by John Kruse, November 20, 2006

Sometimes the need to go back to your beginnings hits you square in the face. In my case, it came to me on a weeklong fishing trip while I compared my empty creel to my partner’s repeated cries of "Fish on!"

The two of us were fishing Potholes Reservoir and some of the fertile waters that surround it in mid-October. I was fishing my usual combination of artificial lures while my friend generally stuck to a lure diet that consisted of nightcrawlers. I’d like to say I beat him. I’d like to say I caught some fish. But to be honest, I didn’t catch a single fish on a lure and watched him catch numerous smallmouth bass to three pounds, a beautiful 17 inch rainbow trout, and a couple of trout and perch to boot.

It’s not that I’m against bait fishing. Heck, I grew up fishing night crawlers off the bottom of Lake Sammamish catching perch, bass and bullhead. But as the years went on I guess I got uppity and fooled myself into believing I could catch as many fish with plastics and metal as I could on bait.

My October trip was a nice reminder that no matter how good I may be with a jig or a fly, some kid fishing next to me with a worm and bobber will catch more bluegill than I will on a typical summer day.

I also remembered that perch are far more likely to bit a nightcrawler suspended just off the bottom than anything else I toss their way.

When it comes to cooler weather, bass also like a slow presentation like the one my friend used when he injected a night crawler with air, put it on the end of a two-foot leader with an egg weight above a swivel, and did a very, very slow stop and pause retrieve to hook five smallies in a couple hours of fall fishing.

I also found that suspending a nightcrawler with a corkie, marshmallow, or powerbait will do wonders too. Just ask the guys who pull in huge Rainbows at Rufus Woods Reservoir in NE Washington every winter.

Yup…it’s hard to beat a simple nightcrawler. And even when it’s not fished alone it tends to improve a catch rate. Just ask any walleye angler trolling a Wedding Ring spinner/worm harness combo about that or someone trolling pop gear in the early spring for trout with a worm or crawler on the end of the hook behind those flashers.

All hail to the simple night crawler – you may well be the best way to catch fish I know of!



Bested by the humble nightcrawler!


John Kruse – 11/15/06