Casters. How long do they last

[rayner]

I used to keep my casters in water, that was until I got a little information from a mate who worked in a tackle shop.
He told me they never keep their casters in water. The suggestion was that casters kept in water suck water into the shell in an attempt to breath. Too long in water sends them sour, water also makes the shell soft.

Casters will keep for ever in a pellet pump. Just give them a ten minute spell of fresh air each day.
Of course on the bank the only way to prevent floaters is to keep them in water. I take a few casters at a time out of water for the hook.
For me casters are without doubt the best bait for silver fish.

 

[markcw]

I keep reading about pre packed vacuum bagged casters, Is this a new trend ? My local shop turn their own,
They have started to sell dead maggots for those who can't be bothered to do their own.

 

[sam vimes]

I keep reading about pre packed vacuum bagged casters, Is this a new trend ? My local shop turn their own,
They have started to sell dead maggots for those who can't be bothered to do their own.

Not especially new, but the bait farms are increasingly offering them and some tackle shops sell them for the convenience of not having to turn their own. I suspect that as the older tackle shop proprietors slowly dwindle away, shops turning their own casters will slowly dwindle with them.

 

[108831]

The now long gone Leslie's of Luton were a quandary to me,they used to turn beautiful casters,then vacuum pack them,to which they turned into a soft skinned,grey,drab,useless bait,at one time I offered the guy who turned them some bags and ties,but he wouldn't do it specially,shame as many of my matches back then were reliant on quality casters,Blackhorse used to get our bait from Don Wills in Newport Pagnell,a fair trek for the guys who did it,but great casters and maggots.

 

[iain t]

I have only bought these vac packed caster as no one sells fresh caster in my area. One shop tells me he doesn't get the call for them any more. I have turned them myself but that was a bit hit and miss. Perhaps i should have done more research first. I know in the long run doing it myself but how can i turn maggots correctly.
I opened my first vac pack today. No smell but some were what seemed totally hollow, whilst others were good with assorted colours of brown to cream. At about a quid dearer for a pint than fresh maggots were they worth it. Well for an impromptu session, yes but i would have prefered fresh. The Roach and bream didn't seem to mind them and gobbled them up to give me a mixed count of 45 fish

 

[rayner]

If I struggled to get casters I would definitely turn my own. There's no way I would buy vacuum packed live bait.
OK turning your own casters is a bit of a pain, taking them off three or four times a day is essential to get casters to my liking but it is worth the effort if local shops bait is not up to scratch.

 

[sam vimes]

If I struggled to get casters I would definitely turn my own. There's no way I would buy vacuum packed live bait.
OK turning your own casters is a bit of a pain, taking them off three or four times a day is essential to get casters to my liking but it is worth the effort if local shops bait is not up to scratch.

I'm not averse to washing nets in my bath, but even I draw the line at turning casters in the house. Much like breeding your own maggots, turning casters rather depends upon having a suitable place to do it.

 

[Richox12]

I always turn my own. I keep them dry in the fridge in 1 pint bags well wrapped in several extra layers to insulate them from 'Fridge Burn'. Wrapped like that 2, 3 and 4 weeks is not uncommon and the casters don't 'suffer' at all. I never keep them in water for any length of time and only when I am actually using them.

 

[sam vimes]

For those that believe that the bagged shop bought casters are rubbish, have a look at the following pictures. These were bought into the shop from his regular maggot supplier in vacuum packed gallon bags. The tackle shop then splits them down into smaller quantities and bags them up again. Not properly vacuum packed, but heat sealed heavy duty plastic bags. These would have been a day or two from delivery to the shop.



I have no problem whatsoever with his decision to not turn his own any longer. I wouldn't want to buy any from the previous weeks delivery, but when they are reasonably new in, they are as good as anything.

 

[daniel121]

I've not read the replies so this is solely for the OP.

Not very long, I'm not a major fan of vac packing then, the best way I have found of keeping castor is in water in the fridge but change the water every 24 hours. They last about a week before they start to get a bit of a whiff on

 

[S-Kippy]

For those that believe that the bagged shop bought casters are rubbish, have a look at the following pictures. These were bought into the shop from his regular maggot supplier in vacuum packed gallon bags. The tackle shop then splits them down into smaller quantities and bags them up again. Not properly vacuum packed, but heat sealed heavy duty plastic bags. These would have been a day or two from delivery to the shop.

View attachment 5696View attachment 5697

I have no problem whatsoever with his decision to not turn his own any longer. I wouldn't want to buy any from the previous weeks delivery, but when they are reasonably new in, they are as good as anything.

Cracking casters. I'd have no concerns whatsoever using those....but they bear no resemblance at all to the vacuum packed garbage one of my local shops used to sell. I'm no authority on casters but I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to be 50 shades of grey.

 

[sam vimes]

I'm pretty sure they aren't supposed to be 50 shades of grey.

No, but it's not an inherent problem with vacuum packed casters. It's got to be down to your supplier or his supplier. They're either not keeping them properly or are passing off old junk as fresh.

 

[S-Kippy]

No, but it's not an inherent problem with vacuum packed casters. It's got to be down to your supplier or his supplier. They're either not keeping them properly or are passing of old junk as fresh.

Or both...which is what I thought at the time. I went elsewhere and found casters 50 times better...turned in the shop and fresh as daisies.

 

[silvers]

they look good quality but are at the paler end of what I prefer.

I use caster as my primary bait all through from June 16th to about now. I only turn my own and aim to get 2 pints of caster from about 3 pints of maggots. I have a bait fridge in the garage and do the turning in there.
Back when I was starting out in the 80s I used to get my bait from Ken Dixon's in Bedford (long since closed). He got his maggot from a bait farm near cambridge that fed them on meat. They started smaller than fish fed maggot but didn't shrink and produced fabulous casters.
These days I get Lane's maggot - which are fish fed but start out very large so generally produce good caster.

I aim to turn bait from wednesday evening through to saturday morning for a weekend match - and keep any caster produced under water in the fridge until the match day. Anything left over will only be used for pleasure fishing.

 

[Keith M]

The vacuum packed caster that our local tackleshop used to sell before it closed were total rubbish, they were mainly mixed shades of grey and off white and were slightly softish instead of being crisp and fresh looking; and we all suspected that they had preservative added to them. Whether they did or not they were not very good at getting bites; in fact they probably detered more fish from eating them than they tempted.

Another shop down the road used to turn their own fresh caster to order with a few spare pints for sale if they had any left; and they were always sold out within a couple of hours of being on the shelf. And they were mostly a nice reddish brown colour and were eagerly devoured by the fish.

If my caster were over one or two days old (and most probably dead after keeping them submerged in water) then I would only use them in my groundbait mix; But if they were still alive and could be turned into floaters (by keeping them out of water) then I’d use them for catching Rudd or Chub off the surface.

But if they had started to turn greyish or mushy I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. They might have still caught the odd Bream or pastie jostling to eat whatever is in front of them on a commercial but I don’t really enjoy fishing for snotties or pasties that much.

Keith