Earwigs for bait?

[Anthony Palafox]

Anyone else ever try earwigs aka pincer bugs for bluegill bait. Am asking because today I had one crawling on my neck while fishing, so I grab it tipped it on my adam fly and a small gill took it pretty fast compared to the adam alone.  Crickets just seem to drown so fast. While earwigs wiggle a lot and take forever to drown. Plus there even more common then crickets. Although they are kinda small compared to crickets if size matters to bluegills?    

 

[John Nguyen]

That's a great idea.  I'm sure you could try anything else for that matter.  Definately not a shortage of Rolly Pollys.  Great on the budget if they work.

[JBplusThuy]

My two year old would be inconsolable if she knew I were using a cute rolly polly for bait ;-) Besides, they fall apart to easily :-) Earwigs, though, that may work. Probably have tons of them in my composter, along with (literally) thousands of redworms. Cockroaches would probably be great, too, for anyone who cares to handle them :p

 

I tried using garden slugs a few times when I was a kid, on the theory that they looked sort of like a leech so they might catch fish, but I caught little or nothing with them.

[Jeff Soto]

Anthony-  I have used the larger sow bugs (not the "pill bugs" or "rolly-pollys") and they work pretty good.  Hey don't worry about the crickets being dead.  They work just fine that way.  Most of the fish we catch at Perris are on crickets that have drowned...

[Johnny]

Go ahead and try them, mite be the next big thang, I think fish will try to eat nearly anything.

[Jeff Soto]

Well, I'm a believer in Earwigs working for bait.  Saw Anthony catch one fish after another on those pincher bugs.  Now to figure out how to handle them without getting pinched.  I even got bit by a large cricket today!

[jason grimm]

what are earwigs, what do they look like, were can i find them, can you add me as a friend, im from southern az, but have family in riverside i can come visit.

[Anthony Palafox]

You know pincer bugs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig they are really common under stuff laying around boards, sandbags, dead leaves, old logs. There is a myth about them going in your ear canal hence the name earwigs :) ill add ya.   

[jason grimm]

Ya ok i checked out that link you sent me, and i see those things scooting across the carpet sometimes.

[John Nguyen]

Hi Anthony, 

Do these bite at all.  I picked one up off my carpet and that pincher gives me the heebee geebies.  It does not look like it could do much damage though.

[Anthony Palafox]

They don't bite but yes they do pinch. It does not hurt at all but it does surprise you sometimes because they don't manage to get a good grip on your fingers most of the time.

[Jeff Soto]

Ah... The big males can pinch pretty good!  And their hooked tail pincers are big and sharp.  I don't mind using live crawdads for bass bait, but something about an insect biting or pinching me, bothers me.  Or should I say "bugs" me...  Ha!

[Anthony Palafox]

Ya that pincer bug from Perris had some good size pincers on him compared to the ones from my house. And those crickets you had where jumbo size! I didnt think crickets bit that hard till one bit you.