Maggots by mail.... or not!

fishplate42 · Jul 6, 2017

On Monday afternoon I ordered some maggots for next day delivery. As it was late in the afternoon I was expecting them to be delivered by Wednesday (yesterday). By the evening it was obvious that no maggots were going to appear.

I got back on to the retailer's site to find out what was happening only to discover my maggots were sitting in my basket awaiting payment. Grrr! I have no idea what went wrong, I remember clearly paying for them, so I checked my PayPal account only to find no money had been taken. Clearly something had gone wrong. I am not blaming the company, it was probably my fault, but now I have just had to go and buy some maggots from the tackle shop for tomorrow and Saturday's trips.

It dawned on me that if I was prepared to buy bulk by mail order, I could buy bulk at the tackle shop resulting in the maggot-miles being much lower and making it all worth while. It also meant I could look at all the very nice rods they have on display... I know I don't need any more rods, but what has 'need' got to do with it? I resisted the temptation, this time!

Maybe I should mail order the maggots after all.

Ralph

rayner · Jul 6, 2017

If a tackle shop near enough I would always buy local, fortunately for me there are several within a couple of miles. Five to be exact.
Next day delivery by post will not effect the maggots quality, so if you don't have a shop close by that would save time and money.
If you do have a shop near enough and you buy online the local shop may not be there long.

sam vimes · Jul 6, 2017

I won't mail order maggots and casters. I could travel a bit and get cheaper bait, if I were so inclined. However, I invariably use my local. His bait is relatively expensive, but he knows how to keep it well and it's invariably good quality, even if it's from the previous week's delivery.

Maggots via mail order might be superb when packed, but it only takes a warm day or a delivery cock up and you've got dead maggots or a horrible sweaty mess. Not for me.

Peter Jacobs · Jul 6, 2017

Personally I want the best and most fresh bait that I can obtain.

That means for me to go to my local tackle shop which is about a 40 miles round trip, on a Thursday afternoon as that is the delivery day at that shop.

I know then that my maggots will be as fresh as physically possible, and when purchased they go into a cool box in my car to stay fresh.

As Sam so rightly says you only need a small delivery hiccup or indeed a day as hot as today for your packet of maggots to be sweltering inside of a hot delivery van.

so, for me, it is the 40 miles round trio every time and I am always certain of a good long chat and a proffered cuppa to boot . . . .

rayner · Jul 6, 2017

Just as a by the way I can keep maggots on my shed floor just bagged up, I have kept them for a few weeks. The maggots were still relatively fresh when I used them.
So long as they get a breath of fresh air every couple of day they keep very well. It was a trick taught to me by the owner a tackle shop in Bridgnorth. He explained it was how they keep their maggots when the river was in flood.

fishplate42 · Jul 6, 2017

I always buy maggots from my local shop but I tend to buy small quantities and, more often than not, I don't need anything else. I was going to try mail order this week but now I have decided, for all the reasoned voiced above, that the answer for me is to buy larger quantities at a time from my 'local' tackle shop.

Ralph.

rayner · Jul 6, 2017

I used to fish a couple of times a year in Ireland and we used to take our own bait for the week rather than rely on Irish bait that was usually delivered to some farm and just left in a barn until it was collected.
Groundbait in particular had always attracted the attention of rodents.
Maggots we took were sealed in polystyrene boxes that had no air holes. When we got to our destination the maggots had been sealed up for well over 24hrs with no ill effect.

Peter Jacobs · Jul 6, 2017

rayner said:
Maggots we took were sealed in polystyrene boxes that had no air holes. When we got to our destination the maggots had been sealed up for well over 24hrs with no ill effect

That is the way I used to get tens of gallons of maggot delivered to Norway too, in large plastic bags with the air taken out.

After several hours in large tray in the open air they would recover quite well, however they certainly didn't last as long as those you can get fresh from the shop on delivery day.

After a few days their skins would get quite hard and those ones never turned too well to Caster either.

As I said before, I used to import every two weeks in the spring to Autumn and certainly noticed the difference between fresh and stored maggot.

iain t · Jul 6, 2017

Am sure if you wanted to buy large quantities of Maggots that the local shop would do a deal. These days i only purchase 3 to 4 pints a week. At £2.50 per pint, i don't mind paying as the Maggots are alway in good condition. Also, the banter and tips help and there free. By buying locally it helps the shops to stay open in these days of the internet ordering.

Peter Jacobs · Jul 6, 2017

iain t said:
Am sure if you wanted to buy large quantities of Maggots that the local shop would do a deal. These days i only purchase 3 to 4 pints a week. At £2.50 per pint, i don't mind paying as the Maggots are alway in good condition. Also, the banter and tips help and there free. By buying locally it helps the shops to stay open in these days of the internet ordering.

