Thread: What are your favorite Bluegill and Shellcracker flies and lures?

these guys will outfish Catalpa worms, red worms, crickets, and most any other live critters:

http://www.ipm.uiuc.edu/bulletin/art...rticleNumber=8

They are "stalk borer" worms ... what my Grandfather called "Horseweed Worms". We have them in roadside stands of Giant Ragweed plants.
I've caught various species of sunfish, Crappie, Bass, and Catfish on these worms.
The first picture is of a young worm ..... the older, bigger adult versions have the same "head", but the body color is almost completely white. I've never seen the worm in the second picture ... that I'm aware of.

One tip I can offer - get these worms down deep ... FAST !! The smaller fish will have them in a heartbeat, if you don't. (wish I had known about "drop shot" rigging back when I used them ) ....... luck2ya ...cp

Don't think i've ever seen those before, pappy. We've got plenty of Ragweed up here. Do you have to pull the weed to harvest them or are they visable...izzy

was find a stand of Giant Ragweed alongside a secondary road ... late Summer to Early Fall (depending on what part of the country you're in) ... and check the stalks for bore holes. They can be in any stalk from near pinkie finger size to the thicker than your thumb ones. Smaller stalks will usually be a yellowish color, rather than the green they usually are, when a worm is in them. They may even have a knot on them, usually around the bore hole ... but, there's always a bore hole (no hole, no worm). What we would do, is take a hunting knife and cut the stalk off between the hole and the ground ... then cut off the side branches. We had a burlap sack to put the stalks in. Occasionally, we would split a stalk a little, then run the split up the stalk (with fingers) until we could see the worm. Some stalks may have holes but no worm ... some may have more than one hole and/or more than one worm.
I guess you could go ahead and cut the stalk open and get the worm out, and put it in a container. Don't know why we didn't do that, but you know how set in their ways a Grandpa can be :D

Here's a link to some pics of Giant Ragweed: http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/ambtr.htm

Some things you need to know ..... wear long sleeves - the leaves & stalks are "hairy" and may make your arms "itchy". Tuck pants legs into socks - ticks are active at that time of year. Spray your hands, arms, legs, neck, clothing, etc with some good Deet spray - chiggers, ticks, mosquito's, and other biting insects like to hide in those weeds. Do your "hunting/cutting" in the early hours of the day, while it's still relatively cool, and you'll probably be less bothered by the insects (but, I'd still follow the clothing & Deet spraying proceedure - just to be on the safe side ... LOL!!) At least you won't sweat quite so bad, with those long sleeved shirts & pants tucked, in the cool of the morning. Don't know why we never did that - seems like we always got there around mid morning ... when the air temps had already passed the 75deg mark ... LOL!!
We always found our weeds along an old country side road, out in farm country (which just happened to be the road that led to the lake we were heading towards ) Don't know if that had anything to do with worms being in the weeds ... but, the county road boys never cut that close to the fences, and they never sprayed the weeds (that I was ever aware of), like they did around more traveled roads or those with a lot of houses along the way.

Stalk borers will get into several other kinds of weeds and plants ... but, I wouldn't go cutting on someones corn stalks or food plot plants - man could get shot doing that ... LOL!!

It didn't seem to make much difference which way you put them on a hook ... under the head and out the tail, or in the tail and out under the head. We just threaded 'em on a small light wire hook and put 'em deep (>15ft) - usually around bluff walls or deep rocky points. Bluegill, and Longear Sunfish (what my G'PA called "redbellies") were the usual target, but ... like I said, you just never knew what would be the next fish to grab one ....... cp

Yep, thats the same as we got here. Theres groves of it along the rivers here. It's so thick i don't think you could get through it, not that i'd want to. I'll sure check for some this summer. I've got so much advise and tips from everyone here i started a (things to remember list) so i would'nt forget. Thanks cp...izzy

I read an article years ago that said to catch bream in the winter. Find some "goldenrod" that grow usually near "queen annes lace" cut the stalks down and store them for later. Is that what you are talking about? Thanks C-rex

This is about all I use for gills. You can catch more on crickets and worms but I catch bigger ones with this. Its 1¼" long.

c.p. used to fish golden rod borers in farm ponds comin up...lite line, tiny hook, bb shot...throw next to drain pipe (deepest water) ...catch the biggest 'gills in the pond!

Originally Posted by Crappisaurusrex

I read an article years ago that said to catch bream in the winter. Find some "goldenrod" that grow usually near "queen annes lace" cut the stalks down and store them for later. Is that what you are talking about? Thanks C-rex

Here's Goldenrod article, tells about two borer insects that inhabit it : http://www.gpnc.org/goldenro.htm

The European Corn Borer worm & some other stalk borer worms, are the larvae of certain moths. These tend to inhabit large stalk plants, like corn or Giant Ragweed, and are the worms I'm referring to (and what my Grandfather called "Horseweed worms").

I don't think the Goldenrod gall worms get quite as big as the stalk borer worms. But, most any grub or bug larvae/worm can be used as "bream bait" !! I've used the potato bug larvae, Cedar Tree "bagworms", Ant Lions, Wasp nest larvae, and some other grubs/worms that I don't have the foggiest idea what they were :D to catch Bluegill & other sunfish.

Just use whatever is available in your area .... or a artificial of similar size/color/shape. ............. luck2ya ......cp