A Bit of Nostalgia

Driving back from KatyBeth's mother's house the other day, I noticed these trees on the side of the road.

Catalpa bignonioides

Any southern boy can tell you what these trees mean. It wasn't the trees we sought, it was the moths that fed on them, the catalpa sphinx moth, Ceratomia catalpae. As kids, we used to scale their branches looking for the black and white larvae of these moths.

And let me tell you, "catalpa worms" are absolute murder on panfish. When they refuse to bite on crickets, nightcrawlers, or anything else, they'll hit a catalpa worm. Catfish love 'em, too.

How effective are they? Effective enough that these people want $65 for ten dozen frozen ones. I believe I'd rather just stop and have a word with the landowner, and keep an eye on these trees in the future.

When I was young and nimble, I'd gather a coffee can full of these babies, grab a cane pole and pester Mom to bring us over to her Aunt Daisy's on Bayou DeSiard, and we'd come home with a styrofoam ice chest so full of bream there wasn't room for ice.

Good times…