Alaskans Rejoice - A live waxworm source that ships to AK

[PikeSticker]

Was following a thread in the General chat about online bait suppliers. Vados was one mentioned and Ja-Da was another. Vados doesn't ship USPS nor will they ship to PO Boxes. That left them out.

Ja-Da (http://jadabait.net/Home_Page.php) only carries waxworms and spikes but they indicated they use a delivery service (Spee Dee) AND USPS Priority Mail. Hmm, I placed an order yesterday and got a message call this morning saying unfortunately they only ship to the "mainland" United States so my order didn't go through. I wonder how I drove my new PU from Oregon to my driveway in AK this summer if I wasn't on the "mainland." HA  I gave them a call back and explained Priority Mail to AK was only 35 cents more than if they mailed it to California (on the mainland  ) and I'd be happy to pay an extra 50 cents to cover the extra. She said she would check with the owners and call me back.

BINGO! They will mail the bait to AK using USPS Priority Mail. The cost of the bait INCLUDES free postage/shipping. So for a bit over 4 cents each I'm going to try out a container of these critters. I'm particularly interested in how effective they are on WHITEFISH in Kenai and Skilak lakes. Seems the Midwest anglers use waxworms a lot for Whitefish. 

[marcus]

I am sure Alaska fishing is different, but just about every species I fish for will hit a waxie, or if after the big toothies will hit the fish you can catch on waxies. That is cool to hear you can get them shipped. Is it hard/impossible to get fresh waxies up there usually? I buy a tub of waxies at the beginning of the season and I am all set for bait.

[PikeSticker]

Actually no one carries them in the stores. So no one uses them up here and I'm sure most of the product would go unsold in the cooler, at least until enough folks started using them to create a market. Since we can't use live minnows or suckers for lakers, burbot, and pike we are stuck with using dead bait for those species or use jigs. The bug season is short up here and we don't have that many species large enough for a meal for a fish so I've considered crickets from the local pet store but at 25 cents a whack I can use salmon eggs, shrimp, roe, cheese, clams, etc. and still catch fish for next to nothing. But the whitefish are a challenge with their small mouths and tendency to bottom feed and they can be difficult to track down. It will be a cheap experiment if nothing else!

[marcus]

I bet they will help alot with whitefish, I know very little about the species, but from what I have read it seems waxies may just be that trigger your jigs need, either way like you said it is a cheap experiment . No live minnows at all ? I know I said I am good to go as long as I have my wax worms, but I do like to have minnows.
Someday I am gonna make it up to Alaska to fish, hunt, and if I convince the wife maybe even live there. Good luck let us know how the waxies work for you.

[kasilofchrisn]

I was just looking online and found a bit supplier who is willing to send me some waxies and spikes(Maggots) to Alaska.
I was looking on EBAY and I sent him a question about it and he said he would definitely ship to Alaska.
Good to hear that Jada bait will ship here as well.
I have been wanting to try those things for years up here.
I grew up in MN and we used a lot of waxies down there for the panfish through the ice.
Pikesticker we should hook up for a fishing trip sometime this winter.

[PikeSticker]

Yeah Chris, I agree about a joint forray.  Was just speaking with Shane Blakely last night about doing some pike scouting with the portables and spears, more or less for a possible confirmation of the presence of pike or not in untapped waters. Everyone knows of the rumors of pike in the Moose but no one has produced a photo of a fish or put a fish on ADFG's counter top confirming them. So that area might be on the agenda for a day's worth of snooping around. If we got 3 or 4 guys spread out you never know what we might learn or see. (Bait and trebles are allowed at this time of year.) I've been thinking of a trip up to the Valley this winter...or multiple trips if the first is productive and encouraging. Only have two choices of lodging; either my cuz's moose camp wall tent or maybe one of the cabins at Nancy. Never got a camper for my truck this year so I'm roughing it probably until spring.

Been thinking about going into Sevena with a couple guys and cutting some holes just for a look-see. I think its been a couple years since the last netting so if nothing else there may be some hammerhandles available. I know the Dollies are repopulating the lake and coho have been spotted spawning in it too. East Mackey may have some decent potential but access is all private land unless you know someone.