I couldn't agree more with you Iain . . . . . we are loosing too many tackle shops and internet bait supply, to my mind, is the kiss of death to many of the smaller local shops.

Ordering online is nothing like a trip into the shop, a good old chin-wag and picking up current local tips . . . . Very much like our Post Offices . . . use it or lose it

PS: I've never got a freebie cuppa online either

iain t · Jul 6, 2017

Also unless you know who your buying from, you will be buying an unknown quality

fishplate42 · Jul 6, 2017

I am a big fan of my local tackle shop. Without exception, all my new 'Big Ticket' items have come from there. I much prefer to see what I am buying and discuss the options. It is the smaller stuff they don't have. They do sell all sorts of fishing gear including some sea fishing stuff but by far their largest stock is carp gear and bait.

The rest of their stock is not consistent, especially when it comes to hooks and line. I like to use a particular line and range of hooks, all of which came from there in the first place. Then all of a sudden brand 'A' is replaced by a big display of brand 'B', so I switch to the new brand and before I know it I can't get brand 'B' and brand 'A' is back in stock.

I know it must be hard trying to please everybody and the stock 'gearing' must look like commercial suicide on paper, especially with the land values and Council Tax liability in London. I am sure that small scale tackle shops only exist because of the effort put into them by dedicated owners.

Maggots was just one thing that was causing me to think about changing the way I buy them, but by buying them in bulk from the shop, and I am only talking about a few pints at a time, I can cut the number of times I have to make the journey for just half or a pint of maggots and still give the shop the same amount of business.

Ralph.

mikench · Jul 6, 2017

iain t said:
Also unless you know who your buying from, you will be buying an unknown quality

If you do not support your local tackle shop you are a silly moo! What say you Iain/Alf/Victor

I think you have mild schizophrenia Iain and so do I!

lambert1 · Jul 6, 2017

I always buy mine from Yateley Angling as they are not too far away and I can go on my way home from work without making too bigger detour. They are always fresh and the staff are very courteous indeed. I too would not like to try mail order in this heat. I did try some bronze ones from Willyworms once but that was in winter. They were ok but expensive in comparison. I could spend a fortune in there as the store is well stocked, but so far I have manged to restrict myself to hooks etc.

flightliner · Jul 6, 2017

Would it make a differance if the maggots ordered were dead in the first instant ?.

nottskev · Jul 6, 2017

I'd sooner mail order a bride than my bait.
I've got three shops within 8 miles, but still have dilemmas.
Shop A is nearest but the maggots can be mediocre, although the casters are very good and the range of bait large.
Shop B is further away, but the bait is very good and the owner a good angler ready with a colourful chat and a cup of coffee.
Shop C is furthest away but has top class bait - the maggots are in a different league.
I often go to B, but keep a presence in A and C.
It gets mentally taxing when wondering where to get your bait is added to wondering where to fish. But there are worse problems, I agree.

binka · Jul 6, 2017

Simply no need for me to order bait online, I have a very good tackle shop locally and, as has been pointed out already, there's the introduction of that third party element which can and will, given time, go wrong.

Namely the mail.

rayner · Jul 7, 2017

I said earlier that there are plenty of tackle shops locally, I still only use the one.
One particular shop is on the fishery where I am a season ticket holder. Even so I still use the same shop, apart from buying my season ticket I don't go to the fishery shop.
As for mail order bait, as I see it the maggots can't spoil. They would no doubt be packed in plastic, may even be vacuum packed. both ways would make the maggots dormant.
Either way they would stay in the same condition as when packed.
If anyone could convince me that a fish in warmer months would turn it's nose up at a two day old maggot I might change my mind.
Of course you wouldn't buy old maggots when new can be had, fresh always last longer. Typically they look in better condition to the angler but too a fish ?
Don't get me wrong I would never advocate buying any bait mail order let alone maggots, or even any tackle.
Some folk may not have a choice, for them mail order must be good.

iain t · Jul 7, 2017

mikench said:
If you do not support your local tackle shop you are a silly moo! What say you Iain/Alf/Victor I think you have mild schizophrenia Iain and so do I!

No just bipolar. But not sure about the little voices in my head

Peter Jacobs · Jul 7, 2017

iain t said:
No just bipolar. But not sure about the little voices in my head

. . . . I like the new avatar photo Iain . . . .

If the little voices told you to change it, then, maybe listen to them a lot more in the future?

Maggots by mail.... or not!

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