squat
- Thread starter hawb811
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peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Just keep them in the fridge they’ll last a week at least.
John Keane
Well-known member
Shouldn’t that be “squatt”.
I read it, dutifully crouched down on my haunches, then couldn’t bloody well get back up!
I read it, dutifully crouched down on my haunches, then couldn’t bloody well get back up!
Keith M
Well-known member
They don’t keep as long as maggots and pinkies and I would be surprised if they lasted over a week even in a fridge.
When you buy them from a tackle shop they are normally sold in brick dust/grit which helps clean and make them sink a little faster; however the night before I use mine I sieve all of the brick dust from them and place a slice of milk soaked bread on top of them; for them to eat; and put them back in the fridge; and overnight they turn into plumper and more lively squatt which also sink well.
Because they are a lot smaller than pinkies or maggots I usually only use squatt as loosefeed or in groundbait while using pinkies (or maggot) on the hook.
In hard winter matches on the Grand Union canal along the south Watford to Hemel Hempstead areas they often used to be godsends and I used to win or get placed in quite a few very hard winter club matches using squatt, usually using them as loosefeed but very occasionally on the hook.
Keith
When you buy them from a tackle shop they are normally sold in brick dust/grit which helps clean and make them sink a little faster; however the night before I use mine I sieve all of the brick dust from them and place a slice of milk soaked bread on top of them; for them to eat; and put them back in the fridge; and overnight they turn into plumper and more lively squatt which also sink well.
Because they are a lot smaller than pinkies or maggots I usually only use squatt as loosefeed or in groundbait while using pinkies (or maggot) on the hook.
In hard winter matches on the Grand Union canal along the south Watford to Hemel Hempstead areas they often used to be godsends and I used to win or get placed in quite a few very hard winter club matches using squatt, usually using them as loosefeed but very occasionally on the hook.
Keith
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mikench
Well-known member
If they are smaller than pinkies they are not for me! Pinkies are escape artists par excellence!!!
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Squatts are docile home-loving creatures, Mike. Nothing like the escapologist pinkies.
Never mind how to keep them - where do you get them these days?
In my first 10 years of fishing - nearly always on canals - I didn't feel equipped without squatts.
I can think of a few places I'd like to try them on in winter - if they were available. Even my local - large and well-known - tackle shop only gets them to order and then with some difficulty.
Never mind how to keep them - where do you get them these days?
In my first 10 years of fishing - nearly always on canals - I didn't feel equipped without squatts.
I can think of a few places I'd like to try them on in winter - if they were available. Even my local - large and well-known - tackle shop only gets them to order and then with some difficulty.
Keith M
Well-known member
I read that squatts are the larvae of the little house fly (Fannia canicularis) which are smaller than the common house fly (Musca domestica).
I think I had them escaping from my ‘gardening & food’ waste bin a few weeks ago, although it’s highly possible that they were maggots from the common housefly.
Keith
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markcw
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leave an empty tin of dogfood with the lid more or less closed on it in a sheltered place in the garden>
check after a few days to see if there is a "blow" inside it, It there is after a while if you are lucky and the right fly has laid the eggs, you will have some squatts. As for using them in the winter, I remember going down to 0.08 mainline and 0.06 hooklength and 24 or 26 hooks with half a squatt as bait to catch fish.
check after a few days to see if there is a "blow" inside it, It there is after a while if you are lucky and the right fly has laid the eggs, you will have some squatts. As for using them in the winter, I remember going down to 0.08 mainline and 0.06 hooklength and 24 or 26 hooks with half a squatt as bait to catch fish.
I won my section in a winter league match on the Thame with 1lb 1oz of sticklebacks doing that Mark,not sure if I had around 600 of them(I used to count tiny fish back then to try to keep a good catch rate and motivate myself within the boredom of it),could have been 300 i can't remember now,thank God I don't match fish today,although that section win helped to a clean sweep of six to win the individual trophy and helped the team win the match and ultimately the league,so happy days...
markcw
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That's some amount, We cant weigh those in, and another thing I have not seen a stickleback in any
of the water I fish for a long time, or tadpoles. That could be the start of another thread..
"Where have all the sticklebacks and tadpoles gone ?"
of the water I fish for a long time, or tadpoles. That could be the start of another thread..
"Where have all the sticklebacks and tadpoles gone ?"
As well as being a bait to save the day in gruesome winter matches, squatts did a lot of other things, too. They were a great feed bait for bigger canal fish like bream, where they didn't break up balls of soft groundbait. (This is before poles, which let you simply pot bait in) Two or three on a hook often turned up the bigger bream or roach in a session. I believe that in some areas - down in |Peter Crabtree's neck of the woods, for instance -they developed a whole canal style based on loosefed squatts and light wagglers. A useful bait, tiny as they were, and I guess the demand has fallen away as fishing evolved into its more steroid-, sorry, fishmeal-fed version.
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Alan (Whitty) may know more than a little bit about the squatt method on narrow canals in the 80s.
loose fed squatt is still a brilliant method for canal and drain roach. If you're doing it right then usually squatt on the hook is more effective than pinkie.
Back in the day some people used more than two pints of loose feed. I've rarely used more than a half pint myself - even on prolific waters like Old Nene at March.
FWIW - i prefer white to red, unfortunately I can only get the latter locally.
For the OP ... don't try to store it in maize or bran - brick dust is best as described.
loose fed squatt is still a brilliant method for canal and drain roach. If you're doing it right then usually squatt on the hook is more effective than pinkie.
Back in the day some people used more than two pints of loose feed. I've rarely used more than a half pint myself - even on prolific waters like Old Nene at March.
FWIW - i prefer white to red, unfortunately I can only get the latter locally.
For the OP ... don't try to store it in maize or bran - brick dust is best as described.
I've used two pints in five hours Alex,it used to be more usual to use half to a pint of squatts,it varied what was best on the hook,it was better if pinkie was,because of colour variations giving better options,usually squatt worked better for me when it was a struggle and white squatts for me,every time. And yes Alex I have caught the odd fish or two on them...
rayner
Well-known member
I can't remember squatts being sweaty, Did you take the brick sand other wise known as dust off them.
Brick sand keeps them fresh and helps to keep them for ages. Anything other than the medium you buy them in will kill them.
Every tackle shop that sells them uses brick sand because it's the only medium they will tolerate.
Brick sand keeps them fresh and helps to keep them for ages. Anything other than the medium you buy them in will kill them.
Every tackle shop that sells them uses brick sand because it's the only medium they will tolerate.
rayner
Well-known member
Sorry no I don't, any squatts I have bought came with the sand on them. I have never had them with no brick sand on them.