Bag Worms

Bag worms have been on my "to-do" list for about a month, ever since I discovered one of my evergreen shrubs out front is infested.  I've never come across these before -- possibly because I've never had so many evergreens before?  Anyhow...I should have been more on top of them when they first started appearing in the early summer, but I had other things on my plate.

Now they've completely covered and defoliated about two thirds of this shrub.  I need to pick them off before the mature adult moths emerge from these bags and start reproducing.  I don't want to have to deal with them again next year.

My plan of attack is to pick them off and put them in a bucket of bleach and water.  Next year, I will keep an eagle eye out in June to see if I missed any (or if I left this too late).  If they return next year, I'll probably start looking into some sort of insecticide.

Bag worms look like they belong on the plants they infest because they use parts of the plant to create their bags.  My bag worms look a bit like pine cones and I didn't really pay attention to them until I saw some on a downed deciduous branch near the evergreen shrub. 

Have you ever battled bag worms?  What did you do to get rid of them?