Targeting Creek Chub with Mealworms

By Seth

Picture below from wikipedia.org

​As discussed in the previous post, creek chub are very feisty fish. They can be reliably caught in almost any stream over 3 feet wide in Clarksville.  Photo courtesy of rainbowmealworms.com.

Mealworms make a great bait for creek chub. Mealworms are not as messy as earthworms, hardier in the fact that they will tolerate light, are much less prone to dehydration,  are tasty  to fish, have a great wiggling action, are smaller than Canadian nightcrawler, which are the ones most locally available (if you cut off a piece of one, the worm dies, and can kill off the other worms in the cup), stays on the hook better than a nightcrawler, are very cheap, and are very good for trout, "slab" crappie and bluegill, bullheads, small bass, and just about every fish smaller than a large bullhead.  

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I feel the success of mealworms in small streams is also in part to resembling small aquatic larvae that fish feast on. They also look at the small insects that drop off from overhead trees that trout and other fish in a tiny creek eat. That may explain why they work great on small stream trout.  The proper rigging technique is as you would rig a curly tailed grub: Hook the mealworm by the head, and push the hook shank down. 

​The white juices from the mealworm drive fish crazy. Plus, fish don't like always biting through a shell. Rip off the head or cut into the body to expose the juices. Mealworms, as said before are very cheap. You can get 500 mealworms for only $3.99. On the other hand, 100 Canadian night crawlers cost $30, have the disadvantages above, and European night crawlers, which are smaller, cost $8 per 100, and have the similar disadvantages. Mealworms can be stored in long periods of time in the begrudge, with their bedding of bran. Their moisture source can be a slice of potato or carrot. They are very low maintenance bait, and cost very little. I recommend you give them a try, not just for chubs, but for all smaller gamefish!

Below: Small bass can be caught on mealworms. 

I hope you find this useful!

-Seth