Maggot longevity

[maritimesbob]

Bit of a pickle here!

Going fishing on Sunday, unfortunately tackle shops in my area are shut on that day.

Need some maggots to take with me. How long could I keep them, say if I get them a few days earlier?

I have to work shifts Weds, Thurs, Fri and Sat and the shops will be shut by the time I finish.

Can I really hope to buy some late Tues and expect to still have maggots for Sunday?

Hints and tips to keep them alive please

Thanks.

 

[S-Kippy]

Fridge them. They wont keep that long otherwise....and even then they will probably sweat up a bit.

 

[retrobob]

You can make them last ages, you just have to look after them - I have had them last over a week before turning in to casters which I then used.

1) When you buy them, ask the tackle shop to put some ground maize (the very fine stuff) in with them. Don't bother with sawdust, it's ****. Also buy a maggot riddle apropriate to the size of a container you have. Some are metal round or square things and some fit plastic ones fit snugly in to standard size bait boxes. I prefer the latter.

2) Explain to the shop owner that you want to keep them a while and ask them to sell you some of their maize (I think I paid something like £1.50 to £3 for 1Kg which will last you AGES) or buy some from a pet store or miller.

3) When you get home (even though you just bought them) and each day, riddle them in to a clean dry container (if not bait box) and remove any dead ones (they stay limp not hard like a caster). Before I start, I tip them in to the riddle and shake it over some grass to remove the old maize.

4) If you didn't riddle them in to a bait box, clean out your bait box with kitchen paper, tip your maggies in a chuck in half a handful of fresh maize

Some random tips/thoughts...

• Longevity is all about slowing them down, keeping them cool (fridge), don't let them get wet
• Best to have more than one bait box of the right size that you can rotate. Riddle from the first in to the second and whilst they are riddling, give the first a clean out with dry kitchen roll
• Fresh maggots have a fuller stomach (brown/black blob), the fresher the better, you don't know if the tackle shop has looked after them as well as they should (despite it being in their interest!)
• Use a proper bait box with lots of little holes in for air exchange (lets fresh air in and heat out to stop them sweating)
• Make sure you give them enough air... go with half air half maggots, i.e. If you have a pint of maggots, put them in a two pint bait box
• If some turn in to casters, put them in a freezer bag and tie it reasonably tight (keep air out to stop them floating) - and boom you now have casters
• Don't forget you can also freeze maggots, dead ones make a good bait too

 

[dangermouse]

Another option is to put them in a plastic bag, squeeze all the air out and then put them in the fridge. They go into a state of torpor. Then the night before you go transfer them back to a bait box where they will magically revive. You`ll lose a few but not a significant amount.

 

[chrissh]

buy them on line have them delivered to your home or work next day delivery
Fishing Bait | Fishing Baits | Willy Worms

 

[The Sogster]

They should easily keep in the fridge for a week or more.

Don't put the lid on the box, they can still generate quite a bit of heat through friction and start sweating. As long as they are dry they won't get out.
Also make sure that the box is not too full better to have a pint per 2 pint box than two pints in one box.

As an aside, can anyone state why bronze maggots turn quicker than any other colour? I have some 10 day old red and whites that haven't started to turn and yet some bronze maggots 6 days old which have just about all turned.

 

[retrobob]

They should easily keep in the fridge for a week or more.

Don't put the lid on the box, they can still generate quite a bit of heat through friction and start sweating. As long as they are dry they won't get out.
Also make sure that the box is not too full better to have a pint per 2 pint box than two pints in one box.

As an aside, can anyone state why bronze maggots turn quicker than any other colour? I have some 10 day old red and whites that haven't started to turn and yet some bronze maggots 6 days old which have just about all turned.

I would suspect they were just different 'batches', i.e 'born' on different dates. The dye (or lack of) is the only different right?

 

[Tee-Cee]

I used maggots today that I bought last week ( reds and whites) and they are just as good as the day I bought them - better in fact, as they are now nice and soft AND DRY !
I bought 1,5 pints and split them into two 3 pint boxes when I got home just to give them some space to move around. I added some maize meal to both plus a little bran. They have been kept on the concrete garage floor the whole time - not a caster in sight......
The thing with maggots IMHO is to stop them sweating and I suggest sudden temperature changes such as putting them in a fridge after being in the bank in the sun, or in hot car is too severe. They need to cool down naturally to begin with. Personally, I don't use a fridge but it works for others...............
Others may disagree with this, but it works for me...

I expect some casters to form by weeks end (if I have any left) which I will use as a change bait for roach.

The maize can be bought at an Indian grocers type shop for a few bob and the fine bran, of which you need little, from any supermarket. Both are 'lost' in the wind when loose feeding.

I'm not saying the garage floor is ideal once the weather starts to warm up, but it's good for cooling down until I can float the bait box in some cold water.


ps I'm sure a 'search' would reveal more info on this subject - I cannot think it's a totally 'new' subject !!!

pps IMHO I think 'matchmen' might offer the best advice since they need maggots in top condition at all times........


JUST TO SAY; I NORMALLY FISH A LOT OVER A WEEK SO THE ABOVE METHOD SUITS MY FAST BAIT 'TURN-ROUND' TIME AND GIVES ME GOOD BAIT OVER THAT PERIOD..

 

[rubio]

Or just buy a nice fresh loaf on the way.
For a quid you have enough bait to last at least as long as a couple of pints of maggots, and I would guess catch nearly as many fish and many more better quality specimens.
Or just do as the esteemed advice above suggests. I favour a large tub, around 10-15 litre capacity, shaded out in the garden. Stop 'em bumping into each other so often and so much cooler. I'm far too scared to be spotted approaching the fridge with a baitbox in my hand.

