Poor quality maggots

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Today I bought a pint of red and a pint of white maggots from a tackle shop I'd not used before

Once at the bank I looked a the maggots and they wre very poor quality , about one in 30 were either dead and turned black or nearly dead

Anyway no I'm back home question is will the good maggots be ok if I don't riddle the maggots and throw out the dead ones

 

[Chefster]

probably if a lot of the maggots are dead,the others wont last long anyway..why not put them through a riddle and put some fresh maize on them?and see how they are then..Personally i wouldnt use rubbish maggots,quality fish this time of year are very picky,not so much in summer as they just gorge feed a lot of the time..Gazza

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Yes I won't be buying from that shop again
The maggots might end up as bird food

 

[tigger]

Yes I won't be buying from that shop again
The maggots might end up as bird food

Just use 'em, I mix maggots of a month or so old in new ones, never had any effect on me catch results.

I wouldn't give 'em to the birds, the dye will most likely shorten their lives drastically!

 

[john step]

M'Lord,
I am sure your butler has access to a bait freezer?
Just sieve them and freeze them and save them for the time when your want to mix them with groundbait to ball in.

 

[sam vimes]

I'd rather not buy rubbish maggots in the first place, but I'm not too precious about using old maggots that get old in my care. I regularly use stuff that's been kept in the fridge for weeks on end. However, I do riddle them off fairly regularly. There are some situations where I wouldn't use old bait, but I don't think it matters a jot when trotting on my usual fast flowing river haunts.

 

[maggot_dangler]

Imhave bought maggots from some places and will not do so again i normally use the big national chain always found them good quality i have some now in the fridge that will be used Sunday they are around 3 week old now some may even be older .

I have found that putting a small amount of NON clumping fine non scented cat litter in with them helps keep the clean and dry a bit of maize as well but the cat littler works well ...

PG ...

 

[Peter Jacobs]

It is best to find out what day your shop gets their maggot delivery. My local shop gets them in on Thursdays.

When I say "local" it is a 30 miles round trip and Ipass two other tackle shops on the way, but from experience their maggots are rubbish . . . . .

Those you bought do seem to be pretty old, and personally I won't use old or tainted bait.

From the description you gave it seems like they are also probably too old to turn into decent caster as well, because for the best caster you need good fresh maggots.

 

[Tee-Cee]

I bought some yesterday, to top up those I have been using this past week, which are still in good condition and fridge kept. I always have a look at the maggots before I leave the shop even knowing they never sell poor quality, but being match fishermen them selves they are well aware folk want fresh bait.
I have kept maggots for 2/3 weeks but in so doing I always riddle and change the bedding from time to time which keeps them smelling sweet. I cannot stand the pong of poorly kept bait....

For the prices charged I would 've been back to the shop for a refund!!

ps For anyone in the area I use Maidenhead Bait and Tackle, found in Cookham Dean (near the station). They are looking to sell the place, tough.............

 

[S-Kippy]

I have 2 shops in reasonable proximity. One does a superb maggot but rubbish casters.....the other an average maggot but top quality casters. Never could understand that....I guess it's the difference between shop turned caster and bought in caster.

My cousin in Lincoln nearly had a seizure when I told him how much a pint was down here....and that there are 8 pints in a gallon not 10 where he shops.

And am I imagining it or are bait boxes getting smaller ? I bought 2 new 2 pint boxes recently and they looked so small I demanded to watch while the shop put 2 measured pints in. I was surprised by the results because the boxes looked very much smaller than I expected. Just me I guess....unless they have specially made undersized beer glasses !

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I have 2 shops in reasonable proximity. One does a superb maggot but rubbish casters.....the other an average maggot but top quality casters. Never could understand that.

A possible answer could be that one shop buys in caster from the breeder whereas the other tried, unsuccessfully it seems, to turn their own?

We were lucky in that the breeder we used for many gallons a week also provided excellent caster, but he was the 3rd one we tired and stuck with him for the next 6 years.

 

[S-Kippy]

Im pretty sure that's it PJ. Suffice to say I do not use the pre packed rubbish not least because they look dead. And when were casters ever grey ?

The other shops casters are so good Big Phil reckons you could spread them on your toast !

 

[mikench]

I must learn to be Batman's arch enemy if I want my maggots to last!

 

[rayner]

There's no excuse for anyone to buy rubbish maggots.
You should check before you leave the shop or at your car.
Fortunately we have loads of tackle shops in Sheffield, shops keep their bait in top condition or loose the anglers to the next shop.
Shops that fail in anything you buy bait or tackle shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.
Go and complain in person.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

My usual tackle shop sells excellent maggot and these keep fine in my bait fridge for up to 4 weeks

I won't buy from the place tag sells poor maggots , it was just a convenient buy at the time

 

[trotter2]

Luckily my local sell top quality bait it's top dollar but it's always good stuff casters and maggots.
I once purchased from a shop 30 miles away and it was like your experience terrible, dead maggots and stunk to high heaven.
I had to clean them off and sieve out the dead ones. Now I just pay me money and know there ok from me local.

 

[iain t]

My local tackle shops get their maggot delivery midday every Wednesday. So i always buy them within 2 days after. Found if i buy them on Sunday/Monday the quality is a bit off

 

[binka]

The fella who runs my go to tackle shop has got the right idea.

He sells the best quality maggot and worm you can get and barely marks it up, every square inch of his shop is dripping with the thousands of bits of terminal tackle which people pick up whilst buying the bait and it's all at full rrp because he knows full well we're unlikely to compare or haggle over something that only costs a couple of quid or so.

He knows that he's got little future in propping up rods and poles for weeks or even months, which he's had to fork out for in advance or on short terms at the best, only to eventually sell them for low margin.

He will get whatever you want in and match t'internet prices of he can but believe me he's doing very well as it stands.

Can't fault him at all, it's the way I'd do it.

 

[tigger]

He sounds like he's got his head screwed on the right way round Steve, makes a change from the greedy clowns who charge top wack for everything and then close down!

A couple of months back a small group of us (four) went on a trip up cumbria and bought 21 pints of maggots off the local small tackle shop which i'd ordered a few days earlier. The owner served us as the gent he has working in the shop (and running it really) was away on his holidays...he is a very decent chap with the same type of common sense as your tackle shop owner, always giving people a good discount if they get any amount of bait, infact he's the only reason I visit the shop, help keep him in a job! Anyhow I went for the maggots and the owner gave no discount at all and charged us full wack on the maggots....21 effin pint's. I paid it as I couldn't be ar$ed going elsewhere at the time due to having things to do. After my friends found out about it they have all sworn never to go back there again and they will tell others which will most likely keep snowballing and loosing trade for some time to come....that's all because of a greedy owner .

The maggots in the shop are good ones and again that's down to the employees hard work...pity it's not his shop, he'd do really well !

 

[rayner]

I have no idea which day bait is supplied to 6AM tackle in Sheffield because their bait is always bang on, the odd day through the year when anything is not up to standard he gives the bait away.
That's not to say that other shops locally are any different, they all have a decent regular costumer base so their bait must be up to scratch.
This is Yorkshire, cross us and you are in peril.