Live Glassworms

[mewickham]

One of the things we used to sell as live food for fishes back in Ohio, was live glassworms. These are the transparent larvae of a non-biting midge (Chaoborus spp.) In the winter, they'd fish these things by the millions out from under the ice on northern lakes. You may have seen them sold in frozen form as "white mosquito larvae."

Anyway, I need to take a photograph of a live glassworm and I can't find a source. Maybe they aren't even available in the trade anymore. I don't know. Does anyone know if they can be found in any of the lakes around here? I know there is no ice to fish them out from under, but perhaps we could rig some kind of fine-mesh plankton trawling bucket to catch some somewhere?

[dennysfishroom]

I've been thinking about trying to rig up something that I could troll behind my boat. Let me know if that's appealing to anyone. Maybe we could fish, too. Denny

[mewickham]

It sounds like a plan to me!

[sumpnfishy]

I have found a few in my outside pools in the winter but I think overall it is too warm for them here. I bought them a few years back from a guy in Ohio but I don't know if he sells them anymore. Maybe if we were to contact a club up north and see if anyone collects them?

[mewickham]

A huge thank you to Jen Kruckenberg (thebaglady) of minnfish.com. (She is also president of the Minnesota Aquarium Society.) She shipped me some live glassworms and I finally got my photo! Woohoo! It was a major undertaking to find these. I searched the Web, put out dozens of e-mail feelers and followed the few leads given. Eventually... success!

I did learn something interesting along the way. The kind folks at San Francisco Bay Brand tried to help me out, but I missed their last incoming shipment of live glassworms for the year. I knew that the glassworms were fished from beneath the ice of frozen northern lakes, but I didn't know that they actually drive trucks out onto the ice and use a pump to collect and strain the glassworms. Interesting!

[pinkrblu]

Very cool photo!!!