 

[maritimesbob]

Thanks for the advice guys, great stuff.

Fridge is a no no, I value my life too much.

 

[Tee-Cee]

If you have the space a small fridge can obviously be had dirt cheap from the small ads in most ' local ' papers. I've bought several ( under the work surface size ) over the years from folk who have bought new, or moving, for around £20 or so, that have small freezer compartments as well, which can serve a purpose for small amounts of meat baits etc.
Sit on a couple of bricks in the back of a garage and it can do a job for the hotter months of the year - say, between May and October approx.......


ps Being a proper 'man' I insisted on a single compartment in the 6' high house freezer for my baits (NOT maggots!) and the wife is fine with this, PROVIDING I keep it clean.........................


pps Have to agree with Rubio on the bread front. Such a great bait for good roach and cheap as chips !

 

[maritimesbob]

Yeah, I used to love using flake back in the day when I regularly fished some twenty years ago. Had some cracking roach, bream and tench on flake.

Just wasn't so sure if bread was a hit at this time of year?

 

[Tee-Cee]

It will vary, almost from venue to venue and I'm going through the 'will they, won't they ' favour bread in one of it's many forms at the moment. I posted that I caught a single decent roach on flake last week to a lovely sail away bite, but failed to get a touch for the remainder of that day, or the following one....

However, it has to be worth a fling for the sake of a couple of slices of fresh bread but it may take pinches of flake, or the punch to get them going ! Even a 5mm bit of crust on a 14 could be successful...........................

No, it may not be fish after fish, but what's to lose ??

Good luck, though

ps I thought I read in a recent post that some lucky soul was catching well on flake - maybe on a river!!

 

[Titus]

If this is going to be a regular thing invest in one of those cheap beer fridges, you can pick them up for a few pounds at boot fairs or a bit more on eBay but it is worth the cost.

Alternatively use a cool bag and freezer packs, changing the packs every 12 hours.

Maggots pupate on a set time scale dependant on temperature which is accurate down to a couple of hours. I did have the graph and all the data at one time but it has gone the way of all things stored on computers and is now floating around in cyberspace somewhere but if you can find it it makes interesting reading but in practical terms it is hopeless as you have no way of knowing how old or at what temp the maggots were stored at before you got them.

The tip about storing them in a sealed bag is a good one and I have kept maggots for a couple of weeks like that in the fridge just opening the bag and giving them a breath every 12 hours or so. They will even keep for a week like that without refrigeration so long as they are in a cool spot and out of direct sunlight, under the van is my normal spot when I'm away on the bank for a few days.

 

[theartist]

It's worth mentioning the quality of the fridge itself, this is a key factor as having inherited a quality fridge I can tell you it makes the world of difference. Got a Bosch at the moment, not a really new one but one with a fan inside and it's quality as have used maggots that were over 5 weeks old last winter. OK they went a bit small but with a dusting of flavouring they still caught plenty. Food keeps way longer too so best before dates go out the window and a lot of money is saved in the long run.

But if using a fridge is a no no then maybe invest in a new missus

 

[arthur2sheds]

got a shed/garage.....? run some power up there, fit a light and buy a second hand fridge/freezer

maggots are best kept fridged and in as big a container as you can, to stop em sweating, do not keep opening the door as this causes condensation and they'll be off up the sides and everywhere....mg:

on the morning of the match I get up a bit earlier and riddle them off to remove any casters or dead skins and place them in a clean dry container (bigger than you'd usually use again to stop em sweating) if they have sweated up, they can be riddled off and sprinkled with dry groundbait and riddled again to remove the damp dust and then some fresh groundbait added... ready to go:thumbs:

 

[caelan]

OH not allowed in the kitchen then leave em out in the garage/shed on a shelf
lid of the weather is not going to change much from now till you need them
good luck an tight lines martin/caelan

 

[arthur2sheds]

I once put a pint of squatts in the kitchen fridge...... I'll not do that again.... they were in a bait box where I had enlarged the airholes in the lid.....mg:

I heard a bellow from the kitchen and meekly went to see if the moon of my delight had called me..... she was stood there with the fridge door wide open, pointing at everything therein covered in squatts....mg: she said two words...... "SORT IT"

I had to throw all the food out and wash out the fridge with disinfectant with my little rosebud looking on with a face like a bulldog licking p!ss off a thistle...

It was after that I bought a second hand F/F for the garage:wh

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Maggots pupate on a set time scale dependant on temperature which is accurate down to a couple of hours. I did have the graph and all the data at one time but it has gone the way of all things

I work on 1100 degree hours for freshly bought maggot on the day of delivery from the breeder to the tackle shop.

If bought that fresh then in a typical 'fridge at 5°C then they should last for around 9 days. (5 x 9 x 24)

This will obviously decrease if the maggots have been on the bank side for a day's fishing but you can estimate the remaining life time quite easily.

You can stretch the life cycle slightly be riddling ever day and placing in clean and dry maize meal, but older maggots will develop a harder skin like that too.

The trick of sealing in a poly bag with all the air extracted works, but pretty much only one, after they have been revived then the 'fridge is the best place for them as they will deteriorate quicker having been hibernated.

Back in the 90's I used to import maggot every 2 weeks in the season from the UK to Norway where a small tub of about 30 maggots were sold for 25nok, or about £2.50, but only in the winter for ice fishing.

Buying in that sort of bulk you quickly learned how to look after them or lost a lot of money . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[Titus]

Thanks for that Peter, 9 days sounds about right and Degree/Hours definitely rings a bell.