[cat4life]

HAve any of you guys tried injecting worms with air? I heard that it works because the worm floats and your bait sits on the bottom. That makes it more visable to the cats. What do you guys think?

 

[PARATROOPER]

I tried it a long time ago, to me it never made any noticeable difference. Now days I dont like using worms for catfish. All I catch is suckers, carp, and channels under a pound. But then again, Im more of a trophy hunter these days.

 

[Guest]

I have heard good things about it but have never tried it myself. I know a lot of people use a regular syringe and needle (which makes my skin crawl, lol), or if you look in the Bass Pro catalog, there is a "worm blower upper" made specifically for that for a couple of bucks I think.

 

[ryang]

I use a hyperdemic needle to blow them up. Havnt noticed a big difference in bites tho

 

[Ohio Trophy Hunter]

i tried this years ago and noticed an increase in bites.the trick is to just inflate about an inch of the tail.i always used with a texas rigged live nightcrawler and a nose hooked one threaded on before the texas rigged one was hooked the second time.
i never caught a monster this way but i noticed a difference,especially in weeds or on sandy flats near trees.
Eric B

 

[upsmanrichie]

I use the airworms when fishing for Bass, my Grandfather showed me that when I was little. He was diabetic, so he always had the needles. I use one of them ones that you inject meat with. They seem to work good and I can take it apart and clean it. Plus people don't look at me funny when they see it. It works good when I'm fishing Bass and panfish. Never tried it on cats. Try it out, thats the only way to find out.

 

[Desertrat]

I have tried it when drifting for channels on lakes. It seems to work well for me, I nose hook the worm and use a three-way rigging to keep the worm about two feet off the bottom. Seems to make the worm a little more active looking if you keep your drift slow.

 

[steveg442]

I used to do that using nightcrawlers trout fishing. It floats the worm off the bottom. I never tried it catfishing yet but worked pretty well for trout. I would think a lake with a lot of moss on the bottom it would work.

 

[RMXmitch]

I have a lindy worm blower got it at meijer for 2 bucks. Works very well. The reason I stayed away from hypodermic needles is becasue a BOC member stated to me that if a game warden saw a needle in your tackle box he might get a false idea. I am not sure if that amount of air works or makes a difference, but you dont have much to lose.

 

[catfishkay_]

tried this method for trout fishing, sure does bring the browns in but haven't tried it for the cats. Hmmm, maybe you have given me some new ideas.... lol
catfishkay_

 

[master_cat]

anuther great idea for needels is to inject your favroite sents directy to yer worms or watever else yer fishing with

 

[cat4life]

can you inject a scent or falvor into a worm but still make it float?

 

[centralcalcat]

I have used blown up worms to fish for trout, but I shy away from worms while catfishing, duw to large amounts of bullhead and carp in my home water.

When you inflate a worm they do float and float well and I know some buddies who did it for cats in San Diego in some really weedy ponds to bring their bait above the weeds.

 

[cat4life]

Did it work for your friends?

 

[cat4life]

I went out saturday with the blown up worms and I had no luck. but we didnt catch anything on dip or dough baits ethier.

 

[centralcalcat]

Cat4life,

Yeah they did pretty good, in that area, all channels between 2-5lbs I think they landed 10-15 fish.
-Brian

 

[cat4life]

Those are some pretty good size fish. I still cant believe thatb the worms disnt catch anything. We had three poles in the water riged with worms injected with air. Not a single bite for three and a half hours.

 

[Sentry Dog Man]

Fishing an inflated crawler (especially just the tail end) can be an effective and deadly method of fishing. Although, I cannot (currently) attest to its effectiveness (since I am not catching many fish, nor am I currently using an inflated crawler). But, back in the 70's I used inflated crawlers almost exclusively. And, caught and lost a bunch of fish, mainly bass and catfish in the lake that I fished.

IMO, the key to success in using the inflated crawler or any bait for that matter is to first fish it around good structure. Secondly, use light to ultra light gear for inflated crawler fishing. Since, you want to present that crawler as naturally as possible, with a minimum amount of weight and/or terminal tackle. I prefer 7 to 10 1/2 foot spinning rods that handle 4 to 8 pound line and up to about 3/8 ounce of weight. The rod needs to be a bit on the "whippy" side to protect your light line but with a touch of backbone to (hopefully) move the fish away from heavy cover. The hooks I use/used were either Mustad or Eagle Claw aberdeen, a light wire hook, from sizes 6 to 10, with a size 8 being my most standard hook.

I usually fished a Carolina type terminal rig, leader between 12 and 18 inches, using the smallest swivel I could find and a slip sinker of some sort, weighing between 1/16 and 1/8 ounce and maybe up to 1/4 ounce, depending on the depth of the water I was fishing. Although, at times, I used no weight at all.

I must emphasize not to use heavy catfishing gear for this method. On a fluke, you might catch one. But, day in day out, this method is for light line fishing. You will lose some fish but you got to get them on before you can lose them. And, this method proved to me, time and time again that it works and works well.

One other thing, don't use crawlers that are not lively. Keep your crawlers cool and in good condition and they will provide you with a lot of fun.

 

[RamRod]

I've tried inflating worms a long time ago. But I was fishing for Bass and it seemed to work ok especially around structure like what Sentry Dog said. :0a26:

 

[mudcat_xpress]

I've tried this while bass fishing but never catfishing. I am going this weekend I'll try it and tell ya'll how it goes!