Homemade maggots

[Weirdoh]

Anyone like to share any technical on bucket evolution?
With summer coming soon but weather being warm enough to recieve bluebottle blows, how do you keep your chambers dry enough to minimise the migration stage from off the offal? I have some YT but these are aimed more for the soldier fly.
If anyone has and drawings for making a auto system I would much appreciate your guidance and methods.
At the moment I capture the blow in a 5L bucket suspended from the lid of a bigger 25L bucket but struggle to keep them once off the feed from finding the entry holes made for the air and to allow flies in to collect their blows. I have tried flour, sand you name it.... they still manage to climb.

 

[103841]

Is it worth all the effort?

 

[Weirdoh]

For me personally having a free supply of the very freshest & largest (not to mention softest/supple) maggots for such a small amount of effort is worth it. Firstly it saves me having to go out, buy and compete with the loyal match anglers at my local places and its set up is cheap and to clean them up riddled and "ready" takes minutes.
I can "bag down" with much much greater recovery and can also hoard them over a season or use for feeding chickens.

 

[Weirdoh]

To colour them:

Beetroot from the garden for red (failing that from cake isle of supermarket).
Tumeric for orangey yellow.
Or natural Ivory colour.

Worms are easy to collect as you probably all already know.

 

[mikench]

Breeding them would be the last straw for er indoors. Buying them is much cheaper than a divorce! In addition I can't stand them so buying them sanitised by the pint is fine with me! If any turn to caster that's equally fine but I am happy to buy them.

Pinkies on the other hand are little devils and best avoided!

Ps. I think we are all going to get along just fine now! I am glad you stayed Weirdoh.

 

[Weirdoh]

Thanks mikench!
Mutual and water under the bridge eh

I do all my collecting in my garden and as long as you follow or more important get into a routine of sanitation/hygiene protocol its actually not as messy or smelly as some people might think. The collecting of sufficient blow (egg packets) and checking for hatching is prob the worst part. I made the mistake of riddling off some home mades once and my house floor was covered in the smaller fly maggot that experience had not showed me yet how easy they could escape the air holes on the maggi boxes and just how many flies suddenly appeared on the windows, thinking I hoovered every last one of them they just kept appearing for days. I have since bought grading riddles (50p local flea market) and can successfully separate the different maggot/larvae.
I keep them outside since I learned you can create refrigeration by creating a 2ft by 2ft square depression in the ground that stays shaded, that holds a suprisingly stable temperature (even in hot weather). If they escape then the blackbirds and Robins help out. If I am completely honest I think homemade maggots are superior to shop bought, but I do occasionally still buy shop bought for convenience.

 

[rich66]

Interesting post always fancied giving home made maggots a go, but if you can guarantee a divorce too I reckon it’s definitely worth a bash
My son often rots off the flesh on animal skulls at the top of the garden so the smells probably something I’m used too

 

[fishplate42]

...My son often rots off the flesh on animal skulls at the top of the garden so the smells probably something I’m used too

...he says so casually, as if everybody has a son who does that

I think you have mentioned this before, but I can't remember why he does it.

Ralph.

 

[rich66]

...he says so casually, as if everybody has a son who does that

I think you have mentioned this before, but I can't remember why he does it.

Ralph.

Taxidermy Ralph, he collects skulls. He’s not got a lot but they wiff a bit till the flesh has rotted off.

 

[Molehill]

...he says so casually, as if everybody has a son who does that
.

I have a wife you used to do that surprisingly still my wife, though if I suddenly go missing from here inform the police to check the top of the garden for a bucket with a skull in . She was so happy when a person called round who was actually interested in her badger skulls and collection of penis bones. Swiftly moving on ......

Couple of years ago I went through a summer of breeding my own and will say the results were better than shop bought, bigger, fatter, softer, fresher. But only if I used them quickly, once stored in the fridge they were soon the same as shop bought.
Planning my breeding cycle 2 weeks before a fishing trip simply didn't work. Besides, if I wanted a blow of flies the weather was guaranteed to go freezing cold and no flies about for a week!
The process if done properly smells little and if I was a serious match angler or someone who fished regularly several times a week it would be worth having a routine.

 

[Weirdoh]

I have a wife you used to do that surprisingly still my wife, though if I suddenly go missing from here inform the police to check the top of the garden for a bucket with a skull in . She was so happy when a person called round who was actually interested in her badger skulls and collection of penis bones. Swiftly moving on ......

Couple of years ago I went through a summer of breeding my own and will say the results were better than shop bought, bigger, fatter, softer, fresher. But only if I used them quickly, once stored in the fridge they were soon the same as shop bought.
Planning my breeding cycle 2 weeks before a fishing trip simply didn't work. Besides, if I wanted a blow of flies the weather was guaranteed to go freezing cold and no flies about for a week!
The process if done properly smells little and if I was a serious match angler or someone who fished regularly several times a week it would be worth having a routine.

I agree with the storing of maggots, guessing that maggots get one opportunity to gorge on what the parent put them on and derive all their fluids from that one off (extended) meal time.
In the height of summer a routine can be more easily kept to better timing of using multiple buckets and by perhaps staggering availability to the offal by a week at a time. I would guess this should offer more ready bait closer to time of use, again guessing as I try and do just one after the other.
Thanks for your input. Can you explain how you collected the maggots off the offal or what kind if system you had going please.
A good source of fresh casters is the logical scenario if you know you wont be using the maggots but I do agree the timing can easily go pearshaped especially after a cold downpour, I reckon I was losing 10% of escapees due to not being able to control air moisture levels , someone suggested lining thebuckets with sandpaper or concentrating on depriving an easier escape, the less air circulation coupled with higher temps the more they sweat and once one leaves a trail out they seem to all follow the same path. It is definately not for everyone though, I do have to maintain a steady supply of latex gloves for during the handling and alcohol gel for any handling mistakes but I would spend more on petrol collecting and once in a tackle shop I risk being tempted to buy another spool of line or something else. I dont know what would work best: multiple small staggered runs (more time expenditure/ commitment but would ensure a better quality nearer fishing time) Vs one big purpose built composter sized tank to go next to the wormery.

 

[mikench]

Taxidermy Ralph, he collects skulls. He’s not got a lot but they wiff a bit till the flesh has rotted off.

Isn't it time he moved out?

 

[rich66]

Isn't it time he moved out?

Lol trying to get his older brothers to leave first !

 

[rayner]

Done all my maggot breeding, a few gozzers off either heart or pigeon stunk to high heaven but worth the trouble for Bream in my match days. Thankfully commercial fish aren't so picky has fenland Bream.

 

[flightliner]

Done all my maggot breeding, a few gozzers off either heart or pigeon stunk to high heaven but worth the trouble for Bream in my match days. Thankfully commercial fish aren't so picky has fenland Bream.

Gary, I had no chance to breed my own when I was fishing the fenland match scene but if I was fishing an open match at Kirkstead one of the Guys in the Lincoln team used to sell gossers
For 2/6p an egg cup full!

 

[xenon]

Dad used to breed his own for matches in the seventies and I was co-opted to assist. The chicken carcase was wrapped in newspaper for about 4-5 days once blown, The smell on opening it up has never left me-utterly gag-tastic and indescribable to anyone who has not experienced it. never again-I love my fishing but that's just a step too far.