Did you ever fish for Camel Worms?
I don't know what made me think of it but I was telling my wife the other day that when I was a kid in East Tennessee I used to take wild onion shoots and stick them down in the holes in the ground that Camel Worms made and watch for it to move. Then I'd pull it out of the hole pretty quickly and most of the time there would be a Camel Worm attached to the end of the green onion. Some kids used broom straws but I think the green onion worked better. Plus there was always green onions growing in the fields around home which were just handy to use.
I found out later in life that what I though was a Camel Worm because it had a hump on it's back was actually a Tiger Beetle Larvae. Some people used them as fish bait but I didn't want to take a chance on getting bit or stung by one of the ugly things.
My wife said her and her brothers used to do the same thing when they were kids. She grew up on the river in Concord, TN which was just down the Tennessee River a few miles from where I lived in Knox County.
I wonder if catching Camel Worms was a Southern thing or if kids every where were doing that sort of thing back in the old days. I doubt kids today know anything about catching Camel Worms. I guess they've got better ways to entertain themselves than we had.
Camel Worm (Tiger Beetle Larvae)
Tiger Beetle
I found out later in life that what I though was a Camel Worm because it had a hump on it's back was actually a Tiger Beetle Larvae. Some people used them as fish bait but I didn't want to take a chance on getting bit or stung by one of the ugly things.
My wife said her and her brothers used to do the same thing when they were kids. She grew up on the river in Concord, TN which was just down the Tennessee River a few miles from where I lived in Knox County.
I wonder if catching Camel Worms was a Southern thing or if kids every where were doing that sort of thing back in the old days. I doubt kids today know anything about catching Camel Worms. I guess they've got better ways to entertain themselves than we had.
Camel Worm (Tiger Beetle Larvae)
Tiger Beetle
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Dammm. Don't think I ever seen or even heard one before now. You can have my share.
Heyyy,if I put one in that nasty bottle of bourbon I have, will it become a tequilla??? Will the cinnamon flavor be gone??0 -
montanajoe wrote:Dammm. Don't think I ever seen or even heard one before now. You can have my share.
Heyyy,if I put one in that nasty bottle of bourbon I have, will it become a tequilla??? Will the cinnamon flavor be gone??
IMO, if you need to put something in your bottle to make it taste better then you need to switch brands......0 -
Tiger beetles are pretty common in flat open areas. They are predatory hunters of other insects and arachnids. Being beetles, they have no sting. The bite is insignificant to a human. Much less so than being grabbed by some hungry beast weighing several thousand times more. 0 -
Use to catch helgrammites in the Pit River to use for Steelhead bait, I think it's a Dobson Fly larva that lives under river rocks. Harmless until they get an attitude, (like putting one on a hook), then they'll make you bleed. They were a sure thing for an ice chest full of fish though. 0 -
They are great bait Trap, my problem is I have always found it harder to find a helgrammite than catch a fish without one. Only ever seen two live ones and I have looked. I have found far more hellbenders than that. 0 -
Here in the central US, my go-to easy to catch bait varies by season and location. But, if I am striking out on lures, I can usually get a fish from one of the following:
1. Catalpa worms - when they are in season, they are like crack to fish. I have caught some of my biggest bluegills on them.
2. Earthworks / Night crawlers. If I have a night before I can get a decent supply of them. Though I haven't done it in years, I used to carry a tiny diabetic type syringe and inflate the worm before casting it out. This had the affect of raising the worm up off the bottom.
3. Grasshoppers or crickets. More than once I have won a bet with them. My brother-in-law and I had been fishing for probably more than an hour with no bites. I bet him I'd catch a fish on the next cast. If I did, he bought dinner. If not, then I would. He agreed so I changed my setup with an ultralight hook, a clear trout casting bobber (whatever the heck they are called - used to throw trout flies with standard fishing equipment). I cast it out and let it sit. The ultralight hook allowed the grasshopper to remain on the surface where it was kicking. Within seconds, a little sunfish darted up to get it. Though it hit it several times, I don't think it could fit in its mouth. About that time the surface exploded so I set the hook and reeled it in. 4.5# Largemouth Bass - WITH a still alive ~3" sunfish also in its mouth. To this day I am not sure which it was actually after but my guess was the sunfish. That has to be one of the biggest fish I have caught with such a small hook.0 -
My catalpa trees have worms on them for the second time this year.I catch them and and freeze them in corn meal for later use.The are hard to beat for catfish bait. 0
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