Artificial Nightcrawlers?

[UnkleRob2020]

I have recently begun taking a female friend on some fishing trips. She will not touch worms and I do not want to set the precedent of baiting her hook. She has only been fishing a couple of times so I do not think she is ready for advanced techniques. Are there any artificial nightcrawlers? I have had success with fish bites bloodworm alternate, but cannot seem to find them in a nightcrawler "flavor." Does anyone have any suggestions?

[LivinTheDream]

Rubber worms, "Senko's", are great fresh water bass baits. There are lots of ways to rig them and no fancy techniques are necessary to catch bass. I typically use Bass Pro brand (Sticko) because they are comparatively inexpensive and plenty effective. I've taken lots of kids and completely inexperienced adults fishing with these and have never had any have difficulty catching fish.

[dsaavedra]

She will not touch worms and I do not want to set the precedent of baiting her hook.

That's pretty funny right there, and wise of you haha! I suspect because night crawlers are so cheap there aren't readily available "substitutes", like you find with bloodworms. One that comes to mind is Berkley Gulp, they have some freshwater oriented baits like this: https://www.berkley-fishing.com/coll...e-worm-1285388 and also this: https://www.berkley-fishing.com/coll...rawler-1285402 They are not quite a worm "substitute" like FishBites, but it is a specially formulated scented plastic that must be kept in the jar of juice to remain effective.

How does she feel about mealworms? They are not slimy like nightcrawlers and earthworms. They are dry to the touch and sold in a package with saw-dust like material. You might be able to find them near the nightcrawlers in the live bait section at stores. If no luck there check pet stores, they are commonly sold as reptile food.

There's also live minnows, but I suspect if she can't handle worms then sticking a hook through the lips of a wriggly slimy minnow would probably be a no-go as well.

I suppose rubber gloves are also an option, I know some people use these to keep their hands from getting gross while baiting hooks.

[DonV]

Berkley Gulp had has numerous style artificial worms. They work as well or better than the real thing and can be rigged and fished as you would a live worm. That is good for the uninitiated that may not have the technique to fish a senko style rubber worm. They don't really on action they rely on scent and feel to mimic the real thing. The Gulp is a bit pricey but not really more so than live bait and with the bonus they don't die and can be used next trip.

https://www.amazon.com/Berkley-Gulp-.../dp/B00870X9LM