My simple way with casters

[gozzer]

The recent discussions about casters have got me thinking back to the days when I went fishing every week. I always had maggots left after a session, and decided to do my own. Now with the local price of between £3-60 and £3-80 a pint it might be even more of an incentive to do this.

The first part I’ve posted before, but for those who didn't read it, here goes.

 

I got two screw top jars, the large ones that sweets come in I found best, but used large coffee jars at first. Take the two lids, and glue them back to back with the threaded bit on the outside. Drill plenty of 3mm holes through them both, either at random, or if you'd rather, mark them out. Take a bigger drill and deburr the holes, and make a small counter sink on each side. This is best done holding the drill bit in your hand, and twisting, it can easily go right through if you use the drill. Riddle your maggots, to get rid of anything that might block the holes. Put maggots in one jar, put on lid, then screw the other jar on top. Turn it over and you have an hourglass effect where the maggots will wriggle through leaving the casters behind. White maggots are the best to use, and look for the black ‘feed spot’ just behind the head, as this gets smaller the maggots are nearer to changing. Check these 2 or 3 times a day, and take out any casters, screw it back together, and reverse it so the maggots are in the top one, and repeat until they're all done. I put the casters in small batches in small ‘sandwich bags’ and tie off.

 

Now, how to store them.

Like many others I wasn't allowed to put them in the fridge, We had a cellar with a stone floor in our old house, but that didn't work as well as I’d hoped. Some advocated putting the bags in the toilet cistern, and each flush gave a fresh change of cold water. A friend and I tried this, but when his wife went to the toilet and flushed several ‘Loo Bloo’ coloured casters into the bowl, we went off the idea. I then got an old large Tupperware box, scrounged as much expanded polystyrene as I could, (even found some in skips), and lined the box and lid with it. Then I got some cheap freezer packs, (the blue things with the gel inside), and put one in the box with the casters, and replaced the pack each day. This worked pretty well, and the casters that had changed earlier in the week were still ok when the last lot went in. I then progressed to a large storage box, with thicker insulation, (at least 1” preferably more), and by making compartments, each with its own freezer pack, I stored my casters, and maggots, even worms, (but in a separate compartment without the freezer pack). As long as I changed the pack regularly, my casters would last a few weeks, my maggots longer.

 

Obviously, a spare fridge/freezer would be preferable, but this is just a cheap alternative, that doesn't take up much room, for those without space or funds to buy one.

I hope it helps someone.

 

John.

[Dick Dastardly]

I remember when AN was full of stuff like this, made it a top site. Thanks John far better than most of the stuff that now sadly appears on here.

[Chris Plumb]

I remember when AN was full of stuff like this, made it a top site. Thanks John far better than most of the stuff that now sadly appears on here.

+1!

 

C.

[Anderoo]

More of this sort of thing!

[Phone]

Gozzer,

 

Great post. Put this with it and you'll never buy bait again.

 

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.htm

 

Phone

[Matthew Simmons]

Brilliant post Gozzer -thanks for sharing - I love the maggot hourglass concept!

 

On another storage note - how do we feel about freezing casters? I have in the past and used them as feed with hemp - not noticed the fish turning their noses up at them.

 

M

[arbocop]

Yes, very useful.

 

 

Mike

[davedave]

Thanks for the post gozzer. I've gone into the habit now of only buying white maggot so I can turn my own casters

[wotnobivvy]

Instead of buying maggots, does anyone still breed their own. SHMBO won't allow me to these days, but in my younger days I used some scrap meat free from the Co-op butcher. I would hang it up at lunchtime, then in the evening place it in an Oxo tin with sawdust free from the local sawmill (this was in the heart of London in the late 50's early 60's). By the next weekend, after a few changes of sawdust I would have a tin full of really large maggots (we called them gentles) for the trip out. Happy Days

[JOHN.H]

In about 1976 when I was due to fish the old Post Office National ,there was a shortage of maggotts for some reason or another. I decided to produce some of my own and as I was on a tight budget used dead baits ( old frozen ones from the winter pike campaign) once there were enough blows on the fish they were laid on a bed of bran in a suitable container and then covered in more bran . The smell was absolutely awful but eventually it did produce quite a few maggotts and it was noticeable that they sank a lot slower than a meat fed maggott