Goldenrod Grubs

[JIvers]

With ice season (finally!) just around the corner, I took a stroll across the street and picked some goldenrod galls. Inside those galls are goldenrod grubs, a great ice fishing bait for panfish.

I just keep the galls in my fridge's crisper drawer until I am ready to use them. Then I cut the galls open and extract the grub, which I keep refrigerated in sawdust. I have found they work better than waxies or maggots a lot of the time, and they're free.

[morefishplease]

I did the same thing when we were deer hunting. Yes they are great for panfish.

[leech~~]

eyehunter, how late in the year can you still dig them out of the pods? Do they die once it freezes?

[blue_healer_guy]

great memories taught by my dad.

[wolfman-k]

Also made me think of an old fishing buddy who showed me the usefulness of utilizing what Nature provides.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

how do you go about getting them golden rod galls?

you guys are makin me thing of goin to get some. what type of prairie should i look for and then what do i do when i find some? and how long will they last inside the gall?

[goblueM]

they last all winter in the gall, unless a woodpecker, nuthatch, or parasitic wasp get em

goldenrod grows everywhere, from established prairie to marginal, disturbed construction sites and roadsides. do a GIS for goldenrod gall and you'll probably think of a bunch of places where you've seen them

[Jordyn Kaufer]

ok i will thanks GoBlue!

is there just one larvae inside the gall?

[Crusty old Swede]

I collect goldenrod galls while pheasant hunting, or as my friends say I collect galls while armed incase a pheasant tries to interrupt me. The galls can be kept in an unheated garage, after you get the grubs out they're still freese proof. Golden rod grows everywhere there is open ground. When picking galls don't bother with any that have ragged holes in them - the wood peckers have beat you to the grub. Small round holes about 1/32" are ok to pick, the hole is where an early grub wiggled out, there can still be another grub inside.

[JIvers]

Yes, the grubs will live inside the gall all winter--somehow they are freeze-proof. I like to keep 'em in the fridge so I know how many I have on hand. So long as they stay dry, they are fine.

I sometimes wonder why I've never seen goldenrod grubs carried in a baitshop; I think it is because they are common, and hence easy to acquire, so people won't pay much for them. Plus, digging them out of the gall takes just a little bit of time that probably isn't justified by what people would pay for them.

Like someone else said, pretty much every slough or prairie I've ever been in has goldenrod. Just look for the waist-high plants with a roundish gall about half the size of a golf ball in the stem. There is a large vacant lot across the street from me that is filled with it.

[shnelson]

Thanks for the sweet tip - i've got acres and acres behind my house full of goldenrod but never thought to take advantage of the grub inside.

Sounds like a great activity to get my nephew involved in & excited about ice fishing!

[Gordie]

SHHHHH now everybody knows my secret bait. there time those sunnies just cant resist those little round worms

[CRAZYEYES]

I never knew about them until acouple weeks ago when my friend from glenwood was showing this to me while pheasant hunting. He siad his grandpa's old ice shack was littered with them and he would crack them open with his teeth. Supposed to be the secret sunfish bait.

[Bluegill1510]

Quote:

SHHHHH now everybody knows my secret bait. there time those sunnies just cant resist those little round worms

Ha I know elwood LOL I thought I was a step a head of some guys on the ice. My late grandpa taught me & passed down golden rod grub secret and he swore by them for catching bluegills. He made me a believer and I have gathered these things for many years now. Like most have said you can find golden rods in any open area wooded or prairie lands. I usually take a weekend in mid to late October to do my picking depending on the fall weather conditions as well...so around when Pheasant opens till rifle deer season are the times I try to shoot for to collect golden rods before the chickadees get at them, and its alot easier picking them when its 50 or 60 degrees out with no snow than in December with single digits and you can carry a gun with incase you do chase up a rooster or a deer (if in season).

After your done picking the golden rodds you can crack them open right away and get the grub out of the pod, put the grubs in a small container (Reuse the small containers that bait shops put wax worms in from the previous ice season or go buy Bro’s Bait pucks as they work as well) and after your done cracking all the pods I immediately put the container of grubs in the freezer and freeze the bugs (trick my grandpa taught me with this process). They seem to keep longer and will keep all winter…I’ve even used the grubs during early spring open water fishing as well, but mainly during ice season, and they work all winter long as I have caught nice bluegills & crappies on them during early, mid and late ice times. Kinda a side note if you pick the pods while its raining or just after a good rain make sure you spread the pods out in a long box or flat so that they can dry otherwise the pod will mold along with the bug, and all your work will be done for nothing. I can’t believe more people don’t use them, because golden rods are readily available and they are FREE! But it is time consuming work, and I know that discourages a lot of people…especially fellow fishing buddies of mine, they just can’t believe I do all that work for one little bug haha! But to me its worth it when I pull up that saucer plate bluegill or slab crappie through the hole that was caught by using the golden rods you picked!

[andrew chadwick]

there are also the grubs that live inside acorns. When I was a kid my sister collected about 150 acorns and put them on her nightstand by her bed. then one day about a week later they came out and there were little grubs crawling all over her room.

if you collect acorns and put them in a ziploc the grubs will come out if you put it somewhere room temp. not every acorn will have a grub but its easy enough. Just be sure you get the ones off the ground.

[Sifty]

Wow this post really brought back some memories.

I along with a good friend who as since passed set our pheasent hunting trips around the best golden rod fields.

It is funny how when the sunnies are being picky that a golden rod grub will do the trick.

Sifty