Was at Sportsmans last night. Their refrigerator bait box had labels for nightcrawlers ($2.99/doz) and Wax Worms ($2.99/25) but there were no containers. I asked the guy and he said their supplier just isn't sending them those items for some reason and they can't get any. So the mail order sources are at least dependable and definitely cheaper too. Am looking forward to trying waxies on our whitefish after watching a ton of Whitefish ice fishing videos lately. My 50 foot Aqua Vu won't cut the mustard though as it appears 80-100 feet is a typical fishing depth for the biggest whitefish. I've got an industrial UW cam, with 250 feet of cable that I'll have to break out for some deep water exploration on Skilak and Kenai once we get ice.  BTW I checked the Alaska State Record for Whitefish and was blown away with it being 9 pounds zero ounces in 1989. And the Trophy Fish program has minimums of 4 pounds to qualify. So dang, there ARE some big whitefish out there somewhere!!

[kholdburg]

both wal marts in anchorage used to carry waxworms years ago. I have not checked back since I moved to north dakota.

[kasilofchrisn]

Yeah Chris, I agree about a joint forray.  Was just speaking with Shane Blakely last night about doing some pike scouting with the portables and spears, more or less for a possible confirmation of the presence of pike or not in untapped waters. Everyone knows of the rumors of pike in the Moose but no one has produced a photo of a fish or put a fish on ADFG's counter top confirming them. So that area might be on the agenda for a day's worth of snooping around. If we got 3 or 4 guys spread out you never know what we might learn or see. (Bait and trebles are allowed at this time of year.) I've been thinking of a trip up to the Valley this winter...or multiple trips if the first is productive and encouraging. Only have two choices of lodging; either my cuz's moose camp wall tent or maybe one of the cabins at Nancy. Never got a camper for my truck this year so I'm roughing it probably until spring.

Been thinking about going into Sevena with a couple guys and cutting some holes just for a look-see. I think its been a couple years since the last netting so if nothing else there may be some hammerhandles available. I know the Dollies are repopulating the lake and coho have been spotted spawning in it too. East Mackey may have some decent potential but access is all private land unless you know someone.

Was at Sportsmans last night. Their refrigerator bait box had labels for nightcrawlers ($2.99/doz) and Wax Worms ($2.99/25) but there were no containers. I asked the guy and he said their supplier just isn't sending them those items for some reason and they can't get any. So the mail order sources are at least dependable and definitely cheaper too. Am looking forward to trying waxies on our whitefish after watching a ton of Whitefish ice fishing videos lately. My 50 foot Aqua Vu won't cut the mustard though as it appears 80-100 feet is a typical fishing depth for the biggest whitefish. I've got an industrial UW cam, with 250 feet of cable that I'll have to break out for some deep water exploration on Skilak and Kenai once we get ice.  BTW I checked the Alaska State Record for Whitefish and was blown away with it being 9 pounds zero ounces in 1989. And the Trophy Fish program has minimums of 4 pounds to qualify. So dang, there ARE some big whitefish out there somewhere!!

I might could work something out with you for a trip sometime. I have 2 snowmachines we could use if need be.
Also have a couple of portable ice shanties and a couple of Vexilars an Fl20 good to 200' and a FL8sle good to 120'. Not sure where my camera is but it has 80' of cable on it. I do prefer the vexes though.
Talked to the guys at Trustworthy a while back and I think it was Brian who said they had tried for some pike in Sevena over the summer and got a few trout but no evidence of any pike.
I have a trip planned in February to Trout lake for some Burbot That is always a fun trip for me I have done it 4 times. Burbot sure do taste good.
Never have caught a whitefish though. I know Tustumena had a limited commercial gillnet fishery a long time ago. Must be a few in there as well.
I have heard good things about the cabins at Nancy but don't know much about the pike in there.

[groundsluice_pete]

Been thinking about going into Sevena with a couple guys and cutting some holes just for a look-see. I think its been a couple years since the last netting so if nothing else there may be some hammerhandles available. I know the Dollies are repopulating the lake and coho have been spotted spawning in it too. East Mackey may have some decent potential but access is all private land unless you know someone.

Cisca, Tree and Gagara lakes are all in the Soldotna Creek drainage beyond Sevena. Would be a good trip in by snowmachine to check that out.
My son and I surprised what acted like a pike on the marshy end of Kelley Lake last summer. Gunnar Pedersen's book says that there have been unconfirmed (by ADFG) catches of pike in all those E. Moose river lakes.

