MAGGOTS

[Armarnold]

ive got a couple of pints left over, i dont want to waste them really.......how long can they keep if kept cool? and how do you turn them into casters?, well i know that you leave them to do it, but any tips on temp, enviroment, and how long it takes would be great thanx!!!!

[Simon Fell]

Maggots are probably the easiest to keep fresh. When you bring the maggots home from the shop where you bought them, make sure that the sawdust in which you most likely got them is dry (ground maize meal is perfect to keep your maggots dry and fresh also).

 

If it is moist or smells bad, then it needs to be changed. Riddle the maggots and add sawdust or Maize meal. . But do not use maizeflour if you intend to use stickymag with the maggots since the maizeflour in the maggotts' skin reduces stickymag's binding effect unless you wash them before use.

 

Keep the maggots in a dry place, so that air moisture doesn't condensate inside the box and remember to make sure that the maggots get enough air. The most important thing about storing maggots is to keep them in as stable temperature as possible. If the temperature keeps dropping and rising then the maggots tend to turn to casters quicker.

 

You can also keep them in plastic bags, with the air taken out, for short time periods eg when travelling to the bank, as the maggots go into shut down mode (technical term!) so will stop them turing to casters.

 

You should be able to keep maggots for at least a week in a fridge in the winter, in summer they can last for 2-3 days max if its hot on the bank.

 

Hope this helps a bit, I'm sure others have their thoughts.

Edited November 13, 2008 by Simon Fell

[Andy_1984]

longest i kept maggots was 2 weeks in the fridge i totaly forgot all about them untill i was munchied and went foreging in the fridge

 

and not one of them turned in to casters, temp at the bottomm of the fridge probably gets to just above freezing

[Armarnold]

thanx for the info guys,, what about turning them into casters deliberatley? anyone know anything about that?

[Simon Fell]

Found this little snippet on the internet:

 

Casters are turned over maggots and here is how you can turn your own casters. Get the freshest and biggest possible maggots from your baitbreeder. You know that they are freshest possible if you see a black dot in their "back". That is their bellie full of food. Some maggots don't turn to good casters so make sure that the specific baitbreeders maggots are of the right kind.

 

Put the maggots and the sawdust in a container that is not too small for the amount that you intend to turn to casters. Then moisten the sawdust. This has to be done to prevent the maggots from shrinking by drying. I have even used almost wet sawdust without any bad effects. The rule of thumb with wetness is that it is too wet if you start finding maggots all over the place after a while Place the container with the maggots and the moist sawdust in a warm, but not too warm place. I like to keep them in garage, mostly because of the smell that comes from them (biggest amount of casters that I have turned on one occasion is 40 liters!). A good tip is to alternate warm and cool temperature on them if you just have this opportunity, but this is not necessary.

 

Now if you got the freshest bait, then they will start to turn to casters in about 4-5 days time. This is the phase when you need to be the most active. When you notice that the maggots are turning stiff you need to put them through a maggot riddle, preferably every 2 hours, to get the turned maggots separated from the "live" ones. If you leave them unriddled too long they'll go dark and won't stay fresh for long times.

 

When you have put the maggots through the riddle, the stiff ones will be left on the riddle while the "live" ones have gone through the riddle. Now put the casters to a bucket of water. This is done to separate any sawdust from the maggots. When you have clean casters put them in an airtight plastic bag and place them in a fridge, preferably in +2 - +3 C degrees. If you plan to keep the casters for longer than one day, then give them some air once a day. This way the maggots will stay fresh 3-4 days. When you are on the bankside and can't keep the casters in a fridge, then put them in cool water and they'll be ok.

 

Althought its quite wordy, the idea is pretty sound!

 

Let us know how you get on!

 

Simon

[Armarnold]

brilliant. thanx for that. i will let you know how it goes

[gozzer]

Further to Simons post, I use a method that I find a bit less work.

 

I get two big jars, (I used to use 3lb coffee jars, but have now got hold of a couple of those big 'sweet' jars).

Glue the lids back to back, and drill plenty of 3mm holes through them both. Clean off the 'burrs' so that both sides of the holes are smooth.

Put you maggots in one of the jars, and screw on the lid. Then screw on the other one, so that it acts like an hour glass.

Turn it so that the empty one is at the bottom, and the 'live maggots will crawl through, leaving behind any that have 'turned'. When the maggots have passed through, just unscrew the top one and empty the casters into a poly' bag. Screw the jar back on and turn over to repeat the process.

 

Store casters as Simon said.

 

I hope all that makes sense.

 

John.

[Armarnold]

Further to Simons post, I use a method that I find a bit less work.

 

I get two big jars, (I used to use 3lb coffee jars, but have now got hold of a couple of those big 'sweet' jars).

Glue the lids back to back, and drill plenty of 3mm holes through them both. Clean off the 'burrs' so that both sides of the holes are smooth.

Put you maggots in one of the jars, and screw on the lid. Then screw on the other one, so that it acts like an hour glass.

Turn it so that the empty one is at the bottom, and the 'live maggots will crawl through, leaving behind any that have 'turned'. When the maggots have passed through, just unscrew the top one and empty the casters into a poly' bag. Screw the jar back on and turn over to repeat the process.

 

Store casters as Simon said.

 

I hope all that makes sense.

 

John.

 

that is a pukka idea!, thanks for that what sort of temperature do you store them at and do you use moist maize or "powder" of anysort???

[old buzzer]

I've heard that you can kill maggots and then freeze them, apparently dead maggots are deadly on some hard fished waters. 1) They don't crawl away when used as free offerings, 2) they can fool fish because they appear to be bait that has been discarded after a match. 3) they don't attract so many small fish but bigger fish are attracted.

There are a few ways to kill them, try putting them in a bait tub covered in cold water and gradually add very hot water until they die, don't add boiling water as it will bleach the maggot. Dry them and then put in a plastic bag at this point you can add flavourings of your choice. Remove the air and freeze.

[DavyR]

do you use moist maize or "powder" of anysort???

 

I don't know if it really makes any difference to my catches, but I've got into the habit of replacing the maize meal that the maggots come in with a handful of VDE groundbait (Expo for red maggots, Secret for whites). It keeps them nice and dry (as long as I remember to leave the lid off the box) and gives them a very attractive (to me, at least) sweet, strawberry/vanilla smell.