Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Worm Charmers, the Worm Grunters and the Worm Fiddlers


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Worm Charmers, the Worm Grunters and the Worm Fiddlers
Whoa!  Can you believe it?!  I had a hard time the first that I read the article.  And my Mom is totally responsible for what I read.

Mom subscribes to “Our Canada” a Reader’s Digest offshoot.  And in this August/September 2012 edition she pointed to an article that she thought I needed to read.  It was about “Worm Charmers”.

She knew that recently I had been fishing with my grandsons and had bought some worms at a corner store. The worms had cost my $5.00 for 18 worms and we still have some stored in the refrigerator near the lettuce and jam.

She was right I did need to read the article… and it nearly blew my mind!  All these years I could have saved a lot of dollars by simply learning the tricks of a Worm Charmer.  I had no idea that there was such a dude around.

As I read more and more about Worm Charmers I discovered that it is actually World Wide Sport or Event that people take part in … something like the Olympics. Really!

The World Record Holder was Sophie Smith who was 10 years old when she established the record on June 29, 2009!  She charmed 567 worms into her bucket!

That is $157.50 worth of worms at today’s price!

Her team of three worked in a 3 metre by 3 metre area and she had a 5 minute warm up before starting officially.  I am not sure how long she worked at her Charming – but the World Record was establishes on that day!

A special note in the article stated that all the worms had been returned to the ground unharmed! (Oh no… are there Worm Rights people now – like the Animal Rights People?!?)

Sophie must not have been a fisherman!! – nor a dealer in worms!!!

Now that I have your interest up as to what a 10 year old girl does to charm worms… that is the best part.

In the 3 by 3 metre area she will drive a stake(called a Stob) into the ground to a depth of about 18 inches.  Then she takes a wood rasp or a hand saw to work on the end of the stake.  As the saw blade or the rasp works back and forth on the top of the stake vibrations are sent down into the ground.  These vibrations make the worms move as quickly as possible to the surface where they begin to dance.

No kidding!  It really works!

All these blasted years I have been looking under rocks – or using a shovel to uncover a few worms for my bate in fishing… and in more recent years I have paid out lots of money to make the dude at the store smile.

And all these years I could have been in the Worm Business.

How in the world does it work?

Well the ground needs to be moist. Dry ground doesn’t work the same and there are hardly any worms in dry ground.

The vibrations sent down into the ground are thought to be the same as that made by moles when they are moving through the ground. They are also the same as some birds make when they are looking for worms as well.  This Link to the “Worm Charming” tells you way more than I can here.

Now after reading all of this stuff about the Worm Charmers, the Worm Grunters and the Worm Fiddlers I feel I am now ready to launch a new part of my career and business.

Now the neighbors may well start looking at me funny as I crouch down on their lawn… in front of the Stob I drove into their lawn… and begin filing the top of the stake!  Or if I use my old rusty saw and never cut the top off the stake… I may end up with a crowd of onlookers!!!

But a strange thought comes to my mind… who was the first guy (or gal) to think about doing this?

Who had their head in the ground and listened to a mole?

What person got close enough to hear the bird buzzing the ground???

No kidding that is a puzzling part of the story!

Thanks Mom… you just sent your possible “Double ADHD” son off into the wild blue yonder!  Oh Boy!!

BTW – I have a Worm Blower in my fishing tackle box that really works.  You can catch all kinds of fish with this gem.. but that is another direction and many more stories!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

Resources
http://fishing-bait.knoji.com/worm-fiddling-or-worm-grunting-oldtimer-methods-of-catching-nightcrawlers/

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