Maggot antiperspirant

[matt]

I'm sure this has been touched on before on this forum but I must of missed it.
My local tackle shop sells its maggots with a splash of maize flour. It's useless as a method of keeping the maggots from getting sweaty. The flour doesn't spread evenly through the maggots or soak up the liquid effectively, when it gets damp it sticks to the sides and the bottom of the bait box.
What would be effective as a alternative. I keep them cool whenever possible but it's not always practicle especialy on the bank. Any suggestions?

 

[Beecy]

Cant say as I think the same way about the maize flour Matt, i think it does the job fairly well. But you cant beat fresh air ! as the amonia produced needs to be able to evaporate.


The main thing is to keep your maggots in a well ventilated box and as cool as poss. and dont keep too many in one, I would say 50/50 maggots to air, so I would never put more than a pint in a 2 pint box.

I know its difficult in summer to keep them sweat free, especialy if, like me, you dont use a cool bag. what I do in summer if i am traveling a fair way is just put a few squares of kithen roll in my bait boxes.

 

[Merv Harrison]

As soon as I get my maggots, I riddle them of whatever medium they come in, add 2 heaped teaspoons per pint of plain or self raising flour, leave them in the fridge in a large, uncovered container. Never had any escape using this method, and it keeps them soft and fresh.

 

[ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)]

Bran does the job

 

[BAZ (Angel of the North) aka Fester]

I find that maize powder works well, But riddle the maggots off and put your own powder in.
Bran is good for giveing the maggots a good scrubbing and makes them sparkle.

 

[Mark Hodson]

On the bank the best way is the following.

1) get yourself a good cool bag for on the bank
2) at home take the maggots down to a temperature where they hardley move (just noticeable) either in a very coldfridge or in a freezer (check on them every 10 minutes in freezer though or else you'll get little icicles).
3) Then separate them into 1/4 or 1/2 pint bags, or bags the size you think you will use every hour or so on the bank
4)Seal making sure no air is in the bag
5) Keep cool and the maggots will stay alive, sweat and amonia free for over 24hrs.
6) Just remove from cool bag on the bank when required, open bag of dormant maggots into a bait box and they will revive to their normal state in ten minutes, in perfect fresh condition.

 

[Bob Watson]

I've also never had a problem with maize, change it regularly and keep the bait cool and it's as good as anything.

Marks tip above is great if you're going on a long journey, ie, travelling a couple of days with maggots, Suck all the air out of plastic bags and keep cool and don't be tempted to open the bags and check on them, they look dead but soon come round on reaching your destination. This was an open secret with the lads going to Ireland a few years ago when it was common practise to take your own bait with you.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

First thing I do when I buy maggots after getting the home is to riddle off all the maize. I then replace this with a tablespoon of tumeric, give the maggots a good shake and then leave them for about 15 to crawl about in the stuff, after that I put them in a very cold fridge which will slow them down and stop any chance of sweating. I always riddle off the tumeric and throw a very small amount of maize in on the morning before going fishing to help clean off the surplus tumeric. Fish love maggots treated with tumeric as well for some reason, especially roach.

Nothing I have ever found will clean the grease off maggots as efficiently as tumeric causing them to sink quicker and this is essential especially on a river. There is nothing more likely to kill a swim as feeding uncleaned maggots because they sink at various speeds down your swim and the fish chase them further and further away from where you are trotting.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Matt,

I used to import maggot in large quantities from England to Norway, they would arrive on the Thursday and be sold at the matches on the following Sat and Sun, so i had to keep them 'happy' otherwise I would loose a considerable amount of money - every week!

Typically, they would come 'sealed' in large plastic sacks with the air removed.
Upon arrival I would lay the (dead-looking) maggots out in LARGE trays in the open air for a couple of hours. In this time the maggot would revive to their former size and shape.

To keep maggot really fresh you do need a good quantity of maize meal.
Riddle the maggots two or three times and then place in the largest trays you have with a good handful of maize meal, and place in the 'fridge.
Each day I would then riddle them again and add fresh maize meal.

