Dead maggots

[S-Kippy]

The bottom of the lake I'm fishing is covered in bits of smashed up asbestos sheet. In certain areas it is an absolute nightmare. Loosefed maggot ( or those put in through a feeder) are gone down the cracks in notime....as is your hook with live maggots leaving you snagged and having to pull for a break....that's if the crays dont smuggle them off into the rubble.I have never known a place like it, nor have I ever lost so many hooks and feeders on any lake,anywhere....hence the switch to dead maggots.

I have always fed dead maggot there because of the bottom but t'other day was the first time I've tried them on the hook. I only lost one hook all day and no feeders. I may have just been lucky but I think not so I shall be sticking with deads thank you though next time I shall also be giving artificials a proper go.

If they didn't work dead maggots would not be a thing. But they do and they are.

 

[nottskev]

I'm enjoying the ew dead maggots! dimension creeping in
Unless we're vegetarian, we're all eating dead stuff for dinner. But hopefully it's not stinky.
Using dead maggots doesn't mean using rancid, putrefying, decomposing maggots.
Prepared right, they're cleaner and less unpleasant then a couple of pints of live maggots on a hot day. S




L

 

[S-Kippy]

Exactly ! Mine were not good the other day but I still caught on them. With better ones I think I'd have had more fish. I shall take some casters next time too.

 

[tigger]

I'm enjoying the ew dead maggots! dimension creeping in
Unless we're vegetarian, we're all eating dead stuff for dinner. But hopefully it's not stinky.
Using dead maggots doesn't mean using rancid, putrefying, decomposing maggots.
Prepared right, they're cleaner and less unpleasant then a couple of pints of live maggots on a hot day. S




L

If you have a wild caught python and give it a lovely clean dead rat , chances are it will ignore the rat and leave it.
If you put in a dirty live rat straight out of a sewer the snake will eat it.......ask confucious lol.

 

[bullet]

The bottom of the lake I'm fishing is covered in bits of smashed up asbestos sheet.

Sounds charming??

 

[bullet]

Willy Worms sell dead maggots! It seems strange to me that such a disgusting thing as a maggot has a value dead or alive. I’m not convinced about dead maggots but they are better, just, than none at all.

They do, in my experiece you seem to get about 50% of them in with your live maggots, as well as about half a pint of sawdust?

 

[nottskev]

If you have a wild caught python and give it a lovely clean dead rat , chances are it will ignore the rat and leave it.
If you put in a dirty live rat straight out of a sewer the snake will eat it.......ask confucious lol.

I'll bear that in mind. I haven't, but never say never.

 

[mikench]

There is a parable in there Ian somewhere!?

 

[108831]

Fish eat living and dead things,put a dead fish in the bottom of your pond,they all have a munch,protein is protein and fish obviously think pellets taste nice,even though I don't,casters don't wriggle,fish love em,I think if fish find freshly kept deads,they don't differentiate,they just scoff em...

 

[Richox12]

Casters don't wriggle, hemp doesn't wriggle, tares don't wriggle, pellets don't wriggle, bread doesn't wriggle, sweetcorn doesn't wriggle, cheese doesn't wriggle, paste doesn't wriggle, meat doesn't wriggle, boilies don't wriggle and...............artificle baits don't wriggle.

And fish eat all of them.

Dead maggots ? Fish eat them as well.

Different bait for different presentations and different feed for different circumstances. All things work for some species of fish at some point.

Snakes ? Don't know what they eat as i've never tried catching one. Don't think I will either. It's not a sport I fancy.

 

[tigger]

Casters don't wriggle, hemp doesn't wriggle, tares don't wriggle, pellets don't wriggle, bread doesn't wriggle, sweetcorn doesn't wriggle, cheese doesn't wriggle, paste doesn't wriggle, meat doesn't wriggle, boilies don't wriggle and...............artificle baits don't wriggle.

And fish eat all of them.

Dead maggots ? Fish eat them as well.

Different bait for different presentations and different feed for different circumstances. All things work for some species of fish at some point.

