Yes, you can use grasshoppers as bait. The most common fish you can catch with a grasshopper is trout. But there are many other fish that enjoy eating grasshoppers. You can purchase grasshoppers, or you can catch them yourself.
Can You Fish with Grasshoppers?
Yes, using a grasshopper is a popular way of using live bait for fishing. Many fishers worldwide and throughout the centuries have used grasshoppers for fishing for many different kinds of seafood. They are extremely popular because they are cheap to purchase, they can be found at most bait shops, and you can even purchase grasshoppers online.
Another reason why they’re so popular is that they can be found pretty much anywhere. They are located near lakes, rivers, and streams, but they can also be found in human environments and near the ocean. If you are near a grassy patch of land, you can find grasshoppers living there.
How to Catch a Grasshopper for Bait
If you are low on bait and do not wish to use some of your flies, you can always catch a grasshopper and use it instead. Catching grasshoppers is easy if you know a tried-and-true technique.
First, you must locate a patch of land that has grasshoppers. Grasshoppers like to live in tall grasses that grow in moist soil. If grasshoppers do not come out during the day, you will mostly see them at night or when dawn breaks because there is moisture on the ground. Grasshoppers do not like to be out when the sun is hot.
If you are near an area where grasshoppers live, you may see them jumping around on their own. If they are jumping around, then you can use a wide net to catch them in mid-air.
Another popular way to catch grasshoppers is to use a molasses trap. Molasses syrup is extremely sticky, like flypaper, and once a grasshopper jumps into the molasses, they will not be able to get out. If grasshoppers are jumping around, then all you must do is put a bowl of molasses in the middle of the area where they are jumping. You should have at least a few grasshoppers land in the molasses in no time.
The more grasshoppers that are in an area and the larger the bowl is, the faster you will have your bait.
But you should know that the molasses trap will almost always kill the grasshoppers inside of it. So if you want your grasshoppers to be alive, you have to stay right next to the trap so you can quickly grab them and put them in another jar. If you do not need your grasshoppers alive, then you don’t have to do this.
Which Kinds of Grasshoppers are Best for Bait?
Because they usually live where grasshoppers live, trout is the most popular fish to catch with a grasshopper.
Many novice fishers are tempted to use the biggest grasshopper they catch, but this is not the right way to attract a fish. Many fish don’t like to eat large insects. It is best to use a small or medium-sized grasshopper instead. Even fish know when an insect or animal is too large for them to eat. They do have the ability to choke, so they choose to eat smaller insects.
Many fishers say that the best size for a grasshopper is less than 2 inches long. So stick to using grasshoppers that are only one to one and a half inches.
Where to Buy Grasshoppers
As we stated above, a fisher does not have to catch grasshoppers to use them as bait. Many bait shops already sell grasshoppers, either alive or dead. If you plan on buying grasshoppers that are alive, they will cost more money. But if the grasshoppers that you want are dead, then they are cheap.
The availability of grasshoppers depends on the seasons as well. You may not find a lot of bait shops that carry grasshoppers during the winter, but you will certainly find them everywhere during the spring and summer.
If you decide to shop online for a pound of grasshoppers, the site you purchase them from influences the price. On Amazon, you can find a pound of grasshoppers for $28, but other websites like Arbico Organics sell grasshoppers for $22.
How to Tie Grasshoppers on Your Fishing Line
First, to hook a cricket onto your fishing line successfully and security, you will need to purchase cricket hooks. Cricket hooks are small enough to go through the body of crickets without splitting them in half. There is no way to hook a cricket on to the line without them dying, so once you hook the cricket on the line, cast them out onto the water quickly so they can still move around.
Take the hook in one of your hands and then take your live or dead cricket in the other. Then hook the cricket onto the hook through its abdomen. This is the thickest part of the cricket, and hooking them in this area will not cause them to split open. This might be more difficult if the grasshopper is still alive. If the cricket is starting to shed a bit of its exoskeleton, you can hook them by sliding the hook underneath the exoskeleton and back. By hooking the cricket this way, when a fish goes to eat the cricket, their entire mouth will engulf the hook, and they are more likely to be caught on the spike.
Conclusion
Grasshoppers are a very popular live bait, and many fishers use them in different types of situations. The best size of a grasshopper to use is 1 to 1 1/2in long. They’re quite easy to catch at dawn or at dusk because they do not like to be out when the sun is directly overhead. Many freshwater fishes use grasshoppers because they are plentiful and cheap.
Read about other types of fishing baits: How to Fish with Frozen Shrimp as Bait
