Bait; Weed Worms

[keng52]

Any of you guys use weed worms for bait. You find them in the fall after the "Brown Eyed Susans" die off. They are just slightly smaller than wax worms, but much tougher. It is not unusual to catch 4-6 panfish on one worm. The worms are found in the top half of the br eye susan stem about 2" to 8" above the cut section of stem. You can gather a couple buckets full of sticks and the worms will stay alive for up to a year as long as they are refridgerated. Many times a single stick will have more than one worm. I've seen as many as 4 in one stick. They are a very, very good Bluegill bait. My Dad (now passed) and my brothers and I have been using them for better than 40 years. I live in N Cen ILL. We find them mostly in damp areas along RR right of ways.
   I guess I should add a little more info. These are not Goldenrod grubs. I don't know the name of the insect that laysa the egg in the Brown Eyed Susan plant, but the adult form (which you get in the spring warmth if you don't keep your sticks below 35 degres or so) is a very ugly critter about 3/4" long with a mean looking set of chompers.
    Once you locate a stand of BES weeds, which are easily identifiable by the very bright coffee mug diameter yellow flower with a dark brown/black center,in late summer (Aug/Sep here in Illinois), you have to wait till the plants start to die off. The adult actually makes a circumferential cut when it lays the egg(s) that weakens the weed stem. A decent breeze causes the top of the plant to break off cleanly. The point where the stem parts looks like it was cut with a tubing cutter. The break is that clean. That is the tip-off. Those cleanly severed stems are easy to spot once you know what to look for. The worms are ALWAYS in the top that you will usually find just downwind of the stem. Just break off the bottom 10".
   Not all stands of weeds have alot of bugs. It's kind of like fishing. You might find 50 good sticks in as many square feet or you may not find a single one. As I said, I've been picking them for 40 years and haven't figured out what sticks look good to the female beetle.
   My Dad used to fill 4 or 5 five gallon buckets every fall. He advised us boys (5 of us) not to tell everyone how to find thse critters, but I don't think he would mind now. He went fishing three days a week wether he wanted to or not. Winter, summer, spring, and fall, but he loved ice fishing most. I'm quite sure there aren't many guys, live or dead, who caught more Bluegills than he did.
   I need to add one more thing. The birds and mice love these worms. If you don't get them early season, the birds get the lion's share. If you see a stem that looks like it was hit with a load of #6 shot, that's what birds do. Very tough to find survivers after October.

[dabber-doo]

never heared of them but will look 4 them next fall

[rgfixit]

Can you post any pictures of the stems and worms?
RG

[NatefishNY]

sounds good to me, never heard of them

[Double-L]

  Never heard of 'em ?.....Interesting!......Lou

[JimF]

We might be talking about "Goldenrod Galls". The goldenrod weed developes a swelling about 1/3 the size of a golfball that contains a tough little worm used for ice fishing. This is really old timey---before bait was in plastic cups..

It's a little work finding, havesting and carefully digging the worms out----but meat is meat to the fish..

JimF

[captain54]

I've use the goldenrod grubs,easier the buy mags or waxies,all so gathered stick worm in creeks,some form on nymph.

[princecraft]

The stems on the susans around here are so skinny.  Can't imagine a worm being in there.  Have checked some out and never found a worm in them.  I know they are good bait when you can find them.

[panfishman13]

this summer i considered keeping some of the junebug larvae we find while gardening, they look like a waxworm the size of a maggot, and they're pretty tough little buggers.

[BigJohn]

Few years back the bait shop at Browns lake WI sold them.

[spoonfeeder01]

I've heard of them, and do use golden rod bugs, but I havn't been able to find BES plants in my area, found alot of other critters to play with on the ice tho!

[rgfixit]

Gall Fly larvae sound like a completely different critter. They're pretty tiny compared to a wax worm.


Many times what you find in a Golden Rod gall is a wasp larvae. As I recall, there's some species of wasps that lay their egg in the goldenrod gall. That larvae eats the gall fly larvae.

I'd still like to see a picture of this "Brown Eyed Susan" larvae.

RG