Wax or Meal worms?

[Fishin_Fool78]

Which one do you prefer for ice fishing...? Wax Worm or Meal Worm?

Is one better than the other for catching certain fish species...?
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[RonPaulFan]

I used a whole earthworm and watched it on video being very active and making a lot of motion for a couple hours. No bites, but no reason to change it as it was very active the whole time.
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[barbs78]

I personally like meal worms or night crawlers better than wax worms! I have never had much if any successs with wax worms! But I have a lot of success with both night crawlers and meal worms! I most only target trout! If I go after white bass I just use a jig no bait! I know some people will say the love wax worms I just haven't had much luck with them!
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[Cowboy_43]

When I first started ice fishing I used meal worms. But a while back I made the switch to wax worms and now use them pretty much exclusively. Wax worms seem to work better for me.
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[kj]

Wax worm, night crawlers and lastly, meal worms, in that order.
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[Fish_Utah_Bob]

I discovered a new little worm like creature at Walmart. They are sold in a plastic tube about the size of a prescription bottle and are called SPIKES on the label. I call them red or blood worms due to their color. About the size of wax worms but juicier. We killed the Cutts at strawberry a couple of days ago at Chicken Creek. They loved these worms way over meal or earth worms. Good Luck.

Bob
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[albinotrout]

I prefer wax worms. I seem to get more bites with those rather than mealies.
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[StillHuntin]

Spikes are really popular in the midwest. Come in lots of colors and I believe they are commercially raised maggots.
Add another Waxie fan to the list, usually accompanied by a Finkster.
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[Baitfish55]

I prefer Meal worms. I carry both I never know what the fish want till they bite.
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[lakepowellnut]

Depends on the bite for me. I buy a 500 count of meal worms and colored maggots at the beginning of each season and occasionally use wax worms. Be prepared to use any of them.
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[Springbuck]

"Be prepared to use any of them."

This is the best advice.

Funny how different experiences are. When I started icefishing 9-10 years ago I kept buying mealworms on the suggestion of the tackleshop guys and posters on this site. I had no luck. It took me a dozen trips to start catching fish.

Then, again on this site, there was suddenly a trend of posts toward wax worm, and a bunch of posts saying how much bettet they were than mealies. So I switched and started catching fish like a madman.

So, I prefer waxies now, but honestly, it might be that I just got off the learning curve. And, since I still only get out a few times a year, I am still learning.

For instance, I have seen, just on the last few trips in the last couple years, that trout and bass at Mantua REALLY seem to prefer earthworms/redworms/nightcrawlers through the ice, but I have never caught ONE bluegill or perch up there on a regular worm-tipped jig. There, for the panfish, I ALWAYS use spikes or waxies.

At PV, the perch seemed to eat anything I tipped with, if they were biting, and ONLY perch meat or eyes if they were fussy.

At PV last year the crappies bit waxies for me fine, and this year they wouldn't touch mealworms, and when another fisherman gave me a "crappie nibble" from a bottle, something I haven't seen in years, and I caught the only fish of the night on the next drop.

So, go loaded, find ways to keep things alive from trip to trip, and put one on each pole until you see the pattern......
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