7 Ways To Fish A Nightcrawler That EVERY Angler Should Know!

today we are going to cover seven different rigging methods for nightcrawlers and worms they're going to help you catch more fish no matter where you're fishing or for what species now nightcrawlers and worms are one of the most versatile live baits out there and they're readily available across the country they're pretty easy to keep in bulk and they're very reasonably priced so any well-rounded angler should know how to fish these baits in a bunch of different ways and that's what we're going to cover in this video so stick around to the end because I'm also going to give you five tips on how to keep live bait a long time and also save some money so we're going to kind of work our way from the most simple to the more complicated rigging methods and for the purpose of this video I'm just going to call everything Nightcrawler since that's what I'm using today so with that said let's get into the rigging with rigging method number one it doesn't get much simpler than this this is just a Freel lined Nightcrawler no weight uh maybe a swivel if you want to tie a leader on there at the most but that's just a hook a worm and that is one of the best ways to catch fish across the country anywhere you're fishing shallow or where you want that presentation to drift down through the water column very naturally now a lot of times I'll be fishing this in a river system for trout and shallow water let that current take the bait down through and let those trout pick that warm up it's a very natural presentation another place I'll fish this would be like panish suspended over structure you know you don't want that bait to sink too fast or that'll sink past them so you don't want any weight on there that's a perfect way to present that Nightcrawler for those panish as well and even when the Walley are super shallow up on the edges of the weeds you can pitch this to them and let that Nightcrawler drift down through the water column and it's a great presentation for finicky fish and shallow fish all right guys rigging method number two and this one is uh killer um and it's often times underutilized but it's just the plain split shot rig it's basic Bally a freeline rig with a split shot pinched above it but this is a great rig for drifting in rivers get it down there in those deeper holes uh Walley trout just about anything that lives in a river will hit this rig and it lets that Nightcrawler kind of still bounce through the current it's not going to hold it in place you want to keep it moving but sometimes you need that little split shot just to get it down to where the fish are now don't discount this for Lakes either I've caught a lot of nice Walley on the split shot rig when I want a finesse presentation and I don't want a lot of weight on that bait sometimes you just need to fish a deeper spot and you don't want to wait 20 ft of water for that night crawler to sink down freeline put a little split shot on there it'll sink a little faster great bait for Target fishing cribs deeper wood cover uh you can drag this around shallower weed lines as well so as far as the hook on this i' I'm using a bait holder hook on this it's a a really good way to fish a night crawler around panish and anywhere you're uh making long casts it'll hold that crawler on there a long time this would be a number six that's a good size to start with so that's your split shot rig very versatile use it all the time for pan fish Walley trout you name it and uh even rough fish so cut a lot of fish on that rig over the years all right guys rigging method number three The Jig now a jig and a half a crawler has put more Walley in the boat over the years than just about anything else especially in the summertime it's a great way to cover lots of water and Target fish with this bait cuz you can see that jig exactly where it's going you can drop it right on a fish especially with live scope that we have now and you can see where that bait is on that live scul know exactly where that fish is in relation to it and it's just a good efficient quick way to fish a Nightcrawler now on a jig that you're going to be using for a Nightcrawler you want to have a really good keeper on there so that that crawler doesn't slide back down the hook shank and get caught in the Gap you want a good keeper this is a eurotackle jig right here and it's a Tungsten jig it's got flat sides on it I'll leave a link in the description for that it's a great Liv scope jig because it really glows on that Liv scope I'll leave links for everything I'm talking about Down Below in the description in this video too just so you can find them easily and if you purchase through those links it really helps the channel out so I appreciate that all right guys let's move on to rigging method number four the slip bobber rig this is interchangeable with a fixed bobber rig really either one uh the slip bobber rig is more popular in Lakes where you're fishing deeper water and a fixed float would be more for like drifting this bait in a river or fishing maybe shallow panish or something like that it's one of those presentations that almost anybody can fish it's a great way for kids to fish a crawler and it just keeps that bait hovering right in the strike zone also a fishing live scope you can pitch this out to exact points and let that crawler just drop right on a fish's head and uh for a slip bobber rig with a crawler I I really do like to use a jig head most of the time and this rig really just consists of a jig head a lader up to a swivel a little quarter or uh 8 ooun weight here just to get that Rigg down quickly to the fish your your slip float and then your knot and bead all right guys before I move on to Method number five if you're getting value from this video please subscribe hit that like button that really helps the channel out as well as making those purchases through the links down in the description so I appreciate it guys uh all right number five the Lindy rig you guys have all heard of the Lindy rig right that was the OG rigging method well basically all this is is a swivel and some sort of weight sliding weight so when a Walley picks that crawler up that weight slides down the line and they don't feel that weight on there it allows you to fish this fairly deep on the bottom or near the bottom uh and while you're drifting around and it'll hold that that bait down towards the bottom um we got a long leader on here about a 6t lader a lot of guys use two short of liters on Rigs and it doesn't allow for what really triggers fish on this rig which is for that bait to be kind of just floating around and drifting so that's that's really what makes this such a good finesse presentation so make sure you're using a long enough leader you can use any kind of octopus hook or uh bait holder like I showed you earlier or you can use a floating jig head like I have here and that's going to keep it up off the bottom more and kind of hold it up if those fish are suspended a little bit keep it from dragging in the mud and that's a that's a great little trick now you'll notice too that most of these night crawlers I've been hooking through the head of the crawler that's that's typically the presentation you're going to want for almost any Nightcrawler method it's the toughest part of the