June bugs for bait.

[TORTIS]

Right now the June bugs are plentiful, and was wondering if anybody has used them for bait?

I am going to try and go this afternoon, and give them a try. We have front moving thru this morning, so it may not be the best day to experiment.

Tortis

[foul hook]

Good question. I have molested many June Bugs over the years but never put one on a hook. If you want have some real fun with them , tie sewing thread to the leg and let them fly around in a circle. Let me know how it works.

[jonny177]

ive always had my eye on those japanese beetles. i think they might work.

[sbcpower]

Just from past experience, if it's a bug, it'll catch a fish. :D Beetles float, so maybe a fly rod/popper-like presentation?

[Breambuster]

They WILL...the bream wait patiently under my bug zapper on the pier. When I get home, you can watch the fish swim to the pier toward the bug zapper waiting for me to knock on it, unplugged of course, for any bugs that did not fall from the wire cage.

It's amazing to watch the bream become little piranhas when the bugs hit the water.

I know channel catfish relish them, caught many with their bellies jammed full of june bugs when I thought they had been feasting on soured corn thrown the day before. Lost a bet on that one too back in my college days.

[sbcpower]

I've heard of the catfish nailin' em. We used to catch those brown beetles that come outta the grass in the spring by the hundreds...those worked good, too, and they seem to live forever.

[Strahm]

the beetles that you find on fruit would probably work good to, the ones that are just like a june bug, except a mettalic green color.

[TORTIS]

They do catch fish. Even the small Brim were eating the big June bugs. They float. so I used the smallest split shot to keep them down.

My bugs were dead for four days, so they were hard, and fell apart easy.

Tortis

[Strip]

I had never even considered the possibility. I will have to give that a try!

[TORTIS]

I was out searching for them at 5am this morning. I found them slightly buried in the dirt.

I didn't know that they burrowed into dirt.

I've got about 20 in the freezer for this weekend.

tortis