mikench
Well-known member
Not part of a wanted poster but a question about maggots. Are dead as useful and versatile as live and can/should they be mixed with GB in a feeder with one or two on the hook or is there a better way of fishing with them?
Dead or alive!
- Thread starter mikench
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fishing4luckies
Well-known member
I find dead ones are less 'disconcerting' when you accidentally drop one in your coffee and swallow it.
The frantic wriggling of the live ones is quite off-putting.
Hope this helps.
The frantic wriggling of the live ones is quite off-putting.
Hope this helps.
B
binka
Guest
There's been a fair bit posted about the subject Mike, I use deads regularly for feed when I'm perch fishing mainly because they're just leftovers from previous sessions which have been riddled off and frozen down.
Dead maggots can be a good bait it their own right too though, especially on gravelly and silty bottoms where live ones can easily bury themselves.
Same if you want to keep your feed really tight, deads won't disperse over the distance that live maggots do.
Nothing at all wrong with mixing them in groundbait, either as a ball in or a feeder set up...
Dead maggots can be a good bait it their own right too though, especially on gravelly and silty bottoms where live ones can easily bury themselves.
Same if you want to keep your feed really tight, deads won't disperse over the distance that live maggots do.
Nothing at all wrong with mixing them in groundbait, either as a ball in or a feeder set up...
This has been on here quite a few times if you do a search. However I would say I use dead'uns 99% of the time when using maggots. Never had a problem loose or in feed.
mikench
Well-known member
Surprisingly it does Fishing4luckies ! I too detest the presence of maggots in my coffee>
However it was the preference of the fish which was of greater interest to me coupled with the suggested method of delivery!
However it was the preference of the fish which was of greater interest to me coupled with the suggested method of delivery!
Lord Paul of Sheffield
Well-known member
Dead maggots don't seem to put fish of feeding , I've fished dead smelly old maggots on the hook at times and caught
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I prefer live maggots, I never use dead ones unless they've been left too long in the fridge when turned up full blast and they've died (as seems to be the case with the ones in there at the moment) or if i've had some and frozen them.
I think maggots burrowing into the substrate or crawling all over the place is a bit of an old wives tale. Reason for saying this is because i've often dropped a hand full in the margins to see what they do and they're still there hours later but are stretched out and dead as dodo's. They can't really burrow as when they try to push into the substrate they can't get any purchase to burrow, if you get my meaning.
The only thing i'd use dead maggots for is to put in a gound bait mix and that's only if I happen to have some dead ones which isn't very often.
I think maggots burrowing into the substrate or crawling all over the place is a bit of an old wives tale. Reason for saying this is because i've often dropped a hand full in the margins to see what they do and they're still there hours later but are stretched out and dead as dodo's. They can't really burrow as when they try to push into the substrate they can't get any purchase to burrow, if you get my meaning.
The only thing i'd use dead maggots for is to put in a gound bait mix and that's only if I happen to have some dead ones which isn't very often.
mikench
Well-known member
I froze some fresh maggots a few weeks ago within minutes of buying them! I will give them a try along with tares and hemp and live maggots and........ the list goes on. One day I will surprise you all with such unqualified success you will all want to know how I did it I just hope we all live long enough
I just hope we all live long enough
Keith M
Well-known member
On commercial type waters it may be different (Ive only fished one commercial in the last ten years) but on the waters that I fish I've experienced that a dead maggot will get me far fewer bites than a live one, in fact whenever my bites cease I've found that it's usually because my maggot has stopped moving and I find that a fresh live one will immediately start producing bites again.
This has happened so many times over the years that I refuse to even consider deads unless I am fishing over thick soft silt or I'm adding them to a groundbait, but even then I will only use a live one on the hook.
Keith
This has happened so many times over the years that I refuse to even consider deads unless I am fishing over thick soft silt or I'm adding them to a groundbait, but even then I will only use a live one on the hook.
Keith
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mikench
Well-known member
That makes sense to me Keith! Like Tigger I have dropped some maggots into the shallow water of the margins and unless it is really silty, they do nothing and just slowly drown. I will use the ones I have just in case the wife thinks they are an unusual form of pasta
Keith, thats interesting. I take frozen deads whenever I intend to use maggots.
I seem to catch fish OK. I don't fish commercials. I catch on them in places out of the way that see little angling activity.
It may be a confidence thing?
Mike, by all means give tares a go but if it was me I would let the water warm up first and then you will find the roach will crawl up your rod towards you.
I seem to catch fish OK. I don't fish commercials. I catch on them in places out of the way that see little angling activity.
It may be a confidence thing?
Mike, by all means give tares a go but if it was me I would let the water warm up first and then you will find the roach will crawl up your rod towards you.
A few things to be said for the dead maggot... If you fish double live maggot on a smallish hook, 18 say, you 'll often find a missed bite or bumped fish has been caused by the maggot wriggling around and getting itself hooked again as you strike. Dead ones don't do that. A lot of places insist on barbless hooks these days and it seems that deads stay on better, especially important for methods where you leave it out for a bit such as feedering. Live maggots can't really be mixed in balls of groundbait as they break it up but deads can.
Execution methods need some thought. Frozen ones, in my experience, stretch and lose condition and soon "go off" when thawed. These days, I put them in a plastic bag and knot it, put the bag in a container with a bit of cold water, gradually adding hot from the kettle until the maggots stop moving. They keep their colour better- too hot too quick and they blanche - and they remain plump and last well.
