Maggots.
How Fresh Are Your Maggots?
If your maggot is fresh then it will have a black spot on its body.
The bigger the spot the more food your maggot has enjoyed and the fresher it is and the fish
prefer a well fed active maggot instead of a thin underfed one.
Hooking Your Maggot
When hooking a single maggot you want lots of movement to attract that fish. So hook your single maggot at the blunt end just under the flap. When hooking
more than one maggot vary the hooking pattern try one blunt end one pointy end, maybe two pointy one blunt end hooked. Just remember don't burst your maggots a burst maggot does not wriggle.
Flavouring and Washing your Maggots
Some say that just plain maggots are fish magnets but some follow the flavouring method. Indeed some people argue that fish have a sweet lip and use vanilla or a caramel flavouring. Others favour the savoury option. Either way the feed your maggots come in needs to be washed off first before the flavouring is added. And to answer the question as to which flavour is best? The answer is trial and error try both types and see which one works best. Why not try a teaspoon of chilli powder, half a teaspoon of cumin and half a teaspoon of turmeric added to one pint of maggots let them feed then reel the fish in!
If your maggots smell strongly of ammonia then this puts the fish off biting. This is the time your maggots need a wash.
Buying and Storing Your Maggots
Mines a pint please. But wait this a maggot page! Maggots are bought by either the half or pint and considering that they are basically fly babies they are not cheap as you would think so storing them properly is a must. Maggots are excellent escape artists so it is best to buy a good bait box with a tight fitting lid. Once you are certain your little fish magnets are not going to invade every space of your home then you are safe to put them in the fridge where it is cool and they will not overheat. A tip here is not to tell anyone who doesnt like the idea of your maggots temporary home living in their fridge or they will face certain eviction.
To Float Or Not To Float
The rate of the drop of your maggots is effected by its diet strangely enough. A maggot fed on meat will sink quicker than a maggot fed on fish. Your maggot man will be able to tell you if your maggots are meat or fish fed. But if you would like a slower sinking maggot then this you can do yourself. Cover the botton of a bait box with water and add a handful of maggots. Leave these in the water for twenty minutes to absorb water. Leave the maggots in the water long enough and your maggots will float which depending what fish you are after makes your humble fish magnet into a super fish maggot.