[98custom]

I get to be the first person to post anything on catalpa worms. hehehe anyway I want to know the best way to preserve/freeze them for later use because last time I tried it didn't work very well.

 

[catfishkay_]

is first put them in ice water, then roll them in cornmeal, bag em' up and pop into the freezer....... always works well for me!
catfishkay_

 

[Guest]

You can then thaw them out at your convenience, roll them in cornmeal once more and drop them in the deepfryer until they are a nice dark crisp green color. You can then serve them with some fried shad and a minnow salad and maybe some hushpuppies and you have a meal fit for a fisherman. Lol, just kidding of course, but I couldn't resist once I read that you rolled them in cornmeal before freezing them!

 

[canebreaker]

Throw on a few hash browns and I'll be right over.

I cool them in cold water for a few minutes then count so many into a zip lock bag, about 20, and add water, and into the freezer. No matter what I do, and how I prepare them, they always come out dark. The ones you buy always come out bright in color. They must add a preservative.

 

[Guest]

I thought I read a post on the old B.O.C. site that said something about adding lemon kool-aid or something like that to the worms before freezing them and it kept them from turning that dark color. I may see if I can find that thread later.....

 

[Nate]

I think what you're refering to is dipping them in Fruit Fresh before freezing to help keep their color.

The ideal way to preserve the worms would be to vaccum seal them in plastic while still alive, then flash freeze them on dry ice. Then you could keep them in the freezer pretty much indefinately.

Problem is, how many of us have vaccum sealers and dry ice? LOL

 

[Desperado]

I just put them in cornmeal and freeze them. Never have freezer burn I use them to fast.

 

[Bottombouncer]

i put them in can in the refrid. for a little while to slow them down so they dont crawl to much then i dump them in togo box pizza box works well and put in freezer check ofton and youll have loose worms split up :

 

[Mr Phatkat]

I put them in cornmeal live and freeze. Some people store them in the freezer in salt. They dont freeze, they dont discolor, they get tough until they've been in the water for a while...I took some out for an ice fishing trip from a buddy that freezes them in salt. It might have just been a slow day, but those salt stored ones didnt seem to work as well as i thought they should..

 

[Guest]

Folks on the Apalachicola River collect them off the trees in season then freeze them in 7-UP or Sprite. When you thaw them out you are ready to go catfishing. Something about the 7-UP helps them keep their color and consistancy, and those river Channel Cats and Blues eat'um like crazy....Ray

 

[milom98]

Someone told me to shread up some of the catalpa tree leaves and put them in the zip lock bags with the worms before freezing them. I thought it sounded iffy but gave it a try and it really helps. I usually put in 8 to 10 one inch square pieces of leaves per bag and thats with 20 worms a bag. You can usually thaw and refreeze a bag twice before they get to dark unless they are in the sun to long.

 

[taterpicker]

I have just finished putting up some catalpas and i dont do nothing to them. Just put them in a freezer bag an suck the air out an freeze live. When they thaw out they look like the did when picked off the trees.
You dont need no fancy air vac. All you need is a a small tube like used on a fish aquarium. Get a plastic cap off a stick of grease lubrciant, punch a hole in it an stick the small tube in the hole an put the other end in the freezer bag. Hold the freezer ziploc bag nearly zipped an stick the the other end with the grease cap on it to the end of your vacum cleaner hose. Be carefull an dont suck it so tight that you suck the juice out of the worm. Been doing this for years and it works every time. The worms will hold their color. Dont overload the bag. I usually put about 25 to a quart size bag. The other ways mentioned work but this works better for me. (taterpicker)

 

[smells like old liver!]

Have some of the finest, fattest Kentucky Catalapa worms...wondering what they sell for across the country....
smells like old liver!

 

[suddawg]

I swear I'm going to buy one of these catalpa trees and plant it in Nebraska. It's all they talked about in Alabama when I was down there.

SudDawg

 

[jtfoodguy]

I grew up fishing with'em and now I can't find them anywhere.

John

 

[Jammer]

I've got a couple of trees scoped out that I get worms off of every year. All trees don't have worms on them, some only have a few. These two are almost always covered when the worms are out. I need to start checking, they should be out soon.

 

[Sundance]

does anyone have any idea when the season is here in ohio?

of course, I need to find some catalpa trees first.

Don.