If you have not ever tried this, then you can be in for a BLAST. I have been fishing the ripples of the Brazos around Leuders and other areas of the Brazos and along the rocky shoreline of Lake Stamford in the last two weeks with the yellow grasshoppers you find this time of the year on Johnson Grass. At the river I just go and use no weights and float them in the mild ripples around rocks and undercut banks more or less as a topwater and those channel cats are smashing them. At Lake Stamford, I am throwing some grain out and fishing windblown points and banks with solid chunk rock and then early in the morning and late in the evening throwing the grasshoppers up near the bank and slapping or popping them back toward the boat. Those channel cats will come out of the water after them, you talk about a HOOT. Might give it a try if you have access to the grasshoppers. You need to be in somewhat shallow water for the river and the lake fishing.

Ron, Mud-Dabber

Love fishing with Hoppers!

havent seen any grasshoppers, does this work around san antonio?

novato, just drive some old country roads and see if you can find the tall johnson grass and look to see if there are any grasshoppers on them ... then go back at night with a flashlight and a minnow bucket ... them plastic ones with the spring lid work really good and then blind them with your flashlight and slap um with a quick grab then pull their hoppers off and put them in the bucket ... don't jerk the legs out of the socket else you'll kill them but the ones of johnson grass always work better than any others except for ones you might find on alfalfa ... usually the farmers spray their alfalfa though so the hoppers don't get it. but they don't care about the johnson grass. they come out the second week of july up here in northern oklahoma so they'll probably come out a little earlier down around san antonio if ya'll have them down there. probably the first week of july or even earlier.

My dad used to freeze them in milk jugs and bait with them when other bait could not be had. They work great this way too.

I never could get anything to bite them after they'd been frozen ... tried several times too ... freezing seems to mess up all baits. some less than others though. here's a tip for freezing catalpa worms and grasshoppers though ... freeze them in corn meal and they'll look just like they did when you put them in the bag alive. they even look alive other than the not moving part. hahaha

I know a couple older guys that have been fishing or should I say running lines with hoppers for about 45 years. Heck he manages to pul 50lbs up with them ona regular basis. I have done much reading not that i am the expert but they claim it to be one of the best cat baits.

Now these guys catch them enough every summer to last all year long.


I have been wanting to try it but just dont have a place to go catch them around LL.

WITH DOVE SEASON FAST APPROACHING I'M REMINDED THAT EVERY TIME I WALK IN THE SUNFLOWER PATCH I'M CONSTANTLY SPOOKING HOPPERS. I THINK I'LL TRY TO GET ME SOME DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY WHEN THE BIRDS ARE'NT FLYING. THE HOPPERS WILL NEVER SEE ME COMING SINCE I'LL BE WEARING CAMO.

lol...just use a lighter shot when you shoot them....dove and quail load tears up the breast of the grasshoppers pretty bad...hard to clean them when you do that....

Get'em with a cast net.

a biggun ... you can use a 12 footer for grasshopper catchin hahaha

I GOT MY DAUGHTERS BUTTERFLY NET THAT SHE JUST HAD TO HAVE AND NEVER USED. I NEED TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO PUT A SEINE ON THE FRONT OF MY MULE AND JUST RUN AROUND IN THE FIELD AT HIGH SPEED AND LET THEM HIT THE NET INSTEAD OF MY FACE.

A real man will runaround the field and catch grass hoppers in the air--the really good ones catch them by the lips--just like lipping a BMB

I have seen some people take an old blanket, (the kind that everything sticks to it) and stretch it in front of a vehicle and run through the Johnson grass and the legs of the hoppers will stick to the blanket and they just pick them off the old blanket, then make another round thru the fields to gather more. All kinds of ways to catch those little fellers. A fly swatter will work wonders on them.

I went again late yesterday p.m., on the Brazos which is settling down after the recent rains around Abilene and wore them out again. Nothing huge, but those 2-4 lb channels were doing flips trying to catch those hoppers. Had about a 6lb. bass attack one also and there are not that many in the ole river.

Ron, Mud-Dabber

Great suggestion Mud. Im gonna give it a try this weekend.

Roger:

Remember wind blown points like the point out from the electric plant???? Also, straight across from the park where you can buy bait. Almost as fun as watching those bobbers go down when you were a little kid.

Good Luck, they are in there.

Ron

You still have time to meet us there Ron !!!!!!!

I used to fish the Clear Fork around Anson doing the same thing. There are some large catfish that prowl that area after dark. Never caught anything but turtles at the park in Leuders.

Fishing Nut

This is on some private property, south of Leuders and over south of Throckmorton about 15 miles. Whole river has fish in it right now after the big rize recently, they have been moving around pretty good.

Rad-Roger, unfortunately still have the same problem as mentioned before with the new school year and it's new teacher introductions. This is 30 years for the wife, so she says this may be the last one for her, so I have to appease her.

Mud

I was catching grasshoppers just in a floodplain full of johnson and native grasses behind my house.
Stepped right into a nest of yellowjackets.
Had one bounce off my head and another sting me in the arm.
I'll go back eventually but my daughters butterfly net is still out there.

Me and my Dad back in the 80's would catch those Yellowhoppers in the field, garden where ever. Back then the West End of JBThomas had tons of saltceder, trees. Used a flyrod with spinning reel and 6lb test. Pitch those things in that flood stuff and those CCats would come unglued, airborne doing flips. Sure was a blast. This works on all lakes this time of year.
Man if you can, would love to see some pics of the Brazos and those Cats.
Thanks Bittercreek

clear fork was an ol stomping ground for limb lining cats and we used hoppers when we could get them- i have a six weight fly rod, used a 20 pound test clear leader on floating line and those cats were a blast tearing up hoppers on that rig

What about crickets?

"make a 3 inch diameter hole in a loaf of bread moisten the inside of it a little (use a spray bottle if u have one) and put a few of em around the area where they are annoying u and soon u will find alot of em in the bread then u can do watever u want with them try using them as bait for fishing".

anybody ever catch them this way?

Looks like old MudDabber is getting back to his roots! Them crappie never did put up a good fight!