By the time that you buy your maggot from a dealer or shop they have a possible 'shelf life' of approximately 750 degree-hours.
So, if you can keep them at approx. +3 degrees (in the 'fridge) then they should last you about 10 days (750/3/24)

Those that you cannot use within that time can either be frozen and used 'dead' or turned to Caster. The best method I found was to thoroughly riddle off all the maize meal and then store them in the garage in damp (not wet, just damp) fine sawdust. Riddle them off 3 or 4 times a day and you will have lovely Caster, not too light or too dark and still at a decent size.

Final tip is if you plan to use StickyMag then try to keep your maggots totally free of any form of powder medium. Trying to get StickyMag to work on maggots covered in maize meal is a recipe for disaster.

Hope this helps ;-)

 

[Peter Jacobs]

"they sink at various speeds down your swim and the fish chase them further and further away from where you are trotting."

Go on the Graham, give away all the river matchman's secrets, why don't you



Although, Graham is dead right about turmeric though. Personally, I wouldn't keep my maggot in turmeric but add it the evening before I plan to fish. Personal preference, thats all.

 

[Waveney One]

No fine powder is good for keeping maggots - long term. Peter Jacobs has it dead right. All the best bait breeders use sawdust and it needs to be damp for the best effect. Bran is OK for a day, but again it needs to be damp. Take the sawdust off before setting off for the bank and replace with turmeric for bronze maggots, clean damp sawdust for anything else.

 

[gilesy]

cheers graham i will treasure that little pearl ! where do you get maize meal from ?

 

[Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)]

Being a fellow Yorkshireman Matt, you should be able to get hold of a few cloth bait bags and store them in those. This allows the maggots to have a thorough circulation of air that you dont get in a plastic tub with a lid on which is the main cause of sweating IMHO if you dont have access to a fridge to keep the maggots cool.

Its always funny when I go into the tackle shops down here as I dont think they see too many bait bags.

In true Yorkshire fashion, they also do away with the need for a bait apron and therefore save money!

 

[Graham Whatmore]

I prefer not to keep my maggots for days on end knowing that maggots lose some of the plumpness the longer they are kept in the fridge. Any thats left over I freeze.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

"I prefer not to keep my maggots for days on end . . . . . . . . "

I suppose that's why Jeff only buys his in quantities of 10 at a time?

;-)

 

[Graham Whatmore]

Not only that Peter but he hires them out by the hour!

 

[matt]

Thanks very much for all the advice guys.

I think if I stick with the maize flour spread my maggots out more i.e. 1 pint to a two pint box rather than cramming them in as I do and buy a 'beer fridge' for the garrage. That should be enough. It will also keep her indoors happy, no maggots in the kitchen fridge.

Looking at the bait boxes I'm using at the moment the air holes are very prone to clogging up so a review of bait boxes is also in order to find some with better designed or bigger holes.

I don't have the time to spend to much loving care on my maggots so it's a case of finding the most conveniant but effective method. I think more boxes and the fridge should be sufficient.

Cheers guys

Nigel I'm a Lancashire man not a Yorkshire man wash your mouth out !

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Matt,

If you can try to get purpose made maggot trays as they are so much better than leaving maggots in bait boxes.
They don't cost all that much and Sensas do a range of two sizes.

They are wider and longer than bait boxes and therefore allow far more air across the larger surface.

If not, then after the maggots have cooled down then take the tops off of the boxes, providing that the maggots are dry and cool they will not escape up the sides of the bait box.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

If you get a dedicated fridge. Get some plastic trays that fit the shelf an fill no more than a quarter of the depth store in fridge with no lids. They will breath easier this will stop the sweating.

If carrying in a cool bag with a ice pack allways have some insulation between the box and the ice pack as the extreme cold will kill the maggots at the bottom of the box.

 

[Fred Bonney]

Whilst we are on the subject of maggot care,this riddling lark has me puzzled.
I never have riddled my maggots,so I've tried it tonight with pinkies and standard maggots.
Everything goes through the riddles????
The pinkies and all the stuff they're in, even go through a flour sieve, I've borrowed off the missus.
What am I doing wrong?