JimInCanton Loc: Canton, Ohio

Tom: That's interesting. Never heard of this idea. I google it and watched a youtube video of it, and will have to order one. Thanks for the idea. Years ago I had some hypodermic "worm blower" needles that were suppose to pump the worms up and make them more attractive to the fish, but they never did any good for me.

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

You can get a worm threader at Walmart or and fishin store. Usually.
They are really helpful if you are gonna troll nightcrawlers.

JimInCanton Loc: Canton, Ohio

Thanks saw1

jepolt Loc: North East Ohio

Jim,

They used to carry them at The Fin Feather and Fur store on Whipple across from Belden Village.

JimInCanton Loc: Canton, Ohio

I'm wondering if you have tried using one?

jepolt Loc: North East Ohio

No never have used one. Until just a few years ago I spent most of my life and all my fishing time on Lake Erie at the islands. Very seldom used worms and when we did we always cut them in half to put on my hand made weight forward spinners. Never really felt the need to use one.

Portabote Loc: CA

Thirty or forty years ago I started going to Nehalliston Fishing Lodge on Taweel Lake in central British Columbia. Taweel is a large and deep lake that is best fished by trolling the drop-off areas. The first time I fished there I was embarrassed at dinner when all of the others were bragging about their catches, and I had caught nothing. That went on for two or three nights and then an old-timer named Mac said "Gary, when we finish dinner I will take you out and show you the secret to catching."

We get out to a fishing area and Mac pulled out a piece of wire coat hanger like the drawing I have attached. He seated the curve of the hook in the notched end of a piece of coat hanger, and did a couple of turns of the leader around his trigger finger so he could hold the hook in the notch. The curved part of the device rested in the palm of his hand. He reached into the 1# coffee can containing his night crawlers and grasped a crawler at mid section. As he removed his hand with the crawler out of the can, he pushed the crawler against the rim of the metal can to cut the crawler in half.

Now he had the device loaded as described, half a crawler being held by his thumb and the two adjacent fingers with the cut end of the crawler facing out. He then inserted the notched end of the device holding the hook into the cut end of the crawler and pushed it in until the crawler covered the leader knot on the hook. He then pulled the device out of the crawler. VOILA!!! A straight piece of crawler that looked like the black leaches in the lake!!

I had been baiting the hook with a whole crawler in the squiggly manner I learned as a kid. Taweel Lake is a remote lake containing ONLY native Kamloops Rainbow Trout that eat scud and leaches. Squiggly crawlers did not look natural to them.

Pic of trout on smoker tray showing their deep pink color from their diet of scud.

The next night at dinner, and ever after, I could be one of the braggers!!!

This method works best with #6 or #8 snelled hooks, depending on how large your crawlers are.

The problem with the coat hanger wire device was it was awkward and was easy to lose in the boat. I refined the design as shown by soldering telescoping sections of brass rod and tubing together, inserting that into a wooden drawer pull knob and coating it with a bright colored rubberized coating. Easy to spot in the boat and it floated if you happened to drop it overboard. In honor of Mac, I call it "TAWEEL MACBAITER"!!

I hope the worms its way into your fishing repertoire!!!

jepolt Loc: North East Ohio

Very interesting story portabote Enjoyed reading it. Thanks for all the details. Do you currently make this device and sell them?
Those fish look really good. I bet they’re tasty!

Portabote Loc: CA

No, I don't make and sell them. Years ago I made some to give as gifts to others who went to Taweel with me, and to my brothers who fish. Easy to make though. If you would like to try the method, make a crude one with the coat hanger to see if you like it.

I forgot to add to previous post that Covid travel restrictions to Canada and within British Columbia caused permanent closure of Nehalliston Fishing Lodge the third year they could not open. News of the closure made me cry because I went there almost every year for 30+ years.

Those smoked trout were the best I ever tasted. Limit at Taweel was 5 per day, 10 in possession, so wife and I always brought 20 home. In the old days the previous lodge owner did not limit your take home #. He wrapped them in newspaper and stuffed them in a cardboard box for transit home. One time when we arrived at LAX and got on the shuttle to the car park, the box of smoked trout smelled up the entire shuttle bus. Other people on the shuttle were asking "What is that smell?" I knew we had more than enough for our use so I handed out a smoked trout to each person on the shuttle. They went wild over the taste. I think if we had had a couple of bottles of wine we would have commandeered the shuttle and had a party right there on Century Blvd.

JimInCanton Loc: Canton, Ohio

That was an interesting story Portabote, thank you for telling it, was a nice treat to read.

Jeremy Loc: America

Worm and bait threaders have definitely increased the fish that get hooked instead of just a bite and no hook set. A notched piece of large wire or a worm threader are a must if using worms in my opinion. The Barb of hook will keep worms on the hook as long as you thread them properly.

For bass fishing I like to have tube bait. Then thread a worm onto the hook. Add some scent ( oil salt etc ) into the tube before the worm is pushed up into the tube bait. Give the fish something yummy to taste so after they see it they can smell or taste it as well.

Gaterbait Loc: 34221/32333

I use worms for panfish here a lot on a small boat. I have an old lunch box cooler i keep the worm container in plus a small plastic container with the tackle im currently useing. the lunch cooler keeps the worm mess out of the boat and also keeps them cool. Should work for crawlers also.

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

I took my uncle and my cousins son (his granddad) out, the kid (25) came all geared to still or shore fish, I told him I didn't buy a $45k boat to get to good shore spots, we were trolling...possibly jigging in certain circumstances.

DVTracker Loc: Harrisburg, PA.

Portabote…good story, and details for using a worm threader/TTAWEEL MACBAITER, I enjoyed reading both. Those trout look delicious too. Thank you for sharing.

drjim Loc: London, AR

That should be easy if you have a paper shredder.