Grasshoppers!

[mike692]

Tell me your methods of catching the small woods grasshoppers. Is there a secret?

[reelcharacter]

Mike,

Now you are a man after my own heart with this topic. 

During July and August (perhaps June if I am lucky to find a few) I love to use Grasshoppers for catching Panfish. I do not know what you refer to with the woods reference, as I have caught all mine on sunny days in grassy fields.

In these locations a Butterfly Net with a decently long handle is my catching device of choice. A pair of hands can at times work equally as well.

Have heard of some other methods, but possess no actual experience with these.

I solved the "how do I get them on the hook" problem by placing them in a plastic 1 quart soda bottle. Make holes and keep from the sun that can quickly bake the bait. Unscrew the soda bottle top and only 1-2 hoppers can squeeze out the hole at a time. This makes grabbing the hopper in your two fingers for hookinng quite easy.

-Reelcharacter

[broken rod]

i also use a butter fly net in fields
i feed them to my spider

[reelcharacter]

BR,

Next time, save some 'hoppers for catching a few fish.
You, AND the spider, get a meal that way. 

I once read a fishing article sure to appeal to the 4-wheeling enthusiast. Place sticky (fly or other) paper on your vehicle’s front bumper, (sticky side out of course). After verifying that ‘hoppers are present, drive through the fields to your heart’s content, (with the appropriate permissions that is). With luck, you won’t encounter any chuck holes and will have some Grasshoppers (and who knows what else) available to pick off the sticky paper all ready for fishing.

-Reelcharacter

[Fishingking]

they say for crickets to take a soggy piece of bread put it in a box  and the crickets go in it  never tried it but was thinking about doing that last year but never had the time

[reelcharacter]

I have caught Crickets the hard way, by hand, turning over stones. Have read about hollowing out a loaf of bread with a small opening in one end. (Like a land minnow trap I guess).     Leave it out at night. Crics are most active then and if the bread is still there in the morning, get ready for fishing with the new Crickets that have holed up in there.

-Reelcharacter

[reelcharacter]

Here is a little more I found on Grashoppers:

First, they are easier to catch in the morning before the dew has evaporated , when it’s cool and they are still sluggish. You can catch them individually by hand, or use a fly swatter to gently pin them down for capture. Another method is to spread out a wool blanket and walk through the grass, herding them toward the blanket. The grasshoppers that land on the blanket get their legs tangled in the wool fibers and will be easy to grab.

Have not tried it myself, but there is some logic in the methods.

-Reelcharacter

[rgfixit]

Velcro for grasshoppers..I like it. 
When my family was younger we camped a lot with all the relatives. Sometimes there would be 25 kids from babies to 10 yrs old (my wife's family were a prolific bunch). I'd pay the kids $.01 a piece for hoppers and keep them occupied for hours. Most of the time we'd feed them to the "pet" trout in our pond.

Those big rainbows loved grasshoppers.

RG

[fulltmedad]

I have an old yellow "pilly" blanket. I think it's a combination of wool and polyester. I throw it in the dryer for a bit and then the kids take it out in the field and just run around for a bit. I've seen them pick 20 or 30 hoppers off of it in 15 minutes. They have a ball catching big bluegill in the pond here with them.
FTD

[reelcharacter]

Let’s see . . .

If we combine the "Velcro" method with the “Kid” method and the “Vehicle/ Flypaper” method, we may have something here . . .

We could have the kids drive the car, through the field, with mom's favorite wool/blend blanket. And if you do it in the morning, while the dew is still on the ground, you get to sleep in while the kids do the catching. There is no sticky front bumper from using fly-paper. The kids will pay you for getting to drive the car.

 . . . I like it!

-Reelcharacter

[broken rod]

i smell a red green episode
   get the duck tape

[kerosenecounty17]

Anybody ever read "The Grasshopper Trap" by Pat McManus?  I did when I was in high school and decided to make one.  I used an old landing net handle and a big plastic funnel.  On the back of the funnel I taped a plastic bread bag.  Then I'd just drive the old 3-wheeler along the edge of the hayfield in front of the house and hold the net out over the top of the hay.  The hoppers would spook when the 3-wheeler came by and jump for it and smack into the funnel and slide right down into the bag at the end.  Once the bag was full enough I'd just twist tie it shut and throw it in the freezer for a couple minutes to stun the little buggers so I could stuff them in a soda bottle.  I wonder what ever happened to that thing.  Might have to make another one for this summer.

kero

[chrisfrank]

An easy way to get hoppers on hooks is to put them a jar in your cooler.  after they cool down the get real sluggish and are much easier to handle.  they'll wake up quickly once they warm back up.   

[Mackdaddy21]

I heard once that cheesecloth works for catching grasshoppers. Place a large piece of it in a field and tie it over the standing grass. Their legs will stick to it and not be able to free themselves. I don't know the truth to it, but it's just some info.
Grasshoppers work great for trout, panfish, walleye, bass, and even pike and cats.

Tyler

[reelcharacter]

Anybody ever read "The Grasshopper Trap" by Pat McManus?  I did when I was in high school and decided to make one.  I used an old landing net handle and a big plastic funnel.  On the back of the funnel I taped a plastic bread bag.  Then I'd just drive the old 3-wheeler along the edge of the hayfield in front of the house and hold the net out over the top of the hay.  The hoppers would spook when the 3-wheeler came by and jump for it and smack into the funnel and slide right down into the bag at the end.  Once the bag was full enough I'd just twist tie it shut and throw it in the freezer for a couple minutes to stun the little buggers so I could stuff them in a soda bottle.  I wonder what ever happened to that thing.  Might have to make another one for this summer.

kero

Now that idea has some potential! Have to get the wheels spinning and put something together . . .

-Reelcharacter