Maggots

[dbonnic]

Dear friends,

I read a lot on maggots on the web and how much they're good to catch bream .  Have any of you tried them?  Are they so good?  Is there something you can add to them so that they don't smell so?  thanks for your help

[noztheviking]

Hi, Maggots are a brilliant bait not only for bream but for a lot of fish, but part of the natural cycle of the maggots life is the production of ammonia which in turn causes the smell, this problem increasesin hot and warm conditions,the best way to reduce the smell is to keep them cool or refridgerated,butin turn this also slows down the maggots natural wriggle, and its that bit that attracts the fish. there is a way round this and thats to use Berkleys PowerBait plastic maggots. these have the feel and smell of real maggots but come packed in a little screw topped glass jar. and they last forever, and they catch FISH, I know, cause Iused them at Bugibba in May on the jetty at Bugibba and got some nice fish with them!! But if you want to persivere with real maggots they are dead easy to breed them your self, All you need is a couple of old chicken carcases and away you go. Hope that helps

[mike.d.]

i have been breeding maggots for over a year now, and have found that you will catch fish sometimes, so i alternate between baits, they will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if you have one of them green bait boxes with tiny air holes in the lid, just take them out of the fridge every couple of days, give them a shake to put a bit of life in the little devils, then put them back. the best way to breed them is a tin or a container, put some pigs liver, i find 1 kilo is enough for several lots, cut a few small holes in the lid to allow the flies in, flies allways lay eggs at night, after a couple of days cover the meat with some newspaper to stop them laying more eggs, when maggots are big enough, clean up with sawdust, i allways leave some sawdust in the baitbox, and there you go, they best way to use maggots is hook it from the back of its head so the hook comes out between its eyes, it also makes it wrigle a bit more, you can also colour maggots but the food dye must be put on the food first, tight lines. 

[dbonnic]

Hi thanks,

noztheviking were did you bought the Berkleys PowerBait plastic maggots from?  What did you catch with them?  Did you catch bream? Thanks mike.d also I will try to do as you told me.

[noztheviking]

Hi  dbonnic I buy the berkley maggots over here in England, and yes I caught diffrent types of bream on them.also got some nice size vopa and a couple of what you call XLILPA  I think thats how you call them, nice size about 1.5 to 2.5 kilos, these whent back as a Maltese gentleman fishing near me said they were crap to eat, I dont know because I dont eat any fish that I have caught myself. Funny that !!!! the other thing that I forgot to mention about maggots is that you can disguise the smell from maggots with spices like Tumeric and curry and lots of other strong smelling spices allso if you clean your maggots off in maize flour or strong wooden sawdust.If you have the pataence another way to obtain a really good type of maggot (that does not smell ) is to collect the washed up sea weed after a good storm or onshore blow, put it in to a wooden box, and just rake through it every now and then and you will get a good supply of sand fly maggots. these are absolutely superb for mullet, but make sure that you use a hook with a good barb on it, because they are experts at getting off a barbless hook, also when you hook them. you put the hook through the blunt end, there is a little tag of the skin at this end, and if you hook it through this, the maggot stays alive a lot longer and wriggles a lot better.you can also get colour to make them stand out more. well if  I keep on this is going to turn into a  life story so tite lines and I hope this helps  Noz

[mike.d.]

hi noz, do the plastic maggots come in different sizes, i have see some on e bay and they look a bit big.

[noztheviking]

Hi Mike yes they do come in different sizes, they range from ones the size of gozzers (if you know what they are) to little tiny pinkies or squats, if you dont know what I am talking about then in size terms from 22 mm down to 8-9 mm and they come in different colours as well. there are quite a few companys doing them apart from berkley. But the ones I brought to Malta with me I just happened to get cut priced cos I bought a load of stuff at the same time, so I WAS COMING over for a mnth and just thought that they might work untill I got some proper bait out there and they did. not only for me but I gave most of them away to some Maltese people that Iwas fishing with and they seemed to like them.SO now when I come over I throw a couple of jars of them into the suitcase just in case, and I have never had to fetch any home uo to date. If you want any I am back out there in September just let me know and I will bring some with me again They also do a fantastic artificial Bread in floating and sinking types that stays on your hook and is cracking for them wiley mullet that you have out there, hope that helps NOZ

[mike.d.]

thanks for that noz, i do remember gozzers, squats, pinkies etc from my days of fresh water fishing in uk, would like to take you up on offer of bringing some over, let me know how much, talk soon, thanks again.

[noztheviking]

Will get you some speak to you later NOZ