Panfish Fishing
hellgrammite
Those indentations in the mud that you speak of are actually the openings to deep burrows. Maybe those openings tended to get covered with new silt where you were seeing them.
We used to harvest mayfly larvae (actually, the correct name in this case is "nymphs", but most people would not know what that means) for catching rainbow trout in Devil's Lake (Wisconsin), and found that the larger ones were much shallower in the mud than the smaller ones. That was much earlier in the summer than what you describe. Of course, there are many different species which could have different habits and life-cycle scheduling.
And to go back to the original post, damselfly larvae are much different from dragonfly larvae (and here, the correct term also is "nymphs"). Damselfly larvae are slender and delicate (like adult damselflies), with a cluster of three gill "leaves" at the back end of the body. They swim (only when they have to) with a side-to-side undulation (unlike the vertical undulations of mayfly nymphs).
Is there an entomologist in the house? Yes!
I used to get them in the FOX R below MUKWONAGO. Get an old window screen and wade in calm mucky water using the screen to scoop up the muck. Do this in late fall. Lots of hard work and don’t get stuck in the muck. Once you know what to look for it’s easier, the larvae are packed together and leave small indentations on the surface of the muck. CARPIO
Wigglers are the larvae form of the Hexagenia mayfly. They are deadly on a wide variety of fish. Hard to keep alive though. I used to use them ice fishing as they would swim around and attract fish so I could lay the rod down and wait for the bite. Made beer drinking that much easier.
Some bait stores also sell a larvae colloquially known as "wigglers". I think they emerge as a bug that looks like a smaller version of a dragon fly (that we used to call dnarning needles). They were the absolute best bait for stocked trout in lakes - small hook small weight small bobber = trout. They also worked well in streams for wild trout. I suspect any larvae could work on smallmouths, trout, bluegills, and perch.
Bruno
(in response to ifishwi)
a few years too late to the party here but the "long" one is from the family aeshnidae and the "spider" one is either corduliidae or libellulidae, most likely a corduliid but you can't actually distinguish them without a microscope & gathering some really obnoxious measurements
You all are correct. I too have been raised with the Hellgrammite name also.
They are quite available in the summer by many bait stores, here is a few I know of:
http://harleysliquorandbait.com/
https://www.dicksmithslivebait.com/
I found this video about a month ago it is very interesting. I have tried it myself with no luck yet. But I'm not giving up! A few of these would be great to have in the winter. If your worried about the cost, I could show you a way to catch 25 Perch with 1 Hellgrammite.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT_SG4LpYjM
Good luck,
Wing-A-Ding
