An alternative to crickets for panfish.

[smokehound]

Crickets are great, I still like using them, but in areas loaded with smaller gills, you need a tough bait that wont be snatched by fish you cant hook.



European Earwig.

These work GREAT. I have a huge population of them in my back yard, they are very easy to collect, and are durable and tough. They survive underwater longer than crickets, and they have a strong smell, courtesy of scent glands. Finding them is easy, all you do is flip over stones, this time of year, they are brooding their eggs, so you can often find several at once. They also love seeking refuge in flowers, my chrysanthemums are loaded with em.

You will find more around areas with clay soil, they dont like sand very much.

They have a very tough exoskeleton, stopping panfish from ripping them off the hook! Try taking a few with you to perris or silverwood!

These also work great for catfish and trout, when combined with powerbait! Use a size-8-10 hook.

trust me, they work great!

[Ifishtoolittle]

I always assumed that those earwigs would pinch like hell if one would touch it. That or my grandfather loved to mess with me when I was a kid.

[mjc89]

I bet they do work great. The good thing is their free bait. lol

[smokehound]

I always assumed that those earwigs would pinch like hell if one would touch it. That or my grandfather loved to mess with me when I was a kid.

Nah the pinch isn't that bad. The bite of a mealworm is worse. The Males (the ones you want, as they are larger) have bigger pincers.

Here's another bait that works OKAY (but not as well as earwigs)

You can buy these online, since they can be difficult to find in large numbers. They're called "spanish orange isopods", and are simply an orange color morph of out local woodlice.

[EndlessSeason]

Thanks that is good info, never thought about them but I bet they would work perfect

[fishmounter]

Smokehound- I agree with you on a lot of things, but not from the pinch the larger "pincherbugs" can give! I've been jabbed a couple times and I'll take a little nip from a big mealworm any day over the Earwig. But, that being said, they do make an excellent bait for Bluegill. "Sir Bluegill" showed me that last March at Perris.

[SirBluegill]

Ya they are tuff to drown and are more durable then crickets. I just look under rocks near the shore line or under some small brush, there plenty big ones at perris.

[smokehound]

Ya they are tuff to drown and are more durable then crickets. I just look under rocks near the shore line or under some small brush, there plenty big ones at perris.

I'm guessing you use striped earwigs? These have a much stronger pinch than european earwigs, and get bigger. I find these around Mile Square park, they love riparian areas, and lakesides.

Smokehound- I agree with you on a lot of things, but not from the pinch the larger "pincherbugs" can give! I've been jabbed a couple times and I'll take a little nip from a big mealworm any day over the Earwig. But, that being said, they do make an excellent bait for Bluegill. "Sir Bluegill" showed me that last March at Perris.

The males can sometimes get you in a soft spot with those big hooks, but aside from that, They've never really hurt me. I dunno, it just doesn't really bother me much. The only insect that ever really hurt me was a jerusalem cricket that performed a stealth bite on me while I will digging old roots out of my yard. Now THAT did some damage! (kick-*** bait for big channels, though!)

[IN2DEEP]

Great tip!
How do you hook them on?

[smokehound]

Great tip!
How do you hook them on?

I use a small size-ten hook, And I pin the earwig in directly in the middle, hiding the barb, leaving the shank and eye exposed. Poor bluegills try to avoid the hook and directly bite the barb.