Catalpa Worms

[jeepjoe]

Greetings and I have really enjoyed my stay at 2cool. What a website!!! You folks are up on everything - for example before David Carr got the ax and the guy from Atlanta was coming our way - 2Coolers were on to it 2 days before I even read it in the Chronicle. The point is, please don't take this forum for granite. I personally thank each and everyone of you who has even the smallest contribution to maintaining this forum.

Now to my question. Does anyone out there in cyber space know what a Catalpa Worm is? As a child my Dad planted and grew Catalpa Trees and we harvested Catalpa Worms. We sold them at bait camps at Lake O' the Pines in small paper lunch size sacks. We sold them out of the back of my Dad's pickup truck on the highway between Gilmer and Ore City. I couldn't have been 7 or 8 years old at the time. But over 2-3 years we raised $55.00. With that money my Dad bought our first boat. A used 14' john boat. The next year when he pulled in two 30lb and a 31lb OP catfish on 2 hooks side by side off a trot line baited with Catalpa Worms - well how would you say by Fishing Career was kick started.

The green slime the Catalpa Worms would spit on my hand as I picked them off the Catalpa Trees would stain (it's their defense mechanism) my young hands for days. The worm could not sustain itself without the Catlap leaf from the Catalpa tree, so we would place them in a ziploc bag, added water and would freeze them for later use.

Many times in H-town I actually have seen a Catalpa Tree - but no Catalpa Worms. Does anyone out there have a clue what I am talking about?

[kurt68]

I used them for cats in Texoma. They are very good bait, but I have never seen them on the catapa trees down here.

[CFARMS]

We used them in East Texas when I was a kid. I've heard you have to transplant them to the trees down here to start a colony, not sure though. GC.

[Fishing For Tips]

My dad used to always talk about them and everytime we saw a catalpa tree we would stop and check for worms, there were never any on the tree. I would be interested in finding out how to harvest them. We have a hug catalpa tree on the brazos river that would work great.

[Cat O' Lies]

We had a tree in our yard growing up in e texas. it was always loaded with worms this time of year.

[shadslinger]

It's true you have go get live worms from another tree and place them on the leaves of the tree you want to grow them. They stay great bait for a long time when frozen in zip-locks with corn meal. It is the only bait that I know of that is better than shad.

[gunnerdog]

The story that i have been told about the worms is this. they feed on the trees and then go to the ground when it is time for them to become moths. the problem around here is that the worms get attacked by the ever so popular fire ant. If you transplant them, make sure you spend the time to rid the area of ants.

[olcob]

We get quite a few up here in iowa, ya they stink to. Seems like you cant get the smell off your hands, make real goodbait. Some years they are more plenty full than others.

[copperhead]

I've always heard of them but never seen them. I have 2 catalpa trees in my yard, I'll look today and see if I have any. I use hellgramites in the upper Colorado and Llano rivers tho.

[obiewan57]

I think they are like other baits, good in some places and not so good in others. I used tehm in East Texas when in colllege and caught so many catfish we had to start releasing them....I have tried them over the years in the Brazos and Central Texas lakes and have yet to catch a fish on them...that is my story and I'm sticking to it :))

[DMC]

Even when you get rid of the ants, the catalpa worms sometimes won't survive because they end up in cocoons in the ground, become moths and stay with the tree, but some poisons that will kill ants will also kill the worms once they burrow.