Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Keeping Mealworms

I just got 1000 Mealworms to try as bait (I haven't fished with them for about 35 years; my Grandpa used to keep them sometimes).

I have seen warnings to the effect that "prolonged temperatures below 40 deg F" can kill them. I have been tinkering with the temperature setting and blower controls on our spare (basement) refrigerator for a month and have been unable to get it to run warmer than (varying from) 38 to 40 degrees. The kitchen fridge might be better but 1) getting room in it would be difficult and 2) I have been warned that if they're upstairs, the mealworms could end up being served to me in stir-fry.

Does anyone know if mealworms will last longer in the fridge at 38 to 40 degrees or just setting in a nice, cool basement? Any tips on keeping them alive for a few weeks until I get them used up would be appreciated.

So what's the problem? They are MEAL worms aren't they??? :p

Sorry, no experience with keeping mealworms fresh.

The main reason mealworms are kept cool is to slow down their transition to the adult bettle form. When I was raising cichlids I fed alot of mealworms and had no problems keeping them in the upper 30's.

TG,

Great bait, especially for large BG. Keep them at about 40 deg and they will be fine...until they turn into the next form of their life cycle...1000 is a bunch of worms. Did you get a bargain or something?

1000 "giants" (apx. 1 1/4 inches long, probably treated with hormones or something to hold them in the larval stage longer and grow bigger) for under $20 delivered from the SuperWorm Farm in PA (SuperWormFarm.com). They sell several different types of fishbait/lizard food. I don't know if that's a bargain, but 2 cents a piece seems reasonable to me.

Sounds like a bargain to me...do you have a url or phone number?

I corrected the URL above, SuperWormFarm.com .

Shipping is probably a little more to Texas, but they have a shipping preview that lets you know what it will be.

They also carry waxworms and crickets, plus stuff I have never heard of for use as fishbait (some of it might work dandy, though).

Don't get the meal worms get the Superworms. They store at room temp, live 6 months and will not turn into a beetle. I have bought them from Superwormfarm for three years
They live in oatmeal and you keep a piece of potato with them for moisture
Best overall bait I have found

Theo, I also have a garage refrig. that is difficult to regulate the temp. up, I also keep my adult beverages in it. I have good luck keeping things like bait longer if put into a styrofoam or other insulated cooler. Take it out every couple days, check the temp and leave it outside for a while if necessary.

Thought I'd give a closeout update on my first batch of mealworms as I am down to the last 50 or so and have ordered another 1000.

My shipment from the Superworm Farm arrived two months ago, exactly. There was probably between 1% & 2% mortality at the time of receipt. I went to minimal effort on keeping them, just put the FEDEX shipping box in the spare fridge, which has typically been about 39 deg F during this period. I probably had another 1 or 2% of the mealworms die in the box over two months.

For me, the mealworms worked very good on BG and RES, fairly good on CC and GShiners, with very little interest from LMB (all in comparison to earthworms). It seems like mealworms would be good bait if you are just targetting bream and want to give your bass a breather.

Theo :

Interesting about the mealworms. From your observations to what do you attribute your LMB's lack of interest? What is your thought about your catch rate of LMB on them vs earthworms assuming that some LMB did take a meal worm ? Bill on a different post indicated with crickets and appropriate sized hook about a 5% LMB catch rate. Based on observations in the pond and aquarium LMB seldom pass on a live bait but are not as inquisitive as BG . Could it be that the BG are getting there first? Is your LMB size distribution such that the mealworm is to small an offering {few small bass}? I seem , when fishing for BG , to have a higher catch rate for LMB on crickets than on small earthworms . It would be interesting to get good data on LMB catch rates on various live baits and compare to rates for artificials . Thanks. ewest

ewest:

I ran the numbers on LMB vs baits this year (so far). Here they are:

35 LMB caught on worms/nightcrawlers in 52.95 hours time = .66 LMB/worm hour
7 LMB caught on mealworms in 32 hours time = .22 LMB/mealworm hour
16 LMB caught on artificial lures in 16.8 hours time = .95 LMB/lure hour

If these numbers held true for everyone, everywhere, they'd outlaw artificial lures in Bass Tournaments, eh?

