Cockchafer Grubs

[Mole-Patrol]

This is the time of year for roach and potato harvests. I find that one of the best baits to use for roach are cockchafer grubs that you will find in your potato beds when you harvest them. These grubs are also found in compost heaps and bins. They are superb baits and worth every penny of their cost.





As you can see from the photos the grubs are approximately the same size as wasp grubs and are just as fragile. It is best to just nick them through the side at the tail end. You will also see from the second photograph that I am going to have a long and happy life...........

[Aitch]

In the dim and distant past when I was young and permanently skint, I used to fish the Roding a lot and if I couldn't afford bait, or my mum had caught me trying to nick a few slices of bread, I used to employ the age old art of ****kicking... (kicking over cowpats to see what lay beneath...) I often manged to pick up some cockchafer grubs and brandlings, they were a cracking bait... in those days anything would do...

[Dave Burr]

I've used a lot of baits and have happily impaled small fish in the pursuit of something bigger, but I don't think I could bring myself to put a cockchafer grub on a hook. It's such a magnificent creature.

[Olly]

Per Wiki:-
""The cockchafer, colloquially called May bug or doodlebug, is a European beetle of the genus ... Cockchafer larvae can also be fried or cooked over open flames, although they require some preparation by soaking in vinegar in order to purge ... ""

Now you can say URGH!!

[Duckett]

Per Wiki:-
""The cockchafer, colloquially called May bug or doodlebug, is a European beetle of the genus ... Cockchafer larvae can also be fried or cooked over open flames, although they require some preparation by soaking in vinegar in order to purge ... ""

Now you can say URGH!!

Ever since a Nigerian friend introduced me to deep fried grasshoppers - think salt and vinegar crisps - I've wondered at our attitude to eating insects, grubs etc. We are perfectly happy to eat them from the sea but draw a mental line at the high water mark. Most human societies do eat some land based insects I believe. Given the ease and low impact of raising them, I suspect that in a few years they may start to figure more widely in our diet.

[Aitch]

There are already plans to utilise insects as a protein source... can't say I'm keen on the idea

[Dave Burr]

I've swallowed a few flies in my time - wasn't impressed, I'll stick to meat and two veg

[Mole-Patrol]

I've used a lot of baits and have happily impaled small fish in the pursuit of something bigger, but I don't think I could bring myself to put a cockchafer grub on a hook. It's such a magnificent creature.

I take it that you do not grow your own potatoes? They can decimate the crops so in our book, death by roach is the sentence they get when caught.

[Dave Burr]

I've used a lot of baits and have happily impaled small fish in the pursuit of something bigger, but I don't think I could bring myself to put a cockchafer grub on a hook. It's such a magnificent creature.

I take it that you do not grow your own potatoes? They can decimate the crops so in our book, death by roach is the sentence they get when caught.

Can't argue with that Personally, I'd chuck 'em next door to our less than pleasant garden fanatical neighbours

[Solithar]

In the dim and distant past when I was young and permanently skint, I used to fish the Roding a lot and if I couldn't afford bait, or my mum had caught me trying to nick a few slices of bread, I used to employ the age old art of ****kicking... (kicking over cowpats to see what lay beneath...) I often manged to pick up some cockchafer grubs and brandlings, they were a cracking bait... in those days anything would do...

Same here. Your comment brings back great memories.
Ah... Once (a long time ago), I fished a pikeling with something I caught in my eye and cap, while passing beneath an apple tree, in my folks' garden, while going fishing...