooler. I use lake water or spring water because city water is chlorinated. When I no longer need the crawlers, I simply drop them on top of freshly prepared bedding and place them in a refrigerator. I set my refrigerator at about 40 degrees. After a few hours, I check them and discard any dead ones.

No more mess--no more dirty fingernails, no more dirt in the bottom of the boat and faster rebait time. Try it. I think you will agree!