I tore 'em up today. Started with a hundred crickets and when I found their hidey hole I put another pole out. Caught two at once several times. Started gettin' harder to get hold of a cricket from the cricket cage, they was gettin' low. Then I remembered I HAD GULP!!! Fake maggots to be more specific. I had promised to give Gulp a fair shot. I was haulin' 'em in so I put 2 fake maggots on one of my hooks and put it out right next to a cricket pole, same depth and everything. Well shut my mouth! After about 10 more went for crickets, that maggot line got a bite. I can't tell you how excited I am. It was tough trying to keep 2 poles baited and unhook fish and all. It got a lot easier after I put them fake maggots on one of 'em. Freed me up to take care of the one that was now gettin' 99% of the catches. But I did get ONE bite on the fake stuff!. Well shut my mouth! GULP!
As Lord of the Fly , Rods might say, it ain't rocket science! First, get you at least a hundred crickets that look like these only still alive. I like porcupine quills for a float. I have started weighting my quills with lead thread wrap so they stand up in the water with just one single B lead shot for a weight on the line. Put the sinlge B weight about 8" above a # 8 long shank hook. Slide your quill up the line to the depth you want to fish at. You can use a fly rod for this or a spinning reel. I like a telescoping fiberglass bream buster type pole myself. My favorite is an 8 ft one with a handle about as thick as my middle finger. When you hook a nice one on this set up, he ain't very far from you to start with and it just feels like you get all the feel of his power up close and personal. Lots of times, one hand ain't enough to keep the tip of the pole out of the water.
Hook the cricket behind the head, inserting the point of the hook under the collar there and bring it out the bottom of the collar. Then, turn your hook point back down toward the abdomen and insert it again through the abdomen. Your rocket is now ready for launch!
Thanks Man!,now I just need the quills and the proper pole .The arent in my arsenal yet.I did find a pet store that sells crickets so maybe I'll just use what I got and give it a try.
Don't you go drown your pet crickets John! That's cold hearted.
I said get at least a hundred live ones. Walmart has dried ones. I've never tried them, the real deal is so easy to get down here. I have caught a lot of gills on what was left of a cricket after I caught another gill on it. Somebody else on here said if you ain't got live crickets, dead ones are the next best thing. I've caught gills with nothing left but the crickets head when I threw it out.
BPS has quills, but the last I bought there came unwrapped easy, had to super glue them myself. Those long skinny red and white balsa floats are good too. I just don't like anything fat the gills feel resistance from. Quills go downtown real easy.
We have dodged tornados all day but I'm going to an oxbow lake in the morning to try my luck, congrats , them some good looking fish , hope to have some good pic tomorrow myself.
I googled cave crickets. It said they will eat your couch and your bed, plus rats and mice love them and follow them to your bed/couch. You can't go fishing tommorrow, you've got to kill giant cave crickets. I on the other hand have to finish cleaning fish. Lightning got too close for me.
Where I'm going in the I can buy 100 crickets for $3.50, I put them in cricket tubes, and put electrical tape on the bottom to secure the cap so they don't get out and I have to chase them all over the boat, again.