Bait Fishing with Scorpions
by Roger Edwards
Why not? Scorpions, you see, resemble their fellow arthropods the crawdads, which of course are a favorite fish bait. In some locales, they are easier to find than crawdads, and definitely less messy. They're tough, durable and fiesty. So...think outside the box. Try bait fishing with scorpions! It's easy and inexpensive. You'll only regret it if you fail to perform Steps 1 and 2 (below) carefully.
Step 1
Obtain a scorpion. Exploring one's yard at night, with a black light, in the warm season, may yield fruitful results. These arachnids flouresce in UV light; so they are not difficult to spot. In my case, they sometimes appear in the house, offering a ready source of bait. In capturing and storing your fish bait, do not allow the venomous tail spine to contact skin. Keep the scorpion(s) away from children. The bait needs no refrigeration and can live for many days stored in a ventilated jar or terrarium.
Step 2
When ready to use bait, gather a pocketknife or other trustworthy cutting utensil, then remove the last segment of the tail, containing the curved spine. You'll be glad you did. Please dispose of stinger properly. It now is completely safe to handle the bait barehanded.
Step 3
Gather certain supplies: needle-nosed pliers, a small treble hook, low-test fishing line or sewing thread, and of course the scorpion. Do not pierce the scorpion with the hook; it must remain uninjured to ensure maximum initial liveliness and allure for fish.
Step 4
Place the line or thread in between sets of the scorpion's legs and tie it securely around the torso, and to the treble hook. Make sure the line or thread is tied firmly, but not so tightly as to cut or constrict the live bait. The resulting rig should look much like this. The scorpion is alive and should remain so even with repeated immersion, until swallowed and/or battered excessively by fish.
Step 5
Gently cast or drop the scorpion rig onto fairly calm water. Use a small float for near-topwater action; otherwise it will sink slowly. Try jigging the scorpion gently in crappie-laden brush. Bass, crappie and assorted sunfish and bluegills may strike with ravenous fervor. I've caught all of them on scorpions. In this true-life demonstration, I retrieved five bream on the same bait before it became too beaten and shredded for further use.
By this point, only a small piece of the bait remained; yet much as with bits of shrimp, the fish continued to dine with gusto until there was no more to be had.
Step 6
If you wish to continue angling after your supply of live scorpions is exhausted, please do so with other forms of bait or lures, as depicted here.
NOTE: All photos and text © 2012 Roger Edwards, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without authorization in any medium whatsoever will be strictly enforced by photographer's licensing agent, Insojourn Design and Images, as a violation of Federal copyright law pursuant to 17 USC Section 504b-504c and 17 USC Section 505.
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