# Do fish really like worms???



## richg99

The last two paragraphs are very interesting, especially if you are a bass fisherman.

richg99

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/03/fish-really-like-eating-earthworms/


----------



## overboard

Interesting!
Many years ago when the June Bug spinner was popular for walleyes, an old guy in Canada suggested to use them with a piece of red porkrind and a nightcrawler trailing off the hook/hooks. See um (red), smell um (nightcrawler), hear um (vibration from blade), was what he used to describe why to set it up this way. Seems like almost all modern worm harnesses for walleyes are still based on that same principle, and there is something hanging off the hook/hooks to provide scent.


----------



## clinchmtnboy

richg99 said:


> The last two paragraphs are very interesting, especially if you are a bass fisherman.
> 
> richg99
> 
> https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/03/fish-really-like-eating-earthworms/




I remember we were fishing after a flood a few years ago. We caught cats that were about to bust with worms. I would guess it is the natural instincts that take over. I know those cats took advantage.


----------



## mirroman

I have a book on fishing published in the late 60's or early 70's titled "Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers".
I have taken lots of advice from those pages and scored on many a large fish. Yep, they like big worms!


----------



## Macrosill

It seems they really really really do like worms. The bigger question is Why do they like worms so much? Who cares why, lets just go fishing with worms! LOL



mirroman said:


> I have a book on fishing published in the late 60's or early 70's titled "Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers".
> I have taken lots of advice from those pages and scored on many a large fish. Yep, they like big worms!



Cherish that book.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0317910701/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Only 3.99 shipping!


----------



## richg99

Never saw a fishing book, or any other book, that cost over $1900.00

richg99


----------



## Johnny

the TV show Pawn Stars often show how they buy books
in the tens of thousands of dollars - BOOKS !!!
I like historical literature, but that is rediculous.


----------



## Crazyboat

When I was younger and fished lakes and ponds we always went for crickets and grasshoppers, always got a hit on them, never went looking for worms unless we crapped out on finding the jumpers.


----------



## UCFJed

> especially considered the fish still loved the worm-shaped, scentless, plastic when it was motionless. Was it because they are just naturally curious, seeing a completely new object and having the built in reflex to see if it’s edible?



Interesting article. Bass will attack anything that they can fit in their mouth for the most part. I like to think that finesse worms are almost like a snack for them.


----------



## ppine

One of the best ways to catch big trout over 20 inches in lakes is to use a part of a nightcrawler fihsed straight out with the hook exposed. To a fish it looks like a leech but smells right. In the spring, when the water is cold they can be fished right on the surface. The nightcralwer can be inflated with a syringe so it floats. Then it can be still fished from shore with a lead weight slip sinker. When the fish hits it will not feel the weight and readily take the worm.


----------



## richg99

Live bait!!!! Oh my God!!!

Ha ha... Good suggestion. I always thought that live bait was for......
People who wanted to catch fish!!!!

I am actually considering using live shrimp once again here on the Texas salt flats. Used to catch a lot of fish that way. 

richg99


----------



## LDUBS

We used to use live grass shrimp for stripers and sturgeon in the California Delta. But I think I probably caught more stripers on cut up sardines than anything else.


----------



## Lost Pole

I have a medium fish tank under our house that I use to test lures I tie. I look at the diff actions of diff feathers/hair/fibers with diff head weights I pour compared with diff hook sizes. 
We have water in our "back yard" ( think bayou/ swamp) 6 months outta the yeAr I guess.

The boys have started wanting to keep sunfish as pets. Fine by me. 
But what I've observed from feeding them is that worms...... are 2nd on the feeding frenzy scale. They go crazy for um as they're dropping and undulating. If they're dead or stiff, they usually make it to the bottom and our crawfish get em. Most of the time that's our night crawlers. The red wiggles never reach bottom.... especially if there's a baby black "crappie" in there. If I catch any baby white "crappie", they may starve n die if I don't scoop up some minnows to put in. 

Grass shrimp last maybe 3-6 seconds.... if they're crafty. 
Nothing beats a grass shrimp in my tank. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## richg99

Wiggly worms.... Guess that clearly explains why Wacky Worm rigging often brings more bites than Texas Rigging or Carolina Rigging.

Thanks for the info.

richg99


----------



## Stumpalump

richg99 said:


> Live bait!!!! Oh my God!!!
> 
> Ha ha... Good suggestion. I always thought that live bait was for......
> People who wanted to catch fish!!!!
> 
> I am actually considering using live shrimp once again here on the Texas salt flats. Used to catch a lot of fish that way.
> 
> richg99



This lady lost her hand fishing with shrimp.
https://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/2017/07/11/prick-shrimp-leads-infection-flesh-eating-bacteria-petal-woman/455312001/


----------



## richg99

Wow. I hadn't seen that article. 

Yes, that Vibro has wrecked havoc on the Gulf Coast for years. I had read that Vibro mostly attacked people with low immune systems. It also festered in back water sloughs.

Thanks for the warning. richg99


----------



## onthewater102

Fish up north - nature isn't trying to kill you constantly here!

No Gators
No Cottonmouths/Rattlesnakes
No strange flesh eating diseases
No 110 degree 95% humidity sweltering heat


----------



## Lost Pole

onthewater102 said:


> Fish up north - nature isn't trying to kill you constantly here!
> 
> No Gators
> No Cottonmouths/Rattlesnakes
> No strange flesh eating diseases
> No 110 degree 95% humidity sweltering heat



No Sportsman's Paradise either!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Johnny

yep - my son-in-law is a shrimper out of Cape Canaveral, FL and he tells some 
horror stories of the sea life that can bite, cut or poke you with nasty results.
good post about the lady !! and very sorry to hear of her catastrophic injury.


.


----------



## ppine

One of the effective ways to fish worms, is to use half a night crawler. Bury the shank of the hook in the worm and let the hook show. Fish interpret this presentation as a leech and it looks natural in a lake. The way not to fish worms is to wrap one around a hook into a gop.


----------



## richg99

Live worms! OMG!

What I say about live bait is...."people who use live bait want to catch fish." Ha Ha. 

I'm sure you are right. 
regards, R


----------



## handyandy

good grief that would sure suck. Won't stop me from using live bait many times you just can't beat the real thing. Smallie fishing I don't always do it, but one of the best baits has been and always will be live shiners, or craws caught from the body of water their. The ole saying match the hatch why not just use the hatch.


----------



## richg99

Yeah, for many years, I caught a LOT of speckled sea trout and redfish (saltwater species) using live shrimp. Then, I became "sophisticated" and started using only lures.

I no longer had to wait in lines on a Saturday morning to buy a pint of shrimp for $10.00. Now I get to spend hundreds of dollars on lures that catch a tenth of the fish.

These days, I fish during the week. I can better afford the ten bucks (now probably 12.00). I am rarely in a hurry. My boat has a live well to keep the bait alive.

Hmmmm ... See how sophisticated and smart I've become. Nahhhhhh.
rich


----------



## handyandy

haha hardly a bait shop near that sells any live bait other than gas stations with half dead worms in a little fridge. Thankfully a half mile down the road from me is a little creek plenty plentiful with crawfish, minnows, chubs, and little blue gill I go to when I want some live bait.


----------

