Troutnut Forum > Fly Fishing Discussion > Mayfly larvae -wigglers preservation as bait
| Teacherprea | June 2nd, 2007, 5:16 pm | |
| Hobart, Indiana Posts: 8 | I am a fly fisherman but not a "purist". A friend of mine has a place on the UP of Michigan. He just called me and said a guy told him there is a way to preserve "wigglers." They use them alot up north, those that are not fly fishermen or ladies. They are fishing perch, bluegill and crappie. He heard there is a way to "blanch" them.Drop them in hot water for a few minutes and they turn rubbery. They then will keep indefinitely. Has anyone heard of this? If so, how close to correct is the procedure I mentioned?? Thanks for anyone's help. | |
| Dick Gross Hobart, IN | ||
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| Troutnut | June 2nd, 2007, 5:32 pm | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1144 | I don't really know how to do that, but if you do, be sure it's still legal there. It's illegal to do that in Wisconsin, New York, and many other states. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Shawnny3 | June 2nd, 2007, 8:36 pm | |
| Pleasant Gap, PA Posts: 601 | Teacherprea - Could you clarify for me what a wiggler is? I've never heard of it. Thanks, Shawn | |
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| Teacherprea | June 2nd, 2007, 9:10 pm | |
| Hobart, Indiana Posts: 8 | Wiggler's are the larvae of the may fly. | |
| Dick Gross Hobart, IN | ||
| Teacherprea | June 2nd, 2007, 9:11 pm | |
| Hobart, Indiana Posts: 8 | Troutnut, thanks for the heads up on the legality point. I'll tell my buddie. | |
| Dick Gross Hobart, IN | ||
| Konchu | June 2nd, 2007, 10:28 pm | |
| Indiana Posts: 212 | I've only heard of mosquito larvae being called wigglers. Are these mayflies the big, burrowing kind of larva? | |
| Troutnut | June 2nd, 2007, 10:51 pm | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1144 | The "Michigan wiggler" is a common name, specifically, for the huge burrowing mayfly larvae of Hexagenia limbata. I've got quite a few good pictures of one. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Taxon | June 2nd, 2007, 10:55 pm | |
| Mercer Island, WA Posts: 522 | Konchu- Right, Hexagenia larvae have a regional name of Michigan Wigglers. | |
| Roger Rohrbeck www.FlyfishingEntomology.com | ||
| Teacherprea | June 3rd, 2007, 8:50 am | |
| Hobart, Indiana Posts: 8 | Troutnut, and what might be the ruling about preserving "wigglers" that would make it illegal? | |
| Dick Gross Hobart, IN | ||
| Troutnut | June 3rd, 2007, 10:04 am | |
| Fairbanks, AK Posts: 1144 | The law isn't really against "preserving" them. At least in Wisconsin, it's illegal to remove them from the stream for use as bait. You can go to the stream and catch some and use them for bait then and there, but you have to release the unused ones before you leave. Catching a bunch to preserve and use later would be illegal under this law, too. The main reason behind the law, I think, is to prevent bait shops and avid ice fishermen from decimating a trout stream's insect population by dredging too much of the bottom for bait. It may also be motivated by the desire to keep people from introducing insect species where they aren't native, or moving any diseases they may carry from one watershed to another. Again, I don't have any idea if Michigan has a statute about this or not. But you should check the regulations carefully before doing it. | |
| Jason Neuswanger The Troutnut | ||
| Hendrickson | June 3rd, 2007, 10:04 am | |
| Posts: 2 | You have to have permit to harvest hexes in Michigan and to blanch them. If you sell them, you need a commerical harvesting permit.People do it, but it's not legal to do so..... Wisconsin is much the same....there's a limit of up to $500.00 before you need a dealer's license and that has more to do with sales tax issues and spreading things like VHS.... | |
| Nightfisher | June 14th, 2007, 2:46 pm | |
| Posts: 7 | I dont know about using them for bait. but I preserved one in a specimen bottle several years ago and I am still carying it around in my fly tying kit. The secret juice that preserved it: Absolute vodka which, for some reason, I happened to have on hand at the time. | |
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