"You caught that on a night crawler" ?!?! That statement has always amused me, and the really amazing thing is, the same guys that have used "artificial" worms for years, are usually the most surprised ! Well guess what...... fish love worms, and the real thing is often a plus ! Nearly all different species of fish relish a crawler, and trophy-sized fish too. Of course this stands to reason. A night crawler is very high in protein, it's very easy to swallow (even by smaller fish), it has no sharp spines, bones, or claws, and it is the easiest of all prey to catch.

Night crawlers are probably the most overlooked and underutilized live bait (by serious anglers and trophy hunters that is) in the country ! It's interesting to note that more cartons of worms are probably sold to novices, and occasional anglers, than any other live bait. I have often wondered, where along the line do people "forget" how great they can be ?

My first "double digit" bass would not eat a live crawdad, but I was finally able to get her to pick up a live worm.

How to fish crawlers

Crawlers should be hooked once right through the tip near the head end. They can also be hooked through the tip of the tail end, allowing for a very natural crawling motion. I have literally watched my line inch out away from me when fishing crawlers in this manner. The only drawback to this method is that they tend to break off on the cast much easier, and sometimes they will even break off on there own !

Crawlers are best fished very slow with a short stitching motion (3 to 12 inches per stitch), or short slow drags, with pauses of several seconds in between. When I say slow, I mean SLOW ! To give you a better idea, a cast of about 30 feet should take at least 3 minutes to retrieve. Or, if you are fishing an area which you know to hold fish, it is often best to let the worm make any and all movements on its own.

Worms should always be kept fresh and lively. Considering that most night crawlers are shipped down to us from Canada, they need to be kept cool at all times during storage. The crisper in your fridge will be great, but you might need to hide them from the wife :-) For transportation and while fishing, an ice box works fine.

Water temperature plays a big part of how long a crawler will last on your hook. If the crawler starts to become limp and lifeless it should be replaced with a fresh one. You can put them back in a separate box, and by the next trip they will usually be good to go fishing for another round.

Where to fish crawlers

Crawlers can be fished anywhere there are fish to be caught, but they tend to draw more attention, and snag less often, on bottoms which are sparse in cover. Crawlers "are not" a good search bait, because of the fact that they are not near as effective when fished fast. On the contrary, they are best used in areas that you already know to hold good numbers of fish, or one large one. They can also be very effective at the mouth of a feeder creek, especially after a rain.

When to fish crawlers

A wiggling worm will produce fish every month of the year, but just as with most other baits, they work best for bass in the Spring, when they are the most active, and feeding the heaviest. Another time that crawlers shine, is during the post spawn when fish tend to be reluctant to bite typical reaction baits.

If all else fails, break out the crawlers ! Many times I have sighted fish in an area which just would not eat a live crawdad or various lures, but I was then able to coax them into picking up a live worm.

Ask Chuck Barrett what he thinks about night crawlers. This awesome 12 lb trophy bass just could not resist the real thing !

My buddy Ryan "Chabot Pro" and I were having a really tough day with a skunk looking immanent, when he asked if he could use one of my spinning rods to flip a crawler. What a great call ! This 10.4 lb hog gently sucked in a crawler which Ryan had flipped into a submerged treetop. This fish had probably eaten a bunch of trout in the past, but still could not pass up a crawler !

The right gear for fishing crawlers

Although crawlers can be fished on gear "as heavy" as a medium action spinning rod with 10 lb or 12 lb mono, ultra-light gear in the 1 to 6 lb class really lends itself well to this bait. I will use 30 lb braided line on medium gear though, if I am specifically fishing for a trophy fish which is near hazardous cover. The key is being able to get a crawler out 20 to 40 feet, with very little, or even no weight whatsoever. My favorite crawler gear is my 6 ft, micro-light G-Loomis SR 720, which is rated for 1 to 4 lb line. I use a micro-braided line (Tuff-Line Plus) which is 2 lb diameter, but 10 lb test....... as long as it doesn't hit a rock, or then its back to 2 lb test. This stuff casts like a dream though, and matches my rod and reel perfectly.

I try not to use any weight at all, but sometimes if there is a current drift, or to keep my leader down close to the bottom (which makes it less visible to the fish) I will sometimes use a use a BB sized splitshot about 10 to 18 inches above the hook.

I prefer a premium Gamakatsu octopus style hook for all of my crawler fishing. I match the hook size to the gear I am using. For instance, on my micro-light setup I will usually use a size 6 or a 4, while on my medium gear I will use a size 2 or a 1.

One note of caution

Bass and some other species of sportfish will tend to swallow a crawler quickly, (especially smaller, more aggressive fish) and become deeply hooked, if you do not set the hook fast. Experience will greatly decrease these occurrences. If you are hooking fish deeply, you should start setting on them sooner. If you are missing fish, you can always give them a bit longer. The nice thing is, if you do miss a fish because you set the hook too early, it will often come back, as it just had a "positive" feeding experience.

If you do hook a fish so deeply that you cannot remove the hook quickly and easily without doing even more harm to the fish, it should be immediately released with the hook left in it.

On the contrary to what I have read, I have left hooks in several fish over the years (although the relative percentage is very small), and then re-caught that same fish later (which I was able to identify by size, place of catch, distinguishing features such as pigmentation marks, scars, etc) which had successfully gotten rid of the hook. I have also caught many fish, probably more than 20 over the years, which were in the process of expelling a large 3/0 to 5/0 plastic worm hook from the rectum. This really eases my concerns about the rare occasion in which I have to leave one of my tiny, light wire crawler hooks in a fish.

This trophy Channel catfish went 23.1 lbs and bit a wad of night crawlers at San Pablo Dam Res, which I was fishing on micro-light gear.

Back in the old days, I used a ton of crawlers for Stripers too. This beauty went 16.5 lbs.

After not having caught a double digit bass for 6 weeks, but having caught a 14 lb Channel cat the evening before, I decided to go for catfish instead.

I had baited my micro-light rod with 4 smashed, and dead night crawlers (to keep them from tangling the line around the hook), then casted them out and let them sit. A little bit later I stick a good fish, but after a minute or so, it does not feel like a Catfish. I'm thinking, it must be a Carp. Suddenly, it runs for the surface and makes a wild head slinging jump...... and its a BASS ! And it's a HOG ! It turns out to be a 13.0 lb beauty, my biggest on the micro-light.

It just goes to show, as long as you have a line in the water, anything is possible !

	Fishing With Live Night Crawlers
	by "Fish Chris"