Worm Grunting: Does It REALLY Work (Worm Gitter Test)

I don't ever use worms for catfish bait but I do fish for panfish (perch, bluegill, sunfish, etc) with worms and then use the panfish for catfish bait. A fishing guide client of mine gave me a "worm gitter" that you use for worm grunting so I decided to put it to the test and see if I could call up some worms to use for panfish bait.

I tried worm grunting (or worm charming as soon people call it) in multiple different places, on multiple properties in attempts to call up some worms, and invested a LOT of time and energy putting it to the test and put together this video.

I've seen others post some crazy results using a worm grunter but my experience with the worm gitter was much different. I cover it all in this week's video so check it out and let me know what you think!

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Chad Ferguson is a professional catfish angler with over 20 years of experience fishing for catfish who owns and operates Catfish Edge and North Texas Catfish Guide Service. Chad founded Catfish Edge producing articles, videos and other resources to help catfish anglers go out and learn more and bigger catfish by passing along the catfishing information he’s learned throughout his career as a professional catfish angler and fishing guide. He’s obsessed with catfishing and has been accused many times of being one of the few people on earth that actually thinks like a catfish.

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Timestamps
00:10 What is worm grunting
00:45 How to use the worm gitter
02:25 Does PETA protect worms
02:47 Does worm grunting work better at night
03:41 Does work grunting really work

[Catfishedge]

Any tips on worm grunting? Also, does PETA protect the worms?

[stagger]

My grandfather taught me how to grunt worms when I was a young boy. Worked wonderfully for us every time. But always There has to be worms to grunt worms. Also, location is Everything (you're looking in the wrong place).

[ifishcatfish]

i am raising worms around the house. I know it will work there. Any vibration drives them out. I still think its useless. If u have a lot of worms in the ground it will work, but its still faster to just use a shovel. And in most places there are no worms. Do you see worms on your driveway at night? If no, you don't have enough worms and this has no chance.

[OutsidewithTom]

I've had good results using a shovel, just stab it in the ground and wiggle back and forth quickly. Same concept, creating vibration in the ground. After watching this, I went outside and tried my shovel method since we had a heavy rain last night. It worked great, tons of worms just came right out of the ground. It appears moist ground is the most important thing.

[davidperrone]

Why tf am I watching this. I don’t even fish

[Literallyarealhuman]

I feel like all the soil I saw in this video was too dry

[darrenheadrick]

MY GRANDPA SHOWED ME HOW BACK IN THE 80'S IN ALABAMA WOW I WORKED GREAT HUGE WORMS, WE USED A 2X4 AND DROVE IT INTO THE GROUND ABOUT 1 1/2 -2 FEET THEN USED ANOTHER 2X4 TO RUB ACROSS THE TOP TO CREATE A VIBRATION WITHIN MINUTES WORMS COME TO SURFACE .

[indianacreekwalker]

cut a sapling about 2 ft from the bottom, use the hand saw and rub it on the top of the cut sapling (in moist ground in the woods) you will have good results. Doing it after the rain, in the morning mist, and at night is the best time. Just remember you have to actually have worms in the ground as well

[njxfever]

I didn’t have the grunting stick, but I had a piece of rebar and a piece of wood. First try I had a worm come out of the ground.

[DesmoProfundis]

When I see the videos where this works it seems there is a very specific frequency to the vibration they are causing. It seems like a lower frequency than you're creating. Maybe go slower as you rub the stick. There's a frequency that maybe tickles the worms rather than scaring them. I have yet to try this but this is just my take on it after watching videos like this. You asked for suggestions and that's all I can see that you might be doing differently.

[waynebazemore]

You need to grunt in an area that's fairly damp. Best to try it after a rain. Worms cannot survive in dry soil. They will go deep in the ground, where the soil is damp. If the soil is too wet, the worms will usually come up and lay on top of the ground.

