Fishing Forum

Got up early this morning, but not early enough. We got to Scofield around 7:30 a.m., and the temperature was zero degrees. Out on the ice by 8:00, and drilled holes in about 16 feet of water. The ice was 7-8 inches thick, and it had a layer of watery slush on it beneath 8-10 inches of snow. For the first hour or so, we got quite a few nibbles and landed a few fat 15-16 inch rainbows. We were using little yellow tube jigs mostly, but I caught a big one on a larger, green foxy jig that broke off my line. By 10:00 a.m., the bite stopped where we were, but we stuck it out for another hour. That's when we wished we had arrived earlier, during "prime time." As we were leaving, I checked with other fisherman along the way, and some of them were still pulling up fish once in a while. By then the temperature had risen to 30 degrees, and the sun was shining brightly. It was a beautiful day to be on the ice. No one was slaying fish left and right, but no one was complaining either.

One interesting thing happened that I wanted to ask others about. For bait (to tip the jigs) we used wax worms and nightcrawlers, but when we opened the nightcrawler container we found they were really old and had gone rotten on us. There's no smell on earth worse than the smell of rotten nightcrawlers on a hot summer day. Lucky it was cold today so the smell wasn't quite so bad. Anyway, we didn't have any fresh ones, so I went ahead and used the rotten ones. Some were "utterly disgusting" and nearly fell apart on the hook. The surprising thing was that the rotten, stinky nightcrawlers out-fished the wax worms two to one. I've heard of using stinkbait for catfish, but not for trout. Has anyone else had any experience or success with using rotten nightcrawlers for bait?
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I never use Nightcrawlers through the ice. I have always had better success with Meal worms and wax worms. Whatever works, I guess.
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There have been days the *only* thing I could get fish to bite on through the ice was a good old worm.
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I always go prepared with crawlers when I go ice fishing. Sometimes they work great and other times wax worms, meal worms, minnows or other baits work better.
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These nightcrawlers were not of the "good old worm" type. They were just plain old. In fact, they had been in a styrofoam container in the refrigerator so long that they were to the point of being smelly and decomposed. Sometimes when I tried to pick them up they would just melt between my fingers, and the smell was pretty bad. That's why i asked the question. Usually, I would just toss them in the nearest trash can (or bury them to get rid of the smell), but yesterday I was desperate to use them as bait, and they really worked.
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[cool][#0000ff]A question I have to ask is WHY DID YOU NOT CHECK THE WORMS THE DAY BEFORE? That is definitely something that needs to be on everybody's fishing preparation checklist. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Whenever I smell something "off" in the refrigerator, the first thing I check are the nightcrawlers. They do not last forever. And, when you think about it, buying a fresh box before you go is cheap insurance towards having a better fishing day.[/#0000ff]
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Stinky worms are a great natural attractant if you can stand the smell. Dip your lure in it and see for yourself!!! Congrats on icing the bows i cant wait till i can get on the ice.
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Checking the bait is my wife's job. And she baits her own hook also. What a woman!

These worms were in a little styrofoam container, and I guess in the excitement of getting everything else ready she didn't open it until we got up on the ice. The happy ending, of course, was that the decomposed worms did attract the fish. Maybe I'll continue using them in the future instead of throwing them out.
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[cool][#0000ff]Not criticizing you. Just suggesting that you add "CHECK BAIT" to your OWN list. No need to make Mama unhappy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, you can't argue with the results. Some great discoveries have happened just that way.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hey, penicillin was discovered from something that had gone moldy in the refrigerator. Maybe you can figure out a way to cure cancer with rotten nightcrawlers.[/#0000ff]
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Re: "Maybe I'll continue using them in the future instead of throwing them out."

If your wife will tolerate a container of odoriferous, rotten worms in her fridge, then she truly is an exceptional fisherwoman.[angelic] Good to hear you had a fun trip. Thanks for the good report.
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Who knows, maybe rotten nightcrawlers counteract pcbs too.[]
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[cool][#0000ff]You go right ahead and conduct that research. I will patiently await your findings...with bait on my breath.[/#0000ff]
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