Catawba worms are actually not worms at all, they are
the larvae of a moth that only eats the leaves of a "Catawba" tree.
They only "show up" on Catawba trees seasonally and only on certain trees,
making them extremely hard to find. Catawba worms make for some real good fishin'.
My grandaddy sold fishing bait. I only remember one occasion when someone stopped to buy some worms. It seemed to be something he started years ago and it became part of his routine. On the far side of the property, in what use to be the chicken yard he had large wooden beds of Red Wiggler worms , also excellent for fishin'. I use to reach down in the dark black soil and grab as may worms as my hand would hold. My grandaddy sure new his stuff about raising worms , those were some mighty fine looking worms, as far as worms go.
In the old weather beaten smoke house he had several large wooden boxes full of crickets that he also sold for bait. Going in the smoke house to look at the crickets was always a delight. The large wooden boxes were on legs so they were at a good seeing and reaching level. The tops of the boxes had screen over a wooden frame that made for a lid. Hanging in each box dangling from a cord was a light bulb that stayed turned on all the time.
There were thousands and thousands of crickets. The sound of all those crickets in one small smoke house was fun for the ears.
My grandaddy had a very large Catawba Worm Tree on the back side of the garden.
M.r Stone lived next door and he had a Catawba worm tree too.
Mr Stone was a thin wiry man. He wore overalls all the time. He had a plump wife that always wore an apron. They reminded me of "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean."
Mr. Stone walked around on his property with a shot gun and occasionally you could hear him firing off a few rounds trying to kill the birds that were eating his Catawba worms.
I wonder if he really cared that much about the worms or if he just wanted to shoot that shot gun. As a child I didn't have kind thoughts about Mr. Stone, I didn't like the idea of him shooting all those birds. I figured there were plenty of worms for the birds and Mr. Stone to have all they wanted. My grandaddy never shot the birds and his tree was slap covered up with worms.
I have never seen another Catawba worm tree since those days and have never heard mention of one either.
Its just one of my memories that linger when i go back to being that young girl walking the property of my grandparents home on a hot summer day, stopping under the large Catawba worm tree to gaze up as the sun lighting up the bright green leaves making silhouettes of Catawba worms crawling all over.
