Nightcrawlers

[tubeN2]

[size 3]We all know that crawlers are a good general all around bait. I have caught, perch,bluegill, trout,cats, smallies, and Largemouths on them.[/size]

[size 3]What have you caught with them and what did you do different from out of the ordinary?? Did you add attractant, garlic, anise etc........???[/size]
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[DrownedDesertRat]

I've caught my share of weedfish with nightcrawlers!

Actually, if you want to try something interesting with your nightcrawlers, I read an interesting clip in In-Fisherman last month. One of the guys there came up with a garlic water formula for the worm bedding so all the worms have a garlic scent and taste to them.

Haven't tried it yet. Maybe next year.
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[daymere]

[]take a sringe and put some air in him or in several places,also you can place scent in a worm with it
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[southernman]

y'now i got one of those hyperdermics, but i can never get the air to go into the worm . . i must be doing something wrong . .

sm
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[fishfather]

[size 2] Don't feel bad.[unsure] I poped a couple worms trying![shocked][sly][/size]
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[tubeN2]

Hey guys, there are two different types of worm blowers that I use. One has a longer needle and the other has a shorter needle. I found out that the longer needle works better for the fat, juicy nightcrawlers and the shorter needle works better for the medium nightcrawlers and the blood worms.

The different sizes make it easier to blow them without popping them.
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[johnincolorado]

I use a plastic bottle with a crude needle on the end, insuring that it can't be mistaken for the real thing. I've talked with several fishermen who have been questioned by County Mounties about using drugs in a boat, or on shore. Seems passer-bys are thinking they're druggies when the hypodermic needles come out. Another one of those "file it away for later laughing" items.

"Beam me up, Scottie. There's no intelligent life on this planet."
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[tubeN2]

Hey there John, the one that I hope that we are all referring to looks like this one in the picture.

[url "http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0011801190084a&navAction=jump&navCount=0&indexId=&podId=0011801&catalogCode=ID&parentId=&parentType=&rid=&cmCat=search&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.2_A&_DAV=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcontent%2FPod%2F01%2F18%2F01%2Fp011801ii01.jpg"][/url]

You can find these in most fishing and tackle stores.
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[lou]

HAHAAHHA WHY?? nope noit me neither. haha but i bet they,d work good!! that,s just bout all i use except fer the minners. i love fishin with them too. got to have the patience with them though. jack don,t have that. haha ends up pullin it right out of the mouth. haha oh well. anyways, i do the brookies rinbows and german browns, with the nitecrawler. perch bass whatever hornpout. rainbows are different i,ve found though, they nub it and then ya wait till they decide there gonna run with it and then ya nub them. sometimes the big browns do that but theylss sit there eat and good end up swallerin it, which i hate, and nub em.there tricky them big ones, haha just like the rainbow, exvcept fer swallerin. i like to put the big ones back at times but can,t whe they swaller it. well anyways hope everybody,s been havin fun, and are well, i been doin the squirel huntin and partridge huntin things and eneded up bear huntin ater i come up on the tracks. haha went from 410 buckshot to a slug real quick! haha later
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[lou]

haha i wouldnt either! know how haha maybe we ain,t holdin our mouth right haha that,s one gramp use to say. haha
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[lou]

hahaha hope you were in the barn. haha
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[hharada]

My fishing is almost exclusively stream fishing for trout.

I usually start out with hardware, but carry crawlers if I get no action with the lures.

The crawler is put on an Eagle Claw #4, #6, #7 (the best sized hook I've found for general trout fishing, but unfortunately no longer available unsnelled), or #8 bait hook, starting just above it's collar, fully loading, but not packing, the hook shank. I ensure the barb is passed back out of the crawler to better ensure it stays on the hook.

This rig is unusually fished with no added weight. In most cases when weighting is needed, I use one of the tiny cylindrical nymph weights sold by Fly-Rite. In extremely heavy, fast water, I will weight with up to a #4 Bass Pro clam shot.

In areas where I run into all "little" trout (10 inches and under), I pinch the crawler in half and use only a half crawler at a time. This not only avoids waste, but better ensures hooking a fish without having to wait for it to almost digest the crawler. Using the "shortened" crawler, for me, also produces more lip hooks allowing releasing of the fish in the event I don't want to keep it. I use the tail end of the "halved" crawler first. The head end of a crawler will survive in the event it isn't soon used. The tail end will not. The tail half is put on the hook starting right into the cut-off end. The head half is put on the hook as described above for a whole crawler.

I fish the crawler rig, letting it run with the current, with a bow in the line between my rod and the water with the reel bail open, letting out more line as the situation requires. If the line straightens out or stops moving, I carefully take up the slack. If I feel a fish on the end of the line, I engage the bail, wait for the next tug and strike.

If the switch to crawlers doesn't bring action, I then switch to a single #14 or #10 salmon egg hook using a single Fireball. I'm not sure why, but the Fireball seems to work, particularly in predominately Rainbow waters, when the hardware and crawlers don't (I have yet to catch a brown or brookie on a Fireball).

I, again, usually fish the single Fireball with no added weight. When I do weight, I go no further than one of the Fly-Rite nymph weights.
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[tubeN2]

Hey there hharada, Thanks for the tips and insight. I always appreciate good advice such as yours and others here on the BFT site. Have a good one and happy fishing.
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[RUB70]

[]I CAUGHT A MUD PUPPY OFF OF NIGHTCRAWLER IN ABOUT 3 FEET OF WARM SUMMER WATER

[tubeN2]

Hi there RUB70, Welcome to BFT message boards. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I and the rest of the members have. I look forward to reading more of your posts. This is a good way for all of us to learn from each other. Thank you for sharing with us. Happy Fishing.[cool]
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[JapanRon]

Hey there RUB70,

As TubeN2 said, a big welcome to BFT and the many boards, shopping sites, and other features of the site. There are lot's of guys here just waiting to give, get, beg for, demand, request, borrow, and maybe even stea...... oh heavens no! our members are not that 'loooooooooooooow' (said as the skinny gyrocopter pilot said it to madmax).

We're a gentler and kinder lot.... ya know!

JapanRon
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[davetclown]

I hear the there Bud, I got more than my share of them pups my self this year. My biggest was 18 incnes.

I cought one on a blue gill I had set up on a tip up for pike last winter, cought one on a minnow, and even cought one in my minnow trap.

Slimy little fellas aint they...[]

Welcome to Bigfishtackle, what part of blue ball you fishing? (globe)
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[RUB70]

[]THIS ONE WAS ABOUT 10IN.

[davetclown]

That is a respectable size puppy, they only get about 18 inches on a good decade.

here is a pic of my last puppy, he to is about 10 inches. I will have to look for the 18 incher. I have a pic some where.

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[daymere]

caught a mussel on one and some sturgeonsome times i put little peices of alki selser ground up in them it makes them bubble
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