changing the color of worms

[virgil]

Does any one know what it is that they use to change the color of worms around here you will usally see green ones and they sell for about a dollar more a cup.do they use green food coloring in the feed or is it something else.

[The Worm Expert]

Virgil

I am not sure to which worm you are referring to however with over 2200 known species of worms, it is the actual worm color.

I know that the Alabama Jumper will give off fluorescent colors in the light due to the excretions. Sometimes greenish, blueish, yellowish....

There is also a worm called a Indian Blue (Perionyx Excavatus) which is more blue than green....

Bruce

[virgil]

Bruce iam not sure they were not wigglers [to the best of my knowledge] and they were not pinks but other than that iam not sure what they were. the man at the bait shop that showed them to me said that the person he got them from colored them .but he would not tell how he did it.Looking at the worm it was as if his insides were greenish but you could still see what looked like some of the natural color to the outside of the worm.
thats what led me to belive maybee it was something he was mixing with there feed , if so this more thank likely would only be a tempary color change .so do you think adding food coloring to there feed would be harmfull to the worms if not I may try a small bacth and experment some and see what happens.
P.S> the man at the bait shop could also have been feeding me some manure lol
thanks virgil

[The Worm Expert]

Virgil

I believe he was pulling your leg as I could be wrong, however never seen nor heard of this.

I do know it is done with waxworms to make them pink.

My theory is when I owned a bait store is that the fish will normally always feed on what is available to them at that time. Usually placing an odd ball in front of them will not make the catch. So in short, usually the natural bait is better in my own personal experience.

Bruce

[virgil]

Bruce, i agree 100% on that they want out fish a reg. worm thats why i did not purchase any,But if it gives some people more confidence and they wil pay a dollar more a cup for the same worm then were are back to suply and demand.Fishing is some ways is like any other sport cofindence in what you are doing can make a differance.
If they want it and i can produce it thats the way iam looking at it sometimes they want something differnt no matter if it better just as long as it not wose and not harmfull to the inveroment.I think Iam going to play with this and see what happens.

[rustyj]

Worm Glo does make some food that changes the color of your worms,I got a gift card from bass pro shops so I ordered some just to try it.I took out 2 cups of worms from my bin and only fed them worm glo and in about a week they were green.I have done a few more cups since,They do seem to work better in muddy or dark water over a regular worm according to some friends I have shared them with.

[The Worm Expert]

A good number of years ago I owned a bait, tackle and restaurant on the Inter-coastal off Bradenton near Sarasota Florida. This time of year, June through July the shrimp caught locally was small... referred to as pee wee shrimp. As I would inform others is that the fish in the vicinity were used to this year after year and fed on these pee wee shrimp.

Turned out, the smaller shrimp did better when fishing during the months of June-July each year than larger shrimp.

I bring this up as fish are used to feeding on certain foods throughout the year... things that are NATIVE to them.

In short changing the color of bait, even though might seem like a cool thing to do... Fish with bait that the fish are accustomed to seeing all the time

Just food for thought!

Bruce