Catalpa Worms in Ohio?

[Jackalope]

It's no secret to anyone who loves catfishing that the Catalpa worm is like crack for a catfish. Back home we would always go collect them about this time of year. A quick blanch in boiling water and then freeze them for use all summer. Now I have seen a ton on Catalpa trees here but never any worms. A quick search online shows that some catfishermen here have found them so they must grow here too. Have any of you guys ever found a tree with them?

 

[giles]

Tomato worm? Or do they not have the black? Can’t remember, but I do remember the horn. Which I’ve heard them called horn worms. Seems like I’ve seen these around, just never paid any attention.

 

[Jackalope]

Tomato worm? Or do they not have the black? Can’t remember, but I do remember the horn. Which I’ve heard them called horn worms. Seems like I’ve seen these around, just never paid any attention.

Similar but these are only found on Catalpa trees.

 

[oopsagain]

My experience with catalpa worms was awesome.. I used them on a bare hook with no weight and slayed huge bluegills on them.
I have found them in a few grooves that farmers had. Growning up we had a tree that was lousy thick with them, and one year it stopped getting them.
I usually started finding them in about the middle to late June.

 

[tracker 6]

Pretty common here

 

[Jackalope]

My experience with catalpa worms was awesome.. I used them on a bare hook with no weight and slayed huge bluegills on them.
I have found them in a few grooves that farmers had. Growning up we had a tree that was lousy thick with them, and one year it stopped getting them.
I usually started finding them in about the middle to late June.

Was this here in Ohio? We would pinch their heads off and put the hook in their rear then roll them inside out up the hook.

 

[giles]

Interesting...I wouldn’t even know what a chucacbra tree looked like.

 

[Dustinb80]

Interesting...I wouldn’t even know what a chucacbra tree looked like.

Lmao, you could gaggle it

 

[Jackalope]

Interesting...I wouldn’t even know what a chucacbra tree looked like.

Yeah you do, big leaves with long greenbean looking pods.

 

[tracker 6]

Their in bloom right now.

 

[brock ratcliff]

They should be showing up soon if not already here. The guy behind the pizza joint has a bunch of trees. I've collected a few worms there in the past but haven't checked them this year.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Everytime we visited our cousins in Virginia, thats all they used for bait no matter what they were fishing for. They caught some huge stripers on them

 

[jagermeister]

I've seen plenty of catalpa trees but can't say I've ever seen one of those caterpillars. Interesting.

Up here near Sandusky Bay, you don't mess around with fancy baits for catfish. They're so thick, it really doesn't matter what you throw at them. Nightcrawlers, chicken livers, cut bait, hot dogs, jigs, crankbaits, weight-forward spinners, fished on the bottom, fished under a bobber, in the rocks, in the deep water... They're literally everywhere. I've been telling myself for the past couple years I wanna go out and target some trophy sized fish near the mouth of the river. There's a good population of flatheads building in there now too.

 

[oopsagain]

Was this here in Ohio? We would pinch their heads off and put the hook in their rear then roll them inside out up the hook.

Yep, Auglaize county. I would use a number 8 snelled baitholder with a live worm hooked in the middle and just pitch them out. I was amazed that the fish could get that whole worm down. I did catch bass, crappie and cats as well.

 

[RedCloud]

Can't say I have ever seen them. Guess I'll have to start paying a little closer attention while out in the woods.

 

[oopsagain]

Can't say I have ever seen them. Guess I'll have to start paying a little closer attention while out in the woods.

Catalpa typically were grown for shade and farmers would plant small groves of them for fence posts.. It's not a very common tree in the woods.

 

[hickslawns]

One of the Dad's on my son's soccer team is a worm farmer. At the tournament today I asked him if he sold them. Said he tried growing them. No success. Just need to find the trees and manually grab them. I'll ask tomorrow if he knows of anyone who actually sells them.

 

[Redneckfucker]

Looks like I need to check the trees by my house. Never knew what they were till now. Also never knew the worms were that great of a bait. But I have three catalpa trees right beside my house


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[RedCloud]

Catalpa typically were grown for shade and farmers would plant small groves of them for fence posts.. It's not a very common tree in the woods.

Most of the farms I hunt were dairy farms and I have about 7 miles of fence rows total. Never paid much attention to any of the small groves of trees other then the apple trees they had planted in the pastures.

 

[Lucky]

Never used them... but had a niebhor who told me about them and said hands down best catfish bait u could ever use.