I wouldn't use them for "mobile" methods eg stickfloat, but for more static things, like feeder fishing for bream or cupping in with a pole I found them very effective this winter.
---------- Post added at 11:39 ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 ----------
It's true they're a great summer bait. But here's a few roach caught on tares yesterday. Some of these fish haven't read the textbook
Execution methods need some thought. Frozen ones, in my experience, stretch and lose condition and soon "go off" when thawed. These days, I put them in a plastic bag and knot it, put the bag in a container with a bit of cold water, gradually adding hot from the kettle until the maggots stop moving. They keep their colour better- too hot too quick and they blanche - and they remain plump and last well.
I wouldn't use them for "mobile" methods eg stickfloat, but for more static things, like feeder fishing for bream or cupping in with a pole I found them very effective this winter.
---------- Post added at 11:39 ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 ----------
It's true they're a great summer bait. But here's a few roach caught on tares yesterday. Some of these fish haven't read the textbook
B
binka
Guest
I've fannied around with all sorts of methods of killing 'em Kev and I can cock it up with the hot water method in the blink of an eye.
Now though I just riddle them off and bung them in the feezer, still in the bait box.
I found them to be lacking when thawed but, if taken out the evening before and covered with water, they seem to take on a lifelike state again albeit a bit still as far as any movement goes.
I'm sure that freezing dehydrates them and the overnight soak enables them to take moisture back in, it also stops them turning black if kept submerged and for all intents and purposes I find they are as near to identical as a live maggot.
Good to see another Notts lad here by the way, I hope you're not going to spoil things by saying you're a County fan?
---------- Post added at 20:17 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------
Mike...
Just to add, if you can get hold of Archie Braddock's musings on dead maggots I reckon it would be well worth a read.
He was also very successful by 'gassing' small quantities of maggots for hook baits in a small airtight container lined with one of his additives... I recall watching the interview which Bob Roberts did with Archie in his garden shed which I think doubled up as his little lab.
IIRC that was from Barbel Days and Ways.
As a river angler, from my teenage years, I have been preparing maggot, either as a bait in its own right or to put down for caster. The very first thing I would do would be to riddle them off to remove all the skins, dead maggots and dross, then into damp sawdust to clean them off, followed by a final dusting of maize meal for the maggot. This was to ensure that the end result was a pristine bait both for the hook and feed. While I don't doubt the claims made here for using a dead maggot as a bait, for me it is a totally alien concept. Pete.
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
If you only want a few deads for hookers, take a live one and place it on your side tray/ palm of your hand or any other flat surface and firmly roll it with your fingertip at the pointed end a few times and it will die but look no different.
For larger amounts I freeze them for 24 hours then defrost them in cold water as Binka recommends.
For larger amounts I freeze them for 24 hours then defrost them in cold water as Binka recommends.
Keith M
Well-known member
Kev although I don't do a lot of feeder fishing for snotties these days I can't remember ever having one of my maggots come adrift on a barbless hook and for the past 15 or 20 years (at least) I have only ever used barbless hooks when using maggots.
I've occasionally had worms come adrift but I've never had it happen with a live maggot so far (famous last words Lol.)
Kev if I am fishing a float and using a few maggots in my groundbait then I would much prefer they were live maggots as I would want my groundbait to start breaking down as soon as it reaches the right level in the water; or if I am legering as soon as it hits bottom, I certainly wouldn't want my groundbait to just be sitting there in a static solid lump Lol.
it would take a lot to convince me that on the waters that I fish dead maggots are going to be any better than fresh and well prepared live maggots unless I were to be targeting shoals of very hungry snotties on a very silty bottomed lake; which is the last thing I would usually want to be doing
Keith
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thames mudlarker
Well-known member
Kev although I don't do a lot of feeder fishing for snotties these days I can't remember ever having one of my maggots come adrift on a barbless hook and for the past 15 or 20 years (at least) I have only ever used barbless hooks when using maggots.
I've occasionally had worms come adrift but I've never had it happen with a live maggot so far (famous last words Lol.)
Kev if I am fishing a float and using a few maggots in my groundbait then I would much prefer they were live maggots as I would want my groundbait to start breaking down as soon as it reaches the right level in the water; or if I am legering as soon as it hits bottom, I certainly wouldn't want my groundbait to just be sitting there in a static solid lump Lol.
it would take a lot to convince me that on the waters that I fish dead maggots are going to be any better than fresh and well prepared live maggots unless I were to be targeting shoals of very hungry snotties on a very silty bottomed lake; which is the last thing I would want to be doing
Keith
I agree Keith, well said :thumbs:
Although I have used dead maggots for a good number of years and with reasonable success I'd say that yer definitely right about the appeal of using fresh live maggots
mikench
Well-known member
So glad to see you back Stuart; you have been missed!
---------- Post added at 07:32 ---------- Previous post was at 07:15 ----------
Keith, thats interesting. I take frozen deads whenever I intend to use maggots.
I seem to catch fish OK. I don't fish commercials. I catch on them in places out of the way that see little angling activity.
It may be a confidence thing?
Mike, by all means give tares a go but if it was me I would let the water warm up first and then you will find the roach will crawl up your rod towards you.
That would be a welcome experience John! I am willing to try anything to catch
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So glad to see you back Stuart; you have been missed!
Snap!....your messenger ain't workin' Stuart
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