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Live Bait & home recipes for freshwater fishing-- What do you use ??

Just to start, if any of you happen to be near a catalpa tree, late June & early July now is the time to harvest what many call the ultimate in catfish bait, although most any fish goes nuts over this treat. The catalpa worm !! The catalpa worm has a symbiotic relationship with the catalpa tree,the only tree it eats the leaves of. The catalpa worm later becomes the sphinx moth.The catalpa worms can eat the tree barren of leaves 3 or 4 times a year, but is beneficial to both species, somehow. The catalpa worm grows to 3 or 4 inches long with a black top, head, and a black horn on its tail. The rest is a bright green.There are usually hundreds on a catalpa tree this time of year,often on the underside of the leaves. As a bait, one worm can be cut into 3 0r 4 pcs. and a single piece can catch several fish--The skin of the worm is tough and not easily nibbled off--They seem to give off an aroma that is like candy to catfish and other freshwater fish-- They can also be frozen and used all summer long--- My uncle had a catalpa tree, and this was my favorite live bait as a boy. Hopefully this video can show you more-

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick Hooper on July 6, 2015 at 19:08

The catalpa worm is the best bait for catfish ever, catnip for catfish!, John. Sadly , the catalpa tree is only 10 percent of the numbers in 1960's thru the 1990's in west Tennessee. Therefore a tree full of the worms is highly sought after. We suspected when no-till farming was booming, with it's massive use of herbicides, and the boll weevil eradication of a decade ago ended, both tree and worms were destroyed. In the 60's , we would bait trotlines, by cutting the worm in half and rolling the tail or head over a hook , like turning a sock inside out. The tree musk odor attracted all species of fish, but especially catfish!

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 6, 2015 at 20:40

hmmm, did not know about this one

Permalink Reply by jeff on July 7, 2015 at 8:11

thankyou john..

i definetly will try this.

Permalink Reply by Rick Hooper on July 7, 2015 at 20:59

Checked three trees today , saw a couple small worms, so won't be long! I'm going to pick a few of the long seed pods , and see if I can transplant a few seedlings , to the family farm. That way ,the grandkids will have , some catfish catnip!

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on July 8, 2015 at 13:27

Rick--Great idea for the grandkids !!- I lost access to my uncle's catalpa tree after he and my aunt passed.Hope I can find me another one,one of these days. BTW, you are probably right about the herbicides & pesticides making the trees scarcer.I read an article online about a lady who had 3 catalpa trees. She decided to spray one with a home-made eco-friendly spray to get rid of the worms. The worms dropped out of the tree by the hundreds.-- However, the following year, the tree she sprayed was the only one that didn't bloom. Took a couple of years before the tree ever recovered and the worms came back~~~~

Permalink Reply by Rick Hooper on July 8, 2015 at 18:44

Thanks, John ,they are very sensitive to many herbicides and insecticides, they thrive in semi open field edges and along fence rows , prime locations for farm spray! However, that is best place to plant the Catalpa. Maybe allow a thirty foot buffer zone, to prevent overspray. Sadly, the red and purple plum, and the native raspberry have suffered the same fate along side the cotton fields, and plum jam , which was a common delight in my early years is bottled by Smuckers in these parts now.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 8, 2015 at 19:54

Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) for sale