I have 2 questions for any takers. Anybody got hints on starting a worm bed for the bluegills and can a turtle bite through a standard wire mesh fish basket? I just lost 2 nice bass and a catfish. I repaired a hole after the cat got out only to find my bass supper had escaped and left another hole #@!@#$#@.

A turtle can mess with a fish cage, I believe. Especially a larger snapping turtle. Someone should confirm that though.

It's amazing how quickly they will find some fish on a stringer.

Don't know about the worm beds myself, but there was an extensive thread on it which can be found.

Bones, If it helps any, I have an old claw foot tub that i use for my worm bed. Sealed off the drain in ths side and left the bottom drain open with wire mesh over it. I use a mixture of cow/horse manure mixed with good black local soil. All of my vegtable scraps go in it as well as some water once in a while. Just place it under a shady area or it will dry out. Been chugging along for many years.

I just use soil mixed with dry grass clippings, shredded newspaper, coffee grounds and dead leaves. Occasionally I put in some coffee grounds and corn meal. I try to keep the grounds and corn meal down aways to keep the flies from turning it into a maggot bed. Keep it a little bit moist but not wet. Any kind of container will do. Some of the guys here use kitchen table scraps but that turned mine into a nasty hot compost pile with a bunch of dead worms.

Look under the area Raising Forage and Bait. It's down there but you'll have to go for awhile to find the posts..

There was a good article in one of the pond boss issues on starting a worm bed. It's been a while back but I'm sure someone could remember which issue.

I have a catfish trap that is made from wire mesh and I have caught a lot of turtles in it with no noticeable damage. It may be a different gauge metal than yours.

Mikel, can u post a picture of your catfish trap?

The hole in the basket sounds more like a coon to me. A friend of mine staked out a deer head on a bed of fire ants for cleaning. He tied it to a stake with tie wire. The wire was chewed in two and the head missing. When he found the head he used it to bait a varmint trap. One big coon caught.

My son tried the worm farm after we read the article mentioned above. Here's the thread that mentions the article and some other commentary that probably needs to be updated. Our worms never took hold for some reason.

I"D eat the cat.

Omaha, what kind of worms were you trying? I know of nobody who tries to raise Canadian night crawlers and have read that they don't work.

I know a guy who had a failure by buying some fertilized garden soil or preemergent weed killer laced soil.

Assuming that you have native worms in the soil, and further assuming that you purchased soil, dig your own dirt. If there are any local hobbyist worm farmers, check with them.

Red wigglers, like the article suggested. I think I threw in 3 containers, about 90 total, of worms. I bought soil, a ton of newspaper bedding, my own yard soil, moistened it up, added egg shells, coffee grounds, peels, etc. Eventually, couldn't find any worms and things got moldy. Not sure what we did wrong, but I didn't put a lot of time and thought into it. It was my boy's project. I might look into it more this spring if he wants to give it another try.

Catmandoo is the expert here about raising red worms; hopefully he will contribute. Often it takes more than just reading an article to fully understand the fine points of each technique. Moldy to me sounds like too much moisture and not enough ventilation. Does your worm container have vent holes? Reread the article and follow details carefully. Details very often are required for success. Starting with the absolute right specie of worm is critical. Catmandoo can maybe detect the error of the method.
Pond Boss Article "Fish Worm Farming" by Ken Grymala - Jan-Feb 2009.

Drilled 1/8" holes all over the tub. Everything but the top. I'll have to reread the article again, but I think there was only one thing I did differently, and potentially wrong, and that was I didn't wait after putting everything together to add the worms. The guy at the baitshop didn't think I needed to wait for whatever reason, and that was much more appealing to the 9-year old put in charge of the project.

1/8 inch may be too small. I use 1". If you didn't put some in the bottom, you won't get any drainage.

Mold is certainly indicative of too much water. Water it often as needed but ensure there is a drain on the bottom of your "bed", that will help ensure you dont get it too wet.

There were plenty of holes in the sides and bottoms, in my opinion, and I may be wrong on the size of that bit used. I'm thinking now that it might have been 1/2". Still too small though?

If the holes are clogged and it does not drain there is a problem. I used large aluminum sheets of screen for drain material. It will last and its very likely to not clog up and the holes are too small for the worms to get out. I had to fasion a cap/top to keep them from climbing out, after that they did well. Could be that one or more of the items you added in were laced with cleaning fluid which caused them to die( just a guess). Common dawn will not kill them, ask my daughter she gave them a bath , i was pretty worried for a week or so but no ill effects. Other, stronger stuff (409) may be a problem.

Some things to think about...

I did not screen the holes I drilled. They were certainly large enough for the worms to get out if they wanted. I did not see any dead or live worms so I assumed they just ran away, however I didn't see any on the lam either.

Turtles definitely do chew their way into a wire fish basket. I've lost more than one to the big snapping turtles in my pond. I cannot leave fish in a fish basket over night. The turtles seem to just bite and shred the wire mesh.

The thing I use for keeping fish in captivity in my pond for longer periods of time is a rabbit hutch i buy at farm supply stores. They cost about $18.00 and I've kept bluegill for weeks at a time with the hutch tied to a rope off of the edge of the dock in about five feet of water. They survive well in spring, fall and winter, but don't last long when the water gets around 75 degrees or higher.

Bing

rcn, I took pictures of the trap but need wife's help to send pics. Maybe she will do it soon.

I bought the trap from Memphis Net & twine. You can go on line and see the catfish trap. It has a 19 inch circular opening with two throats. It is 60 inches long total. It was around 50.00 bucks. In 2010 catalog trap is on page 28. Product #RWN15, Hope this is helpful.

Thanks Mikel, i'll check it out.