[PikeSticker]

Along that line of thought, a few years back a guy and his son were fishing Egumin Lake in early winter. His boy hooked into a smallish rainbow he was fighting when all of a sudden the rod bent double and started screaming off line. Pulled the trout off the hook so they don't know what it was. Sure sounds like a pike to me. I think I need to put Egumin on the list this winter to go cut a hole and set up the tent for a day just to see what is down there. I've spent a number of trips to Watson and Kelly/Peterson searching for pike summer and winter and haven't connected yet.

The east fork of the Moose drainage has a very healthy population of long nosed suckers in all the lakes and perhaps you spooked on of those in the shallows. I spotted a spawning "frenzy" one spring in Watson down by the beaver dam outlet where about 50 suckers were in a frenzied "bait ball" in the shallow reeds I think getting ready to spawn in a couple feet of water.

Unfortunately I don't have a snowmachine for Cisca and Tree to get in there. (I do have a 6x6 to get into Sevena.) ADFG claims that Tree (or was it Cisca) has an isolated sub-species of landlocked coho salmon that appear to be reproducing in the inlet stream, rearing and maturing IN the lake and then doing the spawning thing at maturity to keep the population going without ever going to sea. This was based on what they found in their test netting some years back. They never did catch any pike in the nets.

USFW had/has a video cam mounted in the Soldotna Creek near the confluence with the Kenai that has been documenting an outmigration of northern pike from the creek into the Kenai River. What was a surprise was in the spring of 2010 they counted 150 steelhead migrating down the creek too!!

[groundsluice_pete]

I have a friend who swears he caught a laker from the beach at Kelly some years ago. I told him he was mistaken, but he said "I'm from Michigan. I know what a lake trout looks like.".

Steelies in Soldotna Creek... hmmm.... That has my mind working.

Speaking of anomalies, I have heard that they have caught burbot in the Kenai. Does Juneau Lake drain into the Kenai?

[PikeSticker]

Unfortunately Soldotna Creek is closed to all fishing year round. Too bad as I'd like to do a bit of scouting along it in the spring with a hand spear looking for pike especially from the outlet of Sevena and Derks.

I think the Juneau Lake drainage flows over to Chickaloon Flats via the Indian Creek system. So burbot migration wouldn't be doable. I wish they were in the Kenai system.  Funny though in speaking with a friend a few minutes ago about your comments he said that a LONG time ago he remembers hearing someone say they were catching burbot in Watson Lake.  But that just doesn't seem right either. Maybe their were referring to the Watson Lake up North.

[kasilofchrisn]

Sounds like we may have to get a group together for some kind of fishing expedition.
Groundsluicepete did you ever get that snowmachine of yours fixed and running good?
Pikesticker I have 2 snowmacines so if we had something set up I would let you use one. They are both 2up so plenty of room and I have good sleds to tow behind each.
I have Gunnar Petersens book and it seems any lake connected to the Kenai lists pike as  a possibility. I am not sure I trust his book completely on that kind of stuff. I do like using it to find where all those lakes are at and where the public access points are.

[groundsluice_pete]

Unfortunately Soldotna Creek is closed to all fishing year round. Too bad as I'd like to do a bit of scouting along it in the spring with a hand spear looking for pike especially from the outlet of Sevena and Derks.

I think the Juneau Lake drainage flows over to Chickaloon Flats via the Indian Creek system. So burbot migration wouldn't be doable. I wish they were in the Kenai system.  Funny though in speaking with a friend a few minutes ago about your comments he said that a LONG time ago he remembers hearing someone say they were catching burbot in Watson Lake.  But that just doesn't seem right either. Maybe their were referring to the Watson Lake up North.

Yeah, I'm not sure where I had read that they had caught burbot in the Kenai.
On this map http://kenai.fws.gov/overview/notebook/images/NorthernPike_MarkLaker.jpg Egumen is a confirmed pike lake. Pedersen's book  has some other interesting anomalies including pike, grayling and whitefish in Hidden. When I personally e-mailed me about this he said:
"In regards to your question if I have caught all the species that are indicated present in Hidden Lake, the answer is no (pike and whitefish are the exceptions). However, I have personally caught one small grayling and a fair number of dollies at the lake outlet when salmon are present in fall. As for the pike and whitefish, the latter were established present by test-netting for documentation of various species. The pike was reported to me by a biologist years ago. One single specimen, a "hammer handle."