[cocoanbella]

Seems like most of the vibrations are being lost in the air. I take a long shovel, stick the scoop it all the way into the ground and rock it back and forth to make a scraping sound against small rocks. Changing the rhythm once in a while and I'll get crawlers popping up even at noon on a 90 degree day. You just gotta find the right motion to make them think an animal is digging to get them. Try making a compost heap of yard clippings and veggie scraps and keep it covered with straw or grass to keep it moist. after a few weeks try grunting in it. Also sometimes I put my shoe on the edge of the shovel scoop to push it harder and make more of a vibration. I've never tried those sticks but it seems like it needs to be deeper in the ground or you have to hold it really tight so you dont hear so much of the sound. If you arent hearing the noise then those vibrations are going in the ground where you want them. I'd say rub them a bit slower and keep at it in one spot for a couple minutes before you try. Also dont walk on the area or disturb the surface before you try or the worms will dig down before you start and not come up for you.

[joshoconnor]

It's supposed to mimic the noise a mole makes that is coming to feed on them. Don't just rapidly freak out strumming it back and forth as fast as u can. U gotta try and mimic the sound of a grunting mole. So one stroke wait a second 2 stroke, wat a second 2 quick strokes, wait a few seconds. U understand?

[m]

I have tried many different things, the worm gitter, I made similar stick from different wood and even PVC and 3/4" conduit. I could see vibration but not worms. the longest I tried it was about 45 seconds. I tried the pitch fork thing, thinking or besting the ground, sawing a sapling then sawing that sapling trunk. The dirt here is great, temp is right but I have had the same luck as you except for one method. I even used the stick in my garden where I know for sure there are worms but nothing came to the surface. I watched video after video, read article after article and yes for all the smartass I dug my own worms so I would have worms but I wanted to know if grunting, fiddling, twanging whatever one calls it worked. I did have some success with the grunting method, which from what I learned is done more in the SE corner of the country. A 2x4ish stake driven in the ground and a whoopin iron, a long flat piece of metal weighing about 10 pounds. I didn't have a flat piece of metal so instead I used a farrier rasp. By striking across the top of the wooden stake with the metal I did have some come to the surface. The amount was nothing like the amount that came to the surface a few minute later when I poured water with soap onto the ground to compare.
I have decided my technique needs work, wood species, size, location, perhaps length if time all factor in. Since the vibrations mimic moles, maybe me not having a mole problem may factor in. I'm not sure but I haven't given up. Most articles talked about Alabama and Florida being hotspots, maybe my state is not the greatest for this but I'm going to continue trying.

[MrBilld]

Damper soil would help that all looked quite dry and stop shining bright lights at the ground, lol. They bail quickly as soon as they detect bright light, it has to be dim and not pointed directly at them. A headlamp is super handy for this, as you can just move your head a little away from one when you see it, to get the light out of the way, but can look down, with both hands free and snatch them with both if need be (and you might, the big ones are strong and can slip out of your finger grip when you quickly grab them).

[JimmyLee]

You and I have had the same results. I will keep trying but I'm not sure if I will see any. The only thing is one spot I tried usually has night crawlers under the leaves and there's none there. Maybe I scared them away LOL.

[darrellbaker]

Unless the ground is wet from a very recent rain, you don't have it deep enough in the ground. If it hasn't rained recently, the worms will be deeper. This is also called 'fiddling' for worms. People in the Southeast cut off a sapling about a foot above the ground then create a sawing motion across the top of the sapling 'staub' using a dull saw to create the vibration. What you have will work even if it hasn't rained lately but only if the notched piece is driven into the ground a little deeper. You're only vibrating the surface of the soil. You need to give it a few minutes to drive the worms to the surface (worms are slow critters).

[alfredting]

It has to be longer and you have to stick it into the ground at least one feet deep. this is so that the vibration can go into the ground and agitate the worms.

[NobodyWhatsoever]

I've never tried it. I've seen some videos with related techniques which have worked for some people, and haven't worked for others. Richard Gene demonstrates this, sawing a rotting stump in really loose soil, and worms begin to surface. It could be any number of conditions, but I certainly don't know well enough to explain what it is or isn't.

[JF-fxqv]

Base on another's video and this one along with many comments; there seems to be a pissing contest. End it. Do the right thing and experiment as if you were a scientist. Control the conditions and remove all the variables stated in the comments as reason why you couldn't succeed. Maybe this will bring peace between the worm war. Create a "control" as in all science experiments. If this method works, it will work then.