The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

All the prewar fishing books refer to the sale and use of wasp grubs as bait. Does anyone know how these were obtained ? Did brave souls undertake to remove them from wild nests , were they farmed as gentles were ? Does anyone have first hand knowledge of using wasp grubs or perhaps they were spoken of to them by mentors !!! An area of the past now lost or is it ? Tony

Wasp nests were always dug up from the wild. It was common to use cymag or carbontetrochoride ( dry cleaning fluid) to send kill the adult flying wasps, 2 tablespoons of fluid last thing at night, close the hole with soil, and revisit the next morning and dig up. Cymag, was quite dangerous.

Remember that 60 years ago there were a lot more orchards and fruit trees, now only new housing estates.

Tha late Jim Heaps was known as the wasp grub king. He won many matches in the 60’s and 70’s ‘on the grub’. He was the father of Ian Heaps who later became world Match Champion.

Jim always had a bit of an unfair advantage in fishing with wasp grubs - he was the councils rat catcher ( today’s title would be pest control manager or technician), and had a ready supply of the grubs due to his day to day work clearing them out. He was a top class angler, many would say better than his more famous son.

I know of no ‘farming’ being done though, certainly not from the 60’s onward and neverheard of it prior.

Hell T.W.

I have collected wasp nests and used the grubs and the nest for fishing and had one of my best ever chub catches float fishing the grubs on the River Roden in North Shropshire. The method I used was to put some wasp killer powder, ( you can buy from d.i.y. stores or garden centres), at the entrance to the nest and then go back the next morning and dig the nest out.

The first time I used it I was a bit naïve and did not mix the nest cake properly and when I threw it in the river it floated on the surface instead of sinking as I expected it to do. To my surprize though about twenty yards further down from where I was fishing the chub were coming up and taking the pieces of the nest off the top.

Regards,
John

rag soaked in desiel we used, got stung quite a few times, well worth it as the dace loved them

Yes they were often for sale ,if you spoke to the right people. If you made your draw and it was a good chub peg you could ask around and buy a good nest before the start of the match. It's a deadly bait for Chub and very big trout.

At one time you could buy smoke bombs from gardening shops. They were like an alka-seltzer tablets but a bit bigger. The technique involved mapping out the wasp nests that were accessible and then going back just before dark when most of them would be indoors watching TV or doing whatever wasps do off duty when they are not bothering picnickers. One of us would take a scoop of soil out with a shovel then run like Hell. The next one dropped a smoke tablet wrapped loosely in newspaper into where the scoop had been taken out at the entrance to the nest. Then he'd run like Hell. The third one followed in and lit the paper before, you've guessed it........

We moved onto the next nest and repeated until they were all done. Then next morning we dug them out. You could freeze the whole nests or slices of it and it was easy to sell on any we didn't use ourselves. A piece of cake with the sealed cells was a tremendous bait for chub on the Wharfe and Swale.

The grubs were very fragile and you had to carefully side hook them using a fine wire hook. An alternative are cockchafer grubs that you find in potato beds and compost bins. I find them excellent baits for roach.

If you pop the grubs or bits of nest conaining grubs in the oven for five or so minutes the skins toughen-up and they are less delicate when you hook them . I've some in the freezer .

If you pop the grubs or bits of nest conaining grubs in the oven for five or so minutes the skins toughen-up and they are less delicate when you hook them . I've some in the freezer . The trouble is ,modern wasp powders and foams are deadly to aquatic life so while getting a nest is less fraught ,the grubs and broken nests are not always suitable for bait. Cymag was dangerous stuff but at least it became inert quite quickly. If you are brave and a nest is of the hanging type ,one method of collection is to knock it into a bin-bag ,tie it closed and pop it into a freezer to kill the inhabitants.