Hellgrammite

Well, I googled Hellgrammite and had a WTF moment, lmao. Big Fugly critters.
Thanks, lol

Interesting in that way back when, just after Gutenberg invented the printing press, and Field and Stream just started to be publish, ANY article on Small Mouth Bass would highlight hellgrammites as the BEST BAIT in the world for them...

Soon almost everything will be illegal in this state. And whatever isn't, will be mandatory.

They are one of the best baits for bass. I had just as much fun catching the Hellgrammites as I did the bass. Just like catching nightcrawlers on a golf course after a rain with my grandfather.

When I was really young, about 11 or 12 years old, my Dad took me on a freshwater fishing trip on the upper Delaware river, near Calicoon, NY The target was Shad during the spring run and a local B&T shop sold us a bunch of Hellgrammites as they were supposed to be great bait. I recall the overnight temperatures were still pretty cold so Dad, not wanting to harm our precious bait, kept them a bucket in our hotel room overnight. Darn those things were really loud! Didn't get much sleep that night between the noise and worrying about one of these nasty looking guys escaping!!😀

I was told it's now illegal to catch Dobson/Hellgrammites in streams and rivers of NYS. I used to use a screen and shovel to catch them.

They are listed as beneficial insects so I would guess you can’t catch them.

Never knew they are in the insect family. Always thought they were like weird salamanders.

I personally think it's bonkers to make catching them illegal if it's only for personal use. Maybe they could allow only a certain amount on a person at a time.

I was told it's now illegal to catch Dobson/Hellgrammites in streams and rivers of NYS. I used to use a screen and shovel to catch them.

I just read on the New York State DEC website that it’s only illegal to collect them from a stream that has a known trout population.