Secret Bait at Twin Lakes on August 3

[AllAboutTheTrout]

We recently camped at Twin Lakes campground (Mammoth) and had very little fishing luck in Twin, Lake Mary, or Lake Mamie. As we were preparing to leave and dumping our tanks at the dump station on Aug. 3, we saw two guys walking thru the campground (near the store); one was carrying a stringer of about 8 alpers in the 3 - 5 lb range and his friend had a HUGE alper in a net that he said just weighed in at 8 lbs (not hard to believe - it looked to be the size of a yellow fin tuna). This fish was absolutely huge and to have landed it on a normal trout rig must've taken a long time (he said he played with it for 20 minutes). When asked what they caught it on, they said "homemade bait - we're selling it at our campsite". We didn't have time to buy any (where were they 5 days prior?) and they wouldn't say what was in it.

Does anyone know what this secret homemade bait might be made of? Did anyone see these guys? I'm dying to know what this stuff is that caused enormous fish, that ignored everything I threw at them for hours, to go nuts. I also want to know if anyone has used this stuff before.

[troutslayer05]

Thats really interesting...My god parents live in bishop and they sometimes get these ant eggs from the local reservation that are bright green. They are dynamite. Not homeade but def deadly in this area. I wonder what homeade bait the guys you were talking about were using.

[big_mike_70]

most people in the area use ant eggs and they call it HOMEMADE...probably what it was...especially if you threw everything and caught nothing...im sure it was ant eggs

[BudBundy]

How do u get these Homemade eggs?

[big_mike_70]

u have to walk through the desert and look for an ant hill....than stick ur hand in there and take there eggs...

i would suggest smoking the nest than taking the eggs...

[Devious 1]

Ant eggs - there are tons of ant hills around that will produce eggs up there. I am no entamologist so I can't suggest which types of ants (they are red and they bite, I do know that) produce hills above ground but from how it has been described to me, the locals in the area go out during the morning hours to get the eggs because the ants bring them up during the day so they can feel the warmth and then take them back underground at night. If one finds an ant hill, they usually take great care to put the hill back together so the ants will continue to reside there and thus they can continue to pillage the eggs.

I wouldn't focus too much on the bait though as I have caught more Alpers in excess of 4lbs. over the last two seasons than I have caught in 20+ years prior combined. It takes above all else, time on the water. I have more hours on the water the past two years than I did over the course of a decade prior. I have caught them on everthing from PB to worms to lures to flies and to be honest, haven't seen one bait catch more than any other. 3 weeks ago I pulled 4 fish over 4lbs. out of the same spot on the far side of Lake George. All were caught on a different bait. As the water warms, those big fish go in search of deeper water and if you can locate the "hole" in each lake (or just deeper water for that matter), you are bound to hook into a few toads. To test my theory, I took my pops up to Lake George last weekend and convinced him to hike around with me to the "hole" and wouldn't you know it, he caught his PB 6.5lb. Alper! Next time you go up to the twin lakes, drive up to the waterfall and look back down at the lakes, from that vantage point you can easily see the deeper areas in each of the twin lakes. Start shallow (cast closer to shore) during the morning and evening hours but as the water warms throughout the day, begin looking for deeper water to find the big ones.

I am not doubting they had their own homemade bait, but I don't feel that is the only reason they were catching those fish. Just my 2cents...

D1

[Troutman65]

Ant eggs - there are tons of ant hills around that will produce eggs up there. I am no entamologist so I can't suggest which types of ants (they are red and they bite, I do know that) produce hills above ground but from how it has been described to me, the locals in the area go out during the morning hours to get the eggs because the ants bring them up during the day so they can feel the warmth and then take them back underground at night. If one finds an ant hill, they usually take great care to put the hill back together so the ants will continue to reside there and thus they can continue to pillage the eggs.

I wouldn't focus too much on the bait though as I have caught more Alpers in excess of 4lbs. over the last two seasons than I have caught in 20+ years prior combined. It takes above all else, time on the water. I have more hours on the water the past two years than I did over the course of a decade prior. I have caught them on everthing from PB to worms to lures to flies and to be honest, haven't seen one bait catch more than any other. 3 weeks ago I pulled 4 fish over 4lbs. out of the same spot on the far side of Lake George. All were caught on a different bait. As the water warms, those big fish go in search of deeper water and if you can locate the "hole" in each lake (or just deeper water for that matter), you are bound to hook into a few toads. To test my theory, I took my pops up to Lake George last weekend and convinced him to hike around with me to the "hole" and wouldn't you know it, he caught his PB 6.5lb. Alper! Next time you go up to the twin lakes, drive up to the waterfall and look back down at the lakes, from that vantage point you can easily see the deeper areas in each of the twin lakes. Start shallow (cast closer to shore) during the morning and evening hours but as the water warms throughout the day, begin looking for deeper water to find the big ones.

I am not doubting they had their own homemade bait, but I don't feel that is the only reason they were catching those fish. Just my 2cents...

D1



Good sound advice.:Thumbs Up:

[Rawkon]

i was up there too, I did good. I caught a couple alpers on a the bread and butter thomas boyant red and gold. caught a few more on the fly. light line. 2 to 4lb test thomas boyants, worms, and flys work well up there.

[Simplyeman]

if you really want to go through the trouble of getting ant eggs then get a match box cut holes where the innner portion of the match box moves in and out (but on the sides and small enough so the ants go in and out) leave the box in shady area and wait for the ants ot walk through and leave the eggs inside.

[big_mike_70]

dood if that works that would be great...thanks for the tip !

now to find a red ant hill.

[AllAboutTheTrout]

Ants are small enough, so their eggs have gotta be teeny. Umm...obvious question...how does one get an ant egg on one's hook?

[Devious 1]

Ants are small enough, so their eggs have gotta be teeny. Umm...obvious question...how does one get an ant egg on one's hook?

By using a very small hook (i.e size 12-14) and by putting as many eggs as you can on a single hook.

Here is an interesting story from some old timers that fills in any gaps:

http://www.guidetohighway395.com/2008/05/fishing-with-ant-eggs.html

[Badfish2]

sounds cool and all, but what a hassle.. Garlic spray on a cigarette butt would trigger as many bites as ant eggs....with zero ant bites

[Simplyeman]

sweeet beard.

[AllAboutTheTrout]

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing that. I guess the ant egg thing is the real deal. It makes sense since I'm sure the ant eggs fall in streams and lakes and are a delicacy to trout. Can you imagine, in this day and age, how much trouble "Nellie" would be in if she forced one of your kids to get stung by ants? Times have changed.

[Rubble]

That article was Way Cool Devious........

Those of you who are Old like Me may remember Jed Welsh,(yes,of the pre-made Trout&Halibut rigs Fame)......who wrote for the Long Beach Press Telegram up until His death a couple years ago at age 90+....
He used to write about using Ant eggs & how the Natives had done so for Centurys........Rumour has it that the "Trout Crack" manufacturers did studies on the Feramones of the eggs in the R & D of todays Products......

[Badfish2]

I know berkley did a lot of their testing on their products in the sierra

[adiablo420]

dood if that works that would be great...thanks for the tip !

now to find a red ant hill.

yea, what he said..

[Badfish2]

red ant hills are everywhere in the sierra.. take a short walk, you'll find one