Cuppy Wiegmann
and his son, Brad Wiegamann |
My
dad gave me all kinds of gifts growing up. The love of fishing was
one of them. No one could catch more fish than Dad in my family,
but Dad also knew when it was time to stop fishing and go skipping
rocks across the lake or go searching for buried treasure. Having
five children meant less fishing for dad and more playing most the
time. Dad was always big into having live bait for catching fish,
no matter if it was minnows for crappie, suckers for northern pike,
or night crawlers for bluegill, bass, and carp. I guess that’s
why we always caught fish; we had lively, fresh bait.
I
grew up in a small town in the Midwest. Back then there was no cable
TV, cell phones, video games, Facebook, text messaging, or Internet.
No distractions that could have taken my attention away from fishing.
My younger brother and I spent most of our free time chasing night
crawlers for live bait fishing. There was a skill to catching them
and we were experts at catching these slimy, crawling critters. One
of the best and easiest times to catch big night crawlers was after
a hard rain. All you had to do was walk around and you could just
pick them up off the sidewalk. The other way we caught them was at
night. I think we tried every strategy known to get them to come
out after the sun went down. We tried watering the lawn…I
really mean flooding it with a garden hose. This method worked, until
Dad got the water bill! Did I happen to mention that water that comes
out of the garden hose is not free? The next technique involved used
coffee grounds. I do not know who told us that sprinkling used coffee
grounds on our lawn would make night crawlers come up, but I am thinking
their last name was Mr. Folgers. I have to say this was one of our
better strategies when it came to catching night crawlers. The night
crawlers seem to love the taste and after a couple weeks of treating
the lawn they seemed addicted to the grounds. Unfortunately, our
hands and knees ended up getting coffee stains that refused to come
out even after rigorous washing. We did smell better, but even today
I associate the smell of coffee with night crawlers. Another of our
secret techniques involved using pieces of red cellophane paper.
The cellophane paper wrapped around the head of a flashlight would
turn its light beam red so night crawlers would not slide back into
the holes once the light exposed them. In the end, finding and catching
fresh, plump, night crawlers came down to the right lawn and having
it rain during the day before you went night crawler hunting that
night.
Did I happen to mention the right lawn? We lived next to the courthouse
that had the biggest, fertile lawn in town. Dad worked at the courthouse
and we adopted the lawn as our own. It was the perfect location for
night crawlers and was big enough to replenish itself to keep us well
endowed in night crawlers. We would start hunting for the night crawlers
right after it got dark. For us, it was a privilege to hunt night crawlers;
usually, we would be sent to bed after it got dark, but not when we
went hunting night crawlers. We could stay up till we got tired of
catching them, or had enough to fill the containers in our refrigerator.
The best catch would be when you found two night crawlers locked together
and grabbed them both. A double was always worthy of a celebration
howl. I can still see the image of our dad standing on the porch smiling
as he looked at his kids on their hands and knees searching relentlessly
for bait. He knew that the reward of catching our own bait would amplify
the joy of catching fish with them. It was exactly like when he taught
me how to fillet a fish. He knew I would enjoy the taste of fish more
if I was to fillet it.
While most families in our town had two cars, we were probably the
only family in town that had two refrigerators; one for food and drinks,
the other just for storing our night crawlers. Our second refrigerator
was outside in the garage next to the car.
Thinking back, I realize that is how my parents stayed together so
long. Dad always kept the live bait out of the house and in the garage.
The second refrigerator was required to keep the night crawlers alive
during the hot summer months. Our storage system consisted of one large
styro-foam container with other smaller containers wherever they would
fit. The bedding was either dirt or sheets of newspapers. When Dad
had enough extra money he would buy worm bedding. It was our chore
to keep an eye on them, remove the dead night crawlers, and change
the bedding when necessary.
Sometimes we would
catch so many night crawlers, we did not know what to do with them.
That is when one of us kids came up with the brilliant idea to sell
them. Back then our marketing skills and budget was limited. We found
a piece of cardboard from a box that had been used before in what
Dad referred to as brilliant idea to get rich. Thinking back, I realize
now whenever Dad said we had a brilliant idea someone was always
getting injured or cleaning up a mess. Like the time we thought using
2x4’s would work to make a great ramp like Evil Knievel
used to jump parked cars with. So, one side of the sign had our recent
out of business 5-cent lemonade stand ad and the side towards the road
had our new 25-cent night crawler for sale sign. What we did not realize
is that you have to be home to sell them. Being young and wanting to
go fishing every free minute our sales of night crawlers was limited
and our interest in becoming rich by selling night crawlers quickly
disappeared.
Today, young anglers
still go out and catch night crawlers after it rains or at night
for their upcoming fishing trips. The promise of catching a big fish
on a fat, juice night crawler has not died. While most of these young
anglers do not have an extra refrigerator, they do have new advanced
products such as live storage systems, worm food, pre-mixed worm
bedding, and crawler cribs to keep them alive and healthy. One thing
that remains consistent over the years is live bait still out produces
artificial lures. Recently, my dad was standing on our boat dock
fishing for bream with a night crawler; he would get excited and
smile every time the bobber went under and he reeled in a fish. I
think to myself on this Father’s day that my dad gave me one
of the best gifts ever, the love of fishing.
Brad
Wiegmann is a full time fishing guide on Beaver lake and
Lake SWEPCO in Northwest Arkansas. Brad guides for Largemouth,
Spotted, Smallmouth, Stripers and White Bass. He is also a free-lance
writer who's weekly column "Speaking of Fishing" appears
weekly in several local newspapers. You may also see him doing
seminars, working outdoor shows or featured in outdoor magazines such
as BASSMASTER Magazine, Outdoor life and Arkansas Sportsman. He
also fishes the FLW Tour, Stren and local open tournaments. He
is currently on the Pro staff, promotional staff and guide programs
of numerous tackle manufactures, lure companies, and fishing related
companies. You can contact him at (479) 756-5279, at bwiegmann@cox.net or
visit his website at www.bradwiegmann.com for
more information.