crawler and it lets the the crawler present naturally with that kind of flowy look behind it you don't usually want to Gob that crawler up on the hook unless you're fish for like a bottom feeding fish like a catfish or a sturgeon where they just want a big meal of big Goa Crawlers for most fish this is the presentation you want is just uh kind of double triple hooked through the head letting that tail section dangle and attract the fish all right number six guys and this is one of my absolute favorite ways to fish a crawler and that is the drop shot uh drop shot rigs have been around for a while now in the Bass Fishing World especially uh these were designed designed to fish finesse worms and keep them at a consistent level above the bottom but boy do they work with live bait as well and especially a Nightcrawler great walleye presentation great panish presentation it fishes super fast and super efficiently and you know that bait is always whatever distance you have your Hook from that weight all the time and if the fish are hanging 2 feet off the bottom you know your bait is two feet off the bottom whether you're fishing in 30 feet of water or five feet of water so uh with this rig I really like the vmc spin shot for a crawler these crawlers aren't perfectly straight so they tend to spin and that little swivel will help that hook kind of spin around the line without twisting the line up and then just one of these little clip on quarter ounce drop shot weights and you're in business super effective way to catch fish in deeper water and one of my favorites now you can also pinch this crawler off and do a half a crawler if you're getting short strikes and that works just as well most of the time so uh again I'll leave links in the description for the the rig here but uh that's one of my favorite especially Midsummer to fall um rigging methods for a crawler right there is the drop shot all right guys finally rigging method number seven and this is the best way to troll any kind of Nightcrawler or worm and that is with some sort of uh either a sliding weight or some sort of bottom bouncer like I have here and a spin dinner rig this is a deadly way to catch all kinds of fish but especially Walley especially when you don't have a lot of weeds and you've got hard bottom or or mud bottom and you can troll that thing around on flats and that spinner just spins ahead of that crawler and it's the best of both worlds you've got Flash and you've got that live bait this spinner rig in particular has a slow death hook on it so the hook also spins you can do any combination of spinner and slow you can do a slow death hook just by itself and just have that crawler spinning behind or you can use a three hook spinner or a two hook spinner that kind of put some hooks behind towards the back of that crawler to keep fish from picking it off now this bottom bouncer here is actually uh fish daddy Outdoors lighted bottom bouncer it's really cool it's got a little LED stick in here and it'll light up so fishing at night it kind of gives the fish something to key on and kind of makes that bait glow behind it and this is just a uh Venom outdoor spinner rig and you're just going to pull this along and let that weight kind of drag along the bottom 1.5 you know 1.2 fairly slow just enough to keep that spinner spinning and it's a super super deadly way to cover water you can put a bunch of rods out there and uh really really cover some water for those Flats fish that are all spread out all right guys so there you have it seven techniques for rigging nightcrawlers that are going to catch you more fish now let's get into five tips to help you save money and keep your bait a little bit longer tip number one if you use a lot of nightcrawlers buy your night crawlers in bulk you can get nightcrawlers from Amazon or a bunch of other online retailers I'm going to leave a link below for some nightcrawlers that you can pick up super cheap you can buy them in bulk if you have a fridge you can keep them in the fridge like the whole summer so you can order all the nightcrawlers you're going to need ahead of time and save tons of money that way uh tip number two if you can buy these smaller nightcrawlers they're almost the same price as a a pack of 12 or a dozen full-size nightcrawlers but they're about maybe 2third of the size and I often times prefer these especially for panish and trout anyway so you can get a lot more bang for your buck by buying a little bit smaller crawlers if you can get them um tip number three for keeping nightcrawlers cold this is how I do it I've got a clam cooler bag here I use this for fishing but I also use it in my boat it fits three two or three depending on the size of the crawler tubs you've got perfectly on one side and then I use a frozen gatorade bottle in the other side and I can stack these things up in here zip the top closed it's super compact it's got the clam lock system on the back so I can actually hang it on a clam lock Locker uh it's just a super versatile bag and I can take a take one out if I want zip it back up up and keep them nice and cool that gatorade bottle will stay frozen all day and keep your bait nice and cool in this thing and uh again I'll leave a link below for that bag cuz it's it's really the best way I've found to keep nightcrawlers and not have a giant cooler um to Lug around so that's tip number three tip number four is just always keep your night crawlers cool no matter where you're going keep them in the shade keep them in a cooler keep them in a fridge at home you really need to keep them cool if you keep them cool and moist you don't want them like you know wet but just enough moisture in there that you're pretty much mimicking natural soil conditions you can keep nightcrawlers a very very long time but if you leave them out in the sun even while you're fishing for you know an hour they're going to get too warm they're going to die and any angler who's used night crawlers before knows that smell it is not a good scenario they turn to a mushy goo within not very much time and that smell will stick with you so make sure you keep those night crawlers nice and cool and tip number five is pick your own nightcrawlers you can pick nightcrawlers any night of the summer if you have wet conditions so if you have a rain that day or if you've got a sprinkler you can even wet your own lawn pre uh pre- dark and then after dark you go out and you just take a flashlight and you can see their little heads poking out of their holes sometimes they'll come all the way out you can just start grabbing them and that's the cheapest way obviously to get your bait is to pick it yourself if you have heavy soil pretty much anywhere in the country you'll be able to find night crawlers out there at night so there you go guys five tips to help you save money on bait and keep it alive a little bit longer thanks for watching guys I really appreciate it I'll leave you another video to watch right here get hooked up [Music]

Channel: hookedupwi

Views: 14,243

Keywords: Nightcrawlers, Worms, Fishing with worms, How to catch a fish, Worms for bait, How to use worms for bait, Live bait, Walleye fishing, Walleye fishing with nightcrawlers, Hooked up Wisconsin

Id: sRgASsdipPQ

Length: 14min 7sec (847 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 07 2024