Let me give my thoughts on why the differences exist.
1) When I fish with any of these methods, I am targetting BG/RES/Gshiners. So I tend to use small lures, small worms, or pieces of nightcrawlers on small hooks. I fish areas where I believe the target species, not LMB, will be found, in manners that I hope appeal to them, not LMB. I am sure I would catch more LMB if I used whole nightcrawlers. And I have found that LMB will hit a worm if it's moving much faster than you need to move it when BG fishing.
2) I do not have a well-rounded LMB population this year. There are the original stockers placed 2 years ago, who have been measured at 11" to 16" this year, and the first spawn, now perhaps 4" long. I think there is a bounty of appropriately size forage (BG/RES all sizes to 10", GShiners 7" to 9") for the adult LMB so they are uninclined to stoop to something as small as a 1" mealworm, unappeasingly presented. Worms and partial nightcrawlers are a bigger chunk of meat and may draw more LMB atttention based on size alone.
3) Scent transfer? I put mealworms on the hook with 2 holes, which places a very small amount of MW ooze in contact with the water wrt a whole worm's skin or the skin + broken end(s) of a partial nightcrawler. So perhaps much more food scent gets in the water from worms & nightcrawlers.
4) Calender periods: I fished worms & nightcrawlers from mid-March to mid-June (when it got too dry to dig/shock them) and then got mealworms and have fished them since (late June to late August). I don't know exactly what this might mean to LMB catch rates, but it IS a difference and the worms certainly got the LMB pre-spawn to post-spawn period on their watch.
5) There are certainly many, many more BG of small & medium sizes than small LMB in the pond (due to 2) above). There are places where you can feed ANY bait to the BG juveniles all day long, if you want, with only a chance of finding an LMB while there.

I have not used crickets yet, probably because I can't remember ever having any luck with them or grasshoppers as a kid. But I imagine I'll get around to trying them someday.

Glad you asked - I used to think I kept too much fishing data, now I have validation. My wife also used to think I kept too much fishing data, now she knows I correspond with people as fish wacky as I am.

Theo, you can never have too much fishing data, the key is getting it to tell you the right answers ! I'm glad the mealworm post was brought to the top again, I have been intending to get some MW & crickets to try out on my tilapia.

I wanted to add one component someone needs to measure, minnows ! I'm betting a sample study finds them #1 on the LBM food chain, maybe as high as 2. LMB per fish hour To keep the survey in balance, I believe you will need to go fishing again and report the findings !

Theo :

WOW !!! Outstanding info . So much there its hard to know where to start. First thanks for sharing the results.

Observation 1-- LMB catch rate highest on art. then on worms last on mealworms -- is the converse true on sunfish {BG/RE} more on mealworms next worms last art. Thinking about time here -- if you are catching lots of BG/RE over an hour there is less time in water to catch LMB , you are busy catching and unhooking sunfish. This would also be true if you are catching lots of BG/RE irrespective of LMB catch rate. With high rates on both you would really be hustling .

Observation 2-- Calender periods could have large effect on results. Our bass are sluggish during the hot days of july and aug.. A large % of ther feeding activity is at night or when little sun. That is not the case for march - june . BG are hard to catch during spawning , 3 days either side of new and full moons {unless you fish the beds}. If you fish the BG beds you will catch a whole lot and it will skew the numbers in the other direction . Biggest spawns in april- june effectivly take out 12+- days of each of april-june. Much less effect on BG in march , july and aug. occasionally we have a late feb. or early sept. BG spawn but those are only the early birds or late bloomers , few in number. May is biggest BG spawn , 50/50 march/april on RE. Ditto worms on LMB early around spawn as you noted.

Your numbers 1 ,2 ,3 , and 5 are on the money. Your 4 discussed above. Your last 2 sentences if shown to my spouce would validate beyond all doubt to her that all of us pond mgrs/fishermen are cloned. She laughed in a good natured way when I told her I was going to DFW to see and meet with some of the other clones. Thanks again. ewest

ewest, Theo, Bill...