In the book you may notice that I have listed several species in brackets "[]." This denotes species that are present but closed to sport fishing, species available but rarely caught, or species that have been reported or documented present. Certainly I would never target any of the species noted within the brackets -- just not worth the time.".

[got1]

i grew up in fairbanks now in new hampshire been using waxies for ten yrs now and i have allways said if i had these back in alaska.they are awesome trout,char would tear them up.we also get colored maggotts would work well
try knutsons bait in michigan

[PikeSticker]

Ya know, it seems like when I first got up here in 1970 there was some info my uncle mentioned about ADFG stocking grayling at one time in one of the mountain lakes you could actually drive to and then they dropped the program and the fish died out. I'm almost positive it was Hidden since that is the only "drive up" lake. So perhaps there are a few survivors left reproducing. I'll have to watch the UW cam closer and see if any are about.

Never heard of whitefish in Hidden and with all the folks that target the big kokanee during the winter using tiny jigs and spoons I would think that a number of whiteys would have been documented at some point in the last 30 years. ??

I guess if pike migrate up streams to find other lakes and environments to populate that it might be a long possible shot that a pike swam up the Kenai and then up Hidden Cr to make it to the lake.

I guess FWS can scratch the pike in Arc and Scout since those were rotenoned and restocked. I see they list Encelewski as a potential. I've wondered about that one too. One of the Millers said they caught some tiny pike while trout fishing with the girls some years ago. Wouldn't hurt to check it out. What is that stand alone lake out towards Nikiski?  Is that Island Lake?  I've heard rumors about it too. Via N. Kenai school kids talking with a teacher about their presence in the lake. Hmm, another one to drop some decoys down the hole and see what comes to pappa.

Well, its just before 8pm New Years Eve and my wireless outdoor thermometer here in Soldotna just clicked over to 11 BELOW~!  Cooper Landing is at ZERO tonight so far and only hitting 10 above in the daytime so Kenai, Hidden and Skilak ought to be making ice.

Took a drive up to Tustumena this afternoon and the open holes have froze over. The river is all frosty now. A few snowmobiles dragging portables along the shoreline up to the lake but don't know how they are doing.

i grew up in fairbanks now in new hampshire been using waxies for ten yrs now and i have allways said if i had these back in alaska.they are awesome trout,char would tear them up.we also get colored maggotts would work well
try knutsons bait in michigan

I thought about getting some spikes but with the length of our winters it would seem that I'd end up with a lot of flies hatching out before I'd get them used up. Ha  I'll look into Knutsons. I saw them mentioned by others too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Its 1 minute to midnight on the East Coast~!

[eyesntightlines]

Happy New Year Everyone!

[groundsluice_pete]

Happy New Year to you all as well!

[Akhardwater]

Guys the pet stores up here carry waxworms.  I just bought a 50 count for 6 bucks and tried to catch whitefish up at Louise last week.  Unfortunatly the whites wanted nothing to do with them.  I picked them up at petzoo in Eagle River.

[PikeSticker]

Guys the pet stores up here carry waxworms.  I just bought a 50 count for 6 bucks and tried to catch whitefish up at Louise last week.  Unfortunatly the whites wanted nothing to do with them.  I picked them up at petzoo in Eagle River.

Hmmm, that's a bit discouraging about the bite. Maybe it was a temporary "lock jaw" thing or perhaps the local preferences of the LL whiteys were different than other populations.  One thing I have learned about WF from watching quite a few Youtube underwater vids on fishing for them is it appears 95% of the fish just aren't in the biting mood or even interested in the presentation. And often there are dozens of whiteys swimming all around the jigs and spoons and not reacting at all as if the lure or bait was invisible. They seem to be a reluctant feeder. I've caught a few smaller ones in the Kenai during the summer but always on single salmon eggs. So I'm accepting the challenge for these critters. I've got an arsenal of jigs, small spoons, and a dozen different baits I intend to try before I throw in the towel. I did come across an IS post where the guys would chum an area with salmon eggs and then go back the next day and do very well on the fish. One thing I have plenty of is salmon roe! I'll try anything. Even thinking about maybe some tuna flavored cat food to sweeten the hole. Always worked on Dollies under the ice. I did notice in some of the videos that the angler had apparently chummed the hole extensively (looked like whole kernel corn all over the bottom) but the fish weren't interested in that either.

