GRAYLING, Mich. — The night crawlers you buy for bait in Michigan nearly all come from a stretch of Ontario farmland between Windsor and Toronto that seems to be the annelid equivalent of the land of milk and honey.

But it's a one-way trip for those worms, because once they enter our country they become persona non grata in their native land — it's illegal for U.S. anglers to take night crawlers, baitfish, leeches, crayfish or any other livebait into Ontario.

That's true even if the angler bought the bait from a facility that is certified to be disease-free and has the receipts to prove it, as is now required of anglers who buy live minnows to fish in Michigan waters.

Taking bait to Canada was one of the questions that arose last week after the U.S. government cleared up confusion about whether U.S. anglers must clear customs upon returning to the United States. The answer is that they don't unless they land or tie up in Canada, and anchoring to fish doesn't count as landing.

But that opened a whole new can of worms about whether U.S. anglers must check in with Canadian customs if the Americans are merely entering Canadian waters to fish and don't tie up or land on that side.

The official word from the Canada Border Services Agency (Agence des Services de Frontaliers de Canada) is that thousands of Michigan anglers who fish the Canadian sides of Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and their connecting rivers are technically violating Canadian law because few, if any, check in with immigration authorities.

When asked whether U.S. boaters must clear Canada customs if they cross into Canadian waters and don't tie up or anchor, Canada Border Services e-mailed the following: "The Customs Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires that people seeking to enter into Canada must report to the CBSA. Section A 18 of the IRPA states: Every person seeking to enter Canada must appear for an examination to determine whether that person has a right to enter Canada or is or may become authorized to enter and remain in Canada This includes fishers who anchor, dock, or moor in Canadian waters."

However, several Canadian Border Service and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources employees said there was little likelihood that rule would be enforced in places with shared waters and where large numbers of boaters routinely cross the boundary line for fishing, sailing, waterskiing and other recreational activities.

But boaters who do land in Canada, even if it's just to have lunch, are required to check in with Canada Border Services, and they must also check in with U.S. Customs and Border Protection when they return.

For boaters entering the United States, that usually means a telephone call to a Customs and Border Protection officer, who will clear them over the telephone.