I am the data king! Dare to top this link.

http://www.bizfunctional.com/wipers/archives/sunshine%20II.htm

Theo and Bruce :

Bruce you must be kidding. No one keeps that kind of info except Dr. Frankenbruce and his helper Igor. Just kidding --how are those male BG with crusher teeth ? I can see the movie title now : Dr. Frankenbruce's Killer Toothed BG meet the Killer Red Algae . In all honesty we should all try to keep better records like you and Theo. ewest

ewest said ewest:
Here are the corresponding target species catch rates
On Artificial Lures:
1 BG in 16.8 hours = .06 BG/Lure Hour
0 RES in 16.8 hours = 0.00 RES/Lure Hour
32 GShiners in 16.8 hours = 1.90 GS/Lure Hour

On Worms/Nightcrawlers:
141 BG in 52.95 hours = 2.66 BG/Worm Hour
24 RES in 52.95 hours = .45 RES/Worm Hour
372 GShiners in 52.95 hours = 7.03 GS/Worm Hour

On Mealworms:
91 BG in 32 hours = 2.84 BG/Mealworm Hour
5 RES in 32 hours = .16 RES/Mealworm Hour
57 GShiners in 32 hours = 1.78 GS/Mealworm Hour

and again, the LMB rates:
35 LMB caught on worms/nightcrawlers in 52.95 hours time = .66 LMB/Worm Hour
7 LMB caught on mealworms in 32 hours time = .22 LMB/Mealworm Hour
16 LMB caught on artificial lures in 16.8 hours time = .95 LMB/Lure Hour

So yes, more time was spent unhooking BG, RES, & GShiners on live bait than on Artficial Lures, leaving less time to catch LMB. Hadn't thought of that.

Dr. "Threadkiller" Frankenbruce:
I sent you an E-Mail and will let you retain your title of "Data King" if you feel it is warranted. :p

Theo :

Wow again !! Very interesting. In your first post above I read GS and noted the size but I did not think about the possible results. I incorrectly assumed that you would catch a few GS maybe as many as 25% of the BG #. That was a bad assumption. Those GS are a lot bigger predator {of small things, fish, bugs, worms ,tadpoles etc,} than I thought. I assume , dangerously, that you have BG {because of their reproduction rate} as the largest # of fish in the pond. If that is so and you still caught GS at the rates noted I should pay a lot more attention to them as a predator. I knew they were predatory and were egg eaters and nest raiders but nothing I have read indicates to that extent. This forum amazes me every day with its new points and the way it reinforces points we should know and keep in mind. The fishbase site {first link} which the second link {food of GS} below comes from is a wonderful tool. ewest

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=276

http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodI...ies=crysoleucas

ewest:

BG probably have the GShiners outnumbered now, but I think the GS (due to the fact that they remaining ones are of fairly large size, the smaller ones have almost all been eaten) still outmass them as a species. I was surprised to see how high the total on GS was, been kind of sneaking up on it catching 5-6 per outing most of the year.

I think GShiners will eat anything they can swallow, they just have pretty small mouths. It's kind of a kick to get into a school of them that's actively hitting a lure - you can get a strike every cast. I have done best this year (on lures) with small Mepps in-line spinners.

Final Mealworm Storage Longevity Report

I got my second batch of 1000 mealworms (MW) in August last year. They were kept in their original FedEx cardboard shipping container in the refrigerator at approximately 39 degrees F.

Today I am taking the last of these MW out to feed to our pet BG. They have have remained healthy and active (once warming up) for 6 months.

After I had the MW for about a month, I always had a very low percentage (2%-3%?) which were darkened in appearance. Some were dark and hard, some were dark and soft (I hypothesize that these are dying and/or turning into pupae). I always culled the dark ones out when taking some for bait or BG feed, to leave the best looking MW in storage. They were hard to get on the hook for bait, but I have been able to confirm this Winter that the BG will eat them just as readily as the normal appearance MW.

Summary: You can keep MW alive in the fridge for a long, long time.

Just feed them a little Diet Dew soaked into some corn meal and they will glow chartreuse underwater.

Summary: You can keep MW alive in the fridge for a long, long time.

Using proper storage techniques.

