Grub fishing in Tasmania
by Carl Hyland on 26 Jul 2011
Danny Holmes with a grub caught brown trout at Brushy Lagoon. - Tasmanian feature Carl Hyland
Tasmanian wattle grubs are actually the larvae from a giant moth called the Wattle Goat Moth or Endoyla Encalypti.
Found primarily in wattle trees in Tasmania, the grubs are collected by Tasmanian anglers to use as trout bait during the open Tasmanian trout season. As natural bait and as bait they are second to none.
I hope to be able to dispel a few myths about the humble wattle grub or bardi grub or even witchetty grub as it is known. The aboriginal name for the grub is wuijiti grub and they can be found throughout Tasmania and Australia.
A lot of anglers collect their own grubs and some trees can be host to hundreds of the moth larvae. They take approximately eight years to mature and this means that to try and replicate them as a bait that can be mass hatched and sold in tackle stores in really not possible.
Most moths are active on rainy nights and dewy autumn mornings in this state and after mating look for damaged tree bark or nicks/cuts etc to lay their eggs which can total 15,000 at a time. Of course, not all of these hatch.
The grubs burrow under the bark and head for the heartwood of the tree, so they are true wood borers. They eat the tree 'wood' and mature between three and five years. If the tree dies in that time, grubs head for the outer layer of bark and pupate, and turn into moths. If everything goes as planned, the grubs can grow to 70mm long and have burrows in the tree 10mm wide.
Enter the angler who looks for wood chewing’s around the base of the tree or on low laying branches.
Grubs are cut from the tree by experienced cutters and are used for their own purposes or sold on to tackle stores. Grubs can fetch high prices, especially during the dog days of summer when they are hard to obtain.
Grubs have a very high oil or fat content, that’s why the Aboriginals find them quite toothsome, I have tried them and they are a bit like a cashew in taste but ‘squishy’.
Once the grubs are collected, they are stored usually in tight fitting metal containers as wood or plastic doesn’t stand up to the grubs chewing’s. A lot of anglers also store their grubs in the refrigerator as this tends to keep them dormant for long periods.
Once the grubs have been obtained, they can be used as a bait in some selected waters in Tasmania and these are listed as bait waters in the Inland Fisheries’ guide on the website.
How to use:
Firstly, you need the right hooks; a wide gape is preferred and try to fit the hook to the size of your grub. Grubs are either fished on the bottom with no weight or used under a float. Either way they are dynamite.
More pictures and stories on wattle grubs at a later date.
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