Maggots Catch Fish

[gozzer]

Just one little point Cart Man. You say you hook them just behind the head. We find that they last longer on the hook if you hook them in the thick skin near the tail, (The blunt end). It might not matter over there but it might help.

 

John.

[John S]

Good point John....

 

I used to hook them in the pointy end when I first started angling, but after being told how to hook them properly found they lasted a lot longer if hooked at the blunt end. Just squeeze them gently and you will see a tiny 'tag' sticking out, try to hook them through that

[Cart Man]

I bet few Americans go to all the trouble that you did, Cart Man. It certainly paid off! Congratulations!

 

It seems that anything different stands a good chance of success purely because the fish haven't seen it before. You may find it hard to believe, but on UK waters that haven't seen lures before the pike fishing can be a lot easier than with baits!

 

You may also find this article of mine comparing UK and US fishing of interest: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Miscellaneous-...an_angling.html.

 

Very insightful article Steve. Thanks. I would add, though, that the most popular game fish in the US is probably the Large Mouth Bass. At least that is true in my experience.

[Cart Man]

Just one little point Cart Man. You say you hook them just behind the head. We find that they last longer on the hook if you hook them in the thick skin near the tail, (The blunt end). It might not matter over there but it might help.

 

John.

 

I thought the blunt end was the head end. That's where I hook them. They stay alive a long time, and they stay on the hook for incredibly long.

[Dales]

Cart Man/Newt do anglers do much bait fishing over there? i.e worms, grubs etc as I found it interesting that maggots are not used very often. Or are lures the main thing?

[kirisute]

we used to "grow" our own!

got some superb maggots from the process as i recall...mother finally put an end to it with the end of the back garden being a no-go zone for a few months of the year with the smell! LOL!

you never can quite get the smell out of any equipment you use! hehehehe

trying to think back as to how we did it...

if i recall it was a simple biscuit tin with a wire mesh raised an inch or two off the bottom. let the carcass of whatever your using get fly blown; put it in the tin, (cant recall how we closed it off..must have had the lid punctured with holes etc) and leave it to work.

the beauty of the mesh is that the maggots will fall through to the bottom of the tin leaving them fairly easy to remove after pulling the carcass remains out. also means less work removing bits of dead animal from amongst your maggots.

[Guest Wilko 09]

I thought the blunt end was the head end. That's where I hook them. They stay alive a long time, and they stay on the hook for incredibly long.

 

Yes mate, you are doing it right, the blunt or fat end is the head but some people get confused because they crawl pointy end first (backwards).

[Steve Walker]

The mouth is at the pointy end!

[wotnobivvy]

I too used to 'make' my own. I would bring home on a Saturday lunchtime a bit of meat given to me by the butcher and place it into an old (about 6" x 8" x 3" ) Oxo tin, out on the balcony. This was in London, 10 mins walk from the Oval cricket ground !!. Saturday evening I would pick up a small bag of sawdust from the timber yard (free if you scooped it off the floor) and half fill the tin. During the week the sawdust would start to move as they maggots started to feed. I sould fish out the bone and leave them to gorge on the meat. Once the meat was gone I would change the sawdust for fresh, and leave in a darkish place on the balcony. I lived 4 floors up in a block of flats and it was a private balcony. The following Friday I would change the sawdust for bran, and go fishing at the weekend. The maggots would be about 3/4 to 1 inch long and very plump. Mother hardly complained, but my friends user to like using them. Can't do it now as the wife and kids would complain, let alone the neighbours

[Guest Wilko 09]

The mouth is at the pointy end!

 

True, but the olfactory organs are in the 'blunt' end.

 

I think it is universally accepted in Angling that the head is the blunt end because of this, certainly in the books that I have read, however, I stand to be corrected.

 

Blimey, we're now starting to encrouch on the Anatomy of a Maggot!