No hardcore data like Bruce and Theo but here are some random thoughts about panfish bait: I have fished crickets and waxworms at the same time and with crickets catching about 4 times as many bluegills. One problem with them is that if a bluegill looks at them they they fall off. Waxworms and mealworms are tough and stay on the hook much better and can be recycled. I have also seen a better results using waxworms over mealworms. This might be a color issue. Some other alternatives I have used are lawn grubs, slugs, and wasp larvae from nests I have removed from outbuilding overhangs. The wasp larva is excellent, comes in it's own storage container, but risky to obtain. My favorite method for catching large bluegill it to slooowwly drag tiny jigs, 1/2" long, that resemble bass jigs,tipped with wax worms, on the bottom in 6' of water. Weed free rocky banks in late spring seem to be the best for this.

Just saw this thread and thought I'd chime in with my meal worm experience. I used to raise them to feed various pets. I would raise them in everything from empty cool whip containers to 2 gallon pails. Someone mentioned using oat meal with a piece of potato. I used oat meal and apple trimmings. The apple not only provides the necessary moisture for the worms but they also eat it. Potato might be as good but I never tried that. Fill the 2 gallon pail 3 or 4 inches deep with oat meal. Always keep a few left over apple cores and peelings on the top. Not too many or they will cause mold. Whenever they are eaten or dry out (maybe every 1 to 2 weeks in my case) take the old apple out and replenish. You will find that if you put a couple of dozen meal worms in the pail and store the pail in the basement you will have a constant supply of meal worms forever. Last time I did this my container kept going for 3 years and the only maintainance was to replace the apple and occasionally add more oat meal as the level dropped. They eat the oat meal too. I don't know how many pails you need going but if Theo took 6 months to use up 1000 worms he's basically only using about 6 per day. I think one or two pails would provide that many forever. As the meal worms grow they first morph into a chrysalis and then a beetle. You need to leave the beetles in the container so they can reproduce after which they die. I always kept a lid on my pail since the beetles can crawl out and maybe even fly. Don't know for a fact but I bet when the beetles are dead they would probably still make good fish food/bait thus providing a use for the breed stock. This thread has got me thinkin about starting another batch myself and perhaps trying to raise enough to use them for fish snacks. If I had enough to occasionally feed as a snack it might enhance their ability to catch fish too. Hmmm.

Theo,
Here's a link to a good bit of mealworm info.
http://aquanic.org/publicat/state/il-in/faq/mealwax.htm

Thanks, ealong, I bookmarked that for general info.

Glad I can give something. I receive way more than I could ever give. Oh,and congrats.

Ryan :

You must be one brave soul snatching wasp nests. I have a job for you this summer. There will be 20 or 30 plate sized wasp nests on our oxbow lakes and a couple of hornet nests for good measure.

Once 3 of us were fishing from a 14 ft. boat when one guy makes an errant lunar shot cast which by accident hits a large wasp nest about 30 ft. away. You have never seen 3 guys leap out of a boat into the water faster. It did not even matter that there were several 10ft. gators in the lake. They could not swim fast enough to catch us as we evacuated with all possible haste.

I collect a few hornets' nest each year, AFTER spraying with insecticide from a distance. Maybe I'll wash off some grubs and see how they do as bait.

I bushhogged a bumblebee nest once. Felt a pain on my shoulder, and when I pulled my hand back from checking it out there was a dead bee smeared on it. Looked behind, and there were about 40 of them circling the bushhog.

I turned off the PTO, put the tractor in low, and left it to make it's own way to the edge of the field. After running 50-60 yards, I looked back and one last, persistant bumblebee stung me on the lower lip.

Theo that brings back memories as a kid we fish with wasp grubs. Excellent bream bait

I wasn't looking for bait when I cracked open the wasp nest. I was working in the flower bed when they attacked me from under a window sill. One missed my eye by about 1/4". I was so mad I went to the garage, got a wiffle ball bat and with one eye closed started swinging. I managed to knock one out of the air and then knocked down the nest shortly before retreating like a sissy boy. I must stress the fact that this is not a safe alternative to insecticide nor did it increase my wifes opinion of my intelligence.

Ryan,
As kids my brothers & I used to knock wasp nests down with tobacco sticks in the barn & run like mad!
You're right. There's no better BG bait!