About the pet stores source, I hadn't thought about them but probably because when I was checking on the prices of crickets for ice fishing last winter they wanted 25 cents each for them. The 250 waxies I ordered come to 4.3 cents each delivered. If I can't catch a fish on them I'll try to find someone with big aquarium fish or some reptiles. 

Have you been very successful on Whitefish at LL in the past? Using organic bait or artificial only?

[wolf777]

Try beadhead flys when you get onto those lockjawed whitefish.  They can't resist a good beadhead hairs ear nymph, prince nymph or pheasant tail nymph.  Tip it with just a piece of your wax worm so that they get a lot of scent out of the worm.  Good luck. 

[wild4ak]

I was at the Dimond WalMart two days ago and they have wax worms in the cooler right now. They must of had 20+ cups of them in there.

[PikeSticker]

As an Update: My waxies arrived but unfortunately they hit some freezing weather somewhere during the long journey and all were DOA. I suspect the first cold exposure was at the Midwest end of the journey because half of them were already black. That takes a little time to progress to that stage. The other half were dead but fresh. I suspect they bit the dust on the truck ride down from Anc to Soldotna during the below zero snap over New Years. What I did learn was freshly dead (or alive) waxies that are still cream color will freeze solid and retain their natural color in the freezer. So if nothing else I've got some I can thaw in my hand and put on the hook.

Might have to opt for the other sources in-state and the higher price for the rest of the winter. I'll have to check the Kenai Wally World for them.

I think if they do work I'll order my batch in late October when its not likely to encounter cold enough weather to kill them.

Thanks on the Beadhead Nymphs tip. Got a few in my fly box. I'll have to bring them along.

[icing_perch]

I know that trout, char, and small salmon love the waxies in Alaska.  I was stationed up at Eielson from 01-04 and used them all the time ice fishing.  I normally used either a small swedish pimple or small orange tear drop when I was fishing.  I never had the chance to fish for whitefish, or at least never targeted them specifically.  I did catch several in the Moose Creek drainage near Fairbanks on cut up whitefish when fishing for burbot.  Watching shows on fishing for whitefish and articles I have read they are normally suspended and like moving lures.  Jigging rapalas are good lures, small spoons with a single hook and a plastic trailer from Custom Jig and Spins are used frequently.  Hope this helps.

[kasilofchrisn]

Well I will add I recently purchased some waxies to try myself.
I was up in Anchorage on other business and decided to look for some at PETCO since I was in the area.
I bought a couple of 50 count containers to try. They cost $4.50 per container.
Tried them out while rainbow fishing a local lake.
The fishing overall was slow and the fish smaller than we had been catching earlier this season.
The waxies did work but certainly no better than the Shrimp my Fiancee was using next to me in the shanty.
I would say after this one short test that it is unlikely I will be buying anymore waxies as they just did not seem to preform better than my old standby bait of raw shrimp.
I may do some futher testing with the ones I have left but I certainly wouldn't hold my breath.
I tried the Mealworms they were selling on the peninsula a few years back and they were certainly worse than shrimp or single eggs as bait for Trout kokanees and char.That and they cost more money and went bad when they died. Unlike the other baits that can be frozen and thawed multiple times and still work fine.

[PikeSticker]

Just stopped by Kenai Walmart last night to check on their bait refrigerator. The freezer had a few packs of troll herring. The 'refer' had brown paper covering the windows. Inside was two boxes of Baking Soda and the juice was off. I asked the sales guy about "live" bait and he said the Kenai store has never carried waxworms or nightcrawlers. I guess the fridge was for maybe salmon roe in the summer? Oh well, I agree, the waxies are a novelty up here but based on what I see in the Youtube videos about how reluctant these whitefish are to biting anything I figured maybe waxies would be the magic bullet for them up here too.

Here are two videos that show a lot of whitefish and very little interest in the jig & baits by 99% of the fish swimming by. Looks like a downhole camera is a necessity for watching what is going on with these whities, if there are any at all where you are fishing and then if they show any interest in your offering. Based on the food supply in Kenai and Skilak (salmon spawned eggs) it might be best to chum them with some old roe in a net chum sack up-current and fish the scent line like halibut. 

Looks like a fish aquarium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3x4i5INmqQ

Again, tons of whities and very little interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ju1ccPIJr4&feature=related