buying & storing maggots/waxworms in bulk

[mod_auger]

anybody out there buy their bait in bulk for the upcoming ice fishing season? i've been comtemplating the idea, but am not sure what i should do. the last thing i want is 800 dead waxworms or maggots on my hands.

anyone have any tips on keeping bait alive all winter or what kind of conditions to keep them in? any info would definately be very helpful.

[Cooley]

The only thing I know about wax worms is that you can
add dry oat meal they like that.By the way that is a good
question.I have one,How about... LEECHES....Has anyone
tried to keep these alive during the winter,And has anyone tried to use them for walleye icefishing.

[Hard_H2O]

From http://www.reptilefood.com/reptilefood/dept.asp?dept_id=40:
Wax worms need to be kept in a temperature range of 50-55 degrees F. In most cases, the proper temperature can be found on the door of your refrigerator or in the butter dish area. The pine shavings in which they arrive will suffice for the time you will have them optimal the temperature keeps them in a hibernated state. Wax worms will remain dormant until you feed them to your pet. After warming to room temperature they will become more active. When kept at the proper temperature wax worms will last several weeks. Unhealthy or dead wax worms will turn completely black and should be immediately removed from the container.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2131.html
http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/waxworms.htm
http://www.wormman.com/waxworms.htm

[HIMO]

hey Hard H2O I checked out those web sites. thanks for posting them. they contain a lot of info. I recommend all ice fisher persons check them out if you plan to buy waxies in quantity. it may help keep the little critters alive thru out the year. thanks again.

[Hard_H2O]

I also e-mailed Vado's and asked them. I will post the response I get from them. THey are a very good supplier of live bait.

http://www.vadosbait.com

[Cooley]

Any word on the leeches.

[Hard_H2O]

I have never heard of anyone using leeches through the ice. I wonder if it is harder to trap them than it is for minnows in the winter.

[rgfixit]

I buy all my bulk bait from Wholesale Bait in Ohio. Their bait is reasonable and always premium quality.

The floor of my basement is apparently the perfect 50-55 degrees. Waxworms keep for about 6-8 weeks. Absolutely check them often and remove the dead larve. Keep them warm while fishing. They don't like to freeze. I've never fed mine.  

Spikes live quite nicely in the fridge for even longer.

Try the mealworms in regular and giant size. Panfish and trout love the little critters and they are very easy to keep.

RGFIXIT

[mngonefishing]

I have found that they keep just right if i put them on the bottem shelf in the potato storage room. As for leeches during the winter ??

[PerchBusterSD]

i bought maggots last year from vados,put them in a small dorm frig and they lasted 4 months

[fishercat]

I think leeches would just ball up and not swim becuse of the cold water temp. So not sure how efective they would be. But not sure on this.

[Hard_H2O]

Here is the response I got from Vado's:

"The "shelf life" of waxworms is about a month. I wouldn't suggest buying
anymore than you can use in a month. Even then you will need to remove any dead
ones daily to keep the rest of them fresh. They need to be stored in fairly cool
temperatures - 45-50 degrees. If you are going to use them for ice fishing I
would suggest that you wait until we have ice before ordering them.

Hope this helps.

Kris @ Vados Bait Express"

It seems like the fridge might be too cool for storing waxies.

[rgfixit]

Waxies will die in a matter of days in the fridge. I put a solid stick hand warmer in my pocket with waxies when I'm on the ice. They seem to last much longer when kept at around 50 deg.

The biggest problem is your postal service. If they disregard the "Live Bait...Keep From Freezing" labels and dump them in your mailbox when it's -10 outside....You are sunk! I have good luck having them shipped Priority Mail.

RG

[Mr.Seaguar]

My Dad loves to have big tubs of bait in his fridge every winter. I`ve always felt going to buy bait was another fun part of ice fishing. Also, i use minners a lot so pretty much have to go to the bait shop sometimes.

[Hard_H2O]

I was up in Sioux Narrows for the lake trout opener this year. Al Lindner was there and he told a story about someone in the In Fisherman offices leaving a container of maggots out. When they got back from a long weekend the offices were filled with flies.

I am for sure going to find a better place to store my waxies.

[Mr.Seaguar]

One of my buddies opened up a 750 tub of waxies once inside and had moths everywhere. I about foundered laughing.

[Bob_D]

Cooley,
Keep you leeches in the fridge in plastic containers (empty butter dishes, coolwhip containers, etc.) and change the water once a week. They will last for months that way. If the water looks too dirty when you change it, use larger containers or change the water more often.

[Cooley]

Hey Esox,thanks for the reply,I'm going to try that.
I've always wanted to try leeches for ice fishing.Never
heard of anyone trying this,but I'll give it a shot thanks.

[Da_Roc]

Hi Gang!
   It would be nice to store bait inside but the wife would scream if I brought a crawler in da house.  So I use the next best thing everything gets bought fresh at the local bait shop at which ever lake I am at.  This helps keep the people in business that help us catch fish.  I tried storing bait but it got costly and messy.  I do store crayfish in her flower pond in the summer and minnows but leaches I buy then destroy what I dont use and make a dough bait for catfishing with them.  This stands true will all bait older than two weeks old.  I have a blender in the garage!
  Da-Roc