GREAT OUTDOORS: Variety of larvae baits produce good bites

Available year-round, but virtually ignored the rest of the year by most fishermen, a few select larval insects are in very high demand by ice anglers seeking panfish through the ice each winter. These succulent baits are used to tip ice jigs. Some anglers also keep them as a secret weapon to use in the spring to drift under a bobber to tempt sunfish while on their spawning beds or over a picky trout. While all of the varieties of insect larvae work well at times, differences between them can make anglers choosy when multiple species of bait are available. Their availability varies with location, wholesaler and demand. Bait shops are an obvious place to look for baits, but since they are also used to feed pet reptiles, birds and arthropods, well-stocked pet stores are also places to pick up smaller quantities of these juicy morsels of protein. Spikes (maggots) are the easiest to obtain, because of the ease of raising in captivity and their prolific breeding habits. These are the larva of the blue bottle fly, aka the blowfly. Their natural color is creamy white, but specimens marketed as eurolarva are sold in a variety of colors that are created by feeding them food that has been dyed. Red is the most common, but they come in other colors of the rainbow. Having a hairy head and thorax, the adults are pollinators of certain fruits and vegetables, namely flowering onion, leeks, carrots and cauliflower locally and avocados and mangos elsewhere. In medicine, the related green bottle fly is used in maggot therapy to feed on dead and decaying tissue to help clean non-healing wounds from ulcers, surgery or other injuries. Some species of blowflies, or carrion flies, are used in forensic science to estimate the time of death in homicides, because their developmental stages take predictable periods of time to progress when ambient air temperatures are calculated. Waxworms, or "waxies," mark the caterpillar stage of the Greater Wax moth. They are widely raised in captivity to provide fishing bait and food for pet reptiles, birds and spiders. They are used in medical research experiments as test subjects for studies investigating bacterial and fungal diseases. They can be used in recycling efforts to decompose polyethylene plastics. Because they can also digest honeycomb, they are a parasitic enemy of beekeepers. Some anglers swear by them as being the superior bait, as they are easy to piece with a hook and ooze tantalizing scent, leading them to be described by some marketers as the "vanilla of larval worms" and a pet reptile, bird and spider treat. Mousies are a more polite name for the rat-tailed maggot, the larval form of the drone fly. Adults somewhat resemble a bee and also pollinate plants. They have a long, wiggly tail that is particularly alluring to fish. The "tail" is used as a breathing snorkel that allows them to live in wet masses of decomposing material. Due to their small size, two or three are often added to a jig or hook. They are not as readily available as spikes/maggots or waxworms, as some suppliers must collect them from wild sources. Butterworms, named for their sweet, butter-like smell, are sometimes sold as bait or to feed prized pet reptiles. Also called "Cheeto worms," this yellow-orange tree-boring larvae of the Chilean moth is harvested in South America. Their diet is limited to the leaves of the Trevo tree there. The goldenrod gall fly is an insect larva that can be collected from the ping pong-size round structures called "galls" that are formed by them inside goldenrod plant stems. By cutting the galls open, another great panfish bait can be obtained for free. The take-home message is that any of these larvae or others work well as fishing baits, with the decision of which one to use depending upon availability, price or time.