Maggots and How to Make the Most of Them

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Maggots and How to Make the Most of Them

Great article Keith, thanks for writing and sharing it.

I've been overlooking the humble maggot of late and in conjunction with a conscious effort to do more float fishing this coming season it's one of the things on my agenda.

Great solution to freezer burn too, that's something I often suffered when freezing my own maggots down and have some in that state still in the freezer now but will be replacing now I know how to prevent it.

The mention of Chrysodine bought back memories and I'm sure will for many, as young Trent anglers back in the early eighties we were often looked upon suspiciously by teachers when, on a Monday morning we would be sat in class with orange stained fingers... such a shame about the late Clive Smith, I remember how his death and the suspected cause sent the angling world into turmoil at the time.

And... the question which must have been asked time and time again, how many maggots in a pint?

Well I can finally let that one rest now too

Thanks again for posting Keith, an informative and inspiring read.

Always look forward to your comments, the bread article was brilliant, this is another , hat's off to you.

Very interesting Keith, it's a 30 mile round trip to my nearest tackle shop so I've been keeping maggots in the fridge for a while now. This will help prolong their catching ability

I've found that maggots keep well in the fridge but I need to remember to take them out 24hr prior to the fishign to bring them back to life

Very comprehensive.

One thing - where I come from a 'greenfly' is an aphid - those things that infest roses and loved by ladybirds and a pinkie is the larvae of the greenbottle.

Excellent stuff Keith!

I haven't really bothered too much with all the maggot prep personally and usually take 'just' enough for a days fishing, preferring instead to use alternative baits for longer sessions.
Preparing casters? well I never have and its very interesting the lengths you go to (and other people), if ever I have enough leftover maggots I just let them sit in the bait tub for another day without any preparation whatsoever!

Apart from the riddling and cleaning we do at work (we buy and clean about 50 pints per week to produce our crispy maggots), I don't feel there is anything further to gain for just a short days fishing, obviously taking a load over on the ferry would require a great deal of care.

It might take the best part of a day but amazingly the ‘dead’ maggots will come to life. What is more, you will find you have a 95-95% survival rate.

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?-95% ???

Our bait supplier removes air out of bags by sucking on them to create an air-tight vacuum!
Filthy man.

---------- Post added at 19:37 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

binka said:

And... the question which must have been asked time and time again, how many maggots in a pint?

Click to expand...

Yes binka, i'm very glad someone else could be bothered to count them!

Hi Chaps

Thanks for all your comments.

There were a couple of errors, Greenfly is a typo, I did mean Greenbottle and it should have read 90-95%, it looks like I may have had one too many glasses of Fleurie when I wrote that?

Tight lines.

Keith Speer said:

Hi Chaps

Thanks for all your comments.

There were a couple of errors, Greenfly is a typo, I did mean Greenbottle and it should have read 90-95%, it looks like I may have had one too many glasses of Fleurie when I wrote that?

Tight lines.

Click to expand...

Where's a decent editor when you need one?

Anyway, good piece Keith, well written and researched!
Taking of which I'm currently looking at Magmeal which shows good promise in replacing fishmeal by up to 100% for some species.

Soldier flies larvae I reckon are the easiest to harvest as they are not picky eaters and will eat all forms of carbohydrates; broken cookie crumb, spent grains from the brewery industry, bread and breadcrumbs etc. I imagine Botflies (bluebottle larvae) and Soldiers together will be able to rid all consumer food waste including food abattoir waste products taken up by the bot fly larvae. Its already happening in SA where Magmeal is produced and is a real viable alternative to fishmeal for use in aquaculture.

Video here:
Let Them Eat Flies | QUEST

Agree with the bit about dead maggots being very effective. I only use dead ones now with a supply in my bait freezer as the nearest tackle shop is a gallon of diesel away.
One point I would add however about using deaduns is tip them into a bait tub of water when you arrive at the venue and they will not dry out during the day and will stay soft. Most important in the summer. Take a small kitchen sieve to strain off at the finish. Any over can then be rinsed and re frozen wet. It doesn't take long to defrost in the above mentioned tub of water next time out.
I must say I have never had trouble with freezer burn.

A very interesting and informative read, one that i enjoyed very much. Thank you.