Snakes ? Don't know what they eat as i've never tried catching one. Don't think I will either. It's not a sport I fancy.

If you fish where I fish, you will not catch many of any species using dead maggots.

 

[Richox12]

If you fish where I fish, you will not catch many of any species using dead maggots.

Perhaps not. Depends what you want to catch, how many, how big, on what method etc etc etc. But they do work in many places and in many circumstances anyway. It's all horses for courses.

 

[tigger]

Perhaps not. Depends what you want to catch, how many, how big, on what method etc etc etc. But they do work in many places and in many circumstances anyway. It's all horses for courses.

I reckon, the only thing you might be certain of catching if using dead maggots would be if you held your line by your side and tempted a minnow, maybe you would catch a tiddly dace or two.

If i'm trotting and notice my maggots are just hanging I know it's time to change them. This may be ever trot on a icy day. Manys the time i've just kept running them through because i've been lazy and been rewarded with SFA.
When I replace them, I often gat a fish straight away.

Oh, I do use other baits, especially sweetcorn and even though it's dead ?, I often catch. Although, if I add several or more maggots to a piece of corn on the hook, I will catch a hell of a lot more.

Just thought about a still water nearby which is stuffed with rudd. The rudd can be ravanous and even snatch a bare hook near the surfface. They would sometimes snatch a dead maggot as it sinks. If the dead maggot sank to the bottom they very often ignore it. If you put on a plastic maggot you won't get a touch!

 

[S-Kippy]

Ian....whether you agree or not dead maggots work BUT not even I would use them on a river as there's no point. Dead maggots are for stillwaters.....especially those with a crazy paving bottom.

If I'd known it was going to start a fight I'd never have bothered to ask the question.

 

[108831]

That's why people use fake maggots to stop nuisance species,bigger fish like bream,tench and carp seem to eat them ok...

 

[tigger]

Ian....whether you agree or not dead maggots work BUT not even I would use them on a river as there's no point. Dead maggots are for stillwaters.....especially those with a crazy paving bottom.

If I'd known it was going to start a fight I'd never have bothered to ask the question.

Wheres the fight?
Just differing opinions is all. Shows we all have different ideas.
I get what you say about the water your aiming to use deads on, but, to be honest, i'd give the place a miss. It sounds like a dirty health hazzard!

 

[nottskev]

This thread was about how to prepare deads. Not about whether everyone believed in them as a credible bait. There's no disputing they are. You might as well argue fish will never eat those smelly hard pellets. Deads are a widely used and indisputably fish-catching bait. Whether you like them or can see a use for them where you fish doesn't alter the facts. The scope for opinion is how do you best prep and keep them.

 

[davebhoy]

I use dead reds for big bream, a big bunch on the hook and lots in the groundbait. It’s always been the most successful bait for me on one particular water, I’ve tried live maggots and not caught anything but it’s a very hit and miss venue so I might just have been unlucky. But I will normally use dead reds and a different bait on two rods and the dead maggots have caught more.

my local tackle shop takes them live and scolds them with boiling water, I’ll either keep them in the fridge to use in the next day or two or freeze them. I also buy them from Willy worms, they come fresh and I freeze them as well. I’ll also buy live reds and freeze them to kill them. I’m often not able to visit a shop selling them before I go fishing so frozen bait works well for me.

I’ve never really noticed any difference between them after different preparations but I don’t pay much attention to be honest, I’ve never thought it makes much if any difference to a shoal of greedy bream, but I will from now on

I do agree about keeping them in water once they’re thawed - they start blackening soon after you open the bag if you don’t. And I wouldn’t refreeze them, at least not hookbaits.

 

[108831]

The best way to ensure the largest,best quality deads is to chill the maggot right down after cleaning putting a minimal amount of maize meal in,once really cold(as little wriggle as possible)sieve the remaining maize out of 3/4 pt at a time and refidge them in seperate boxes(as they will start to warm immediately),once cold again bag them with no air,adding flavouring if required,then place in the freezer,try to keep each bag away from others you are freezing as the secret is freezing as quick as possible,when you take them out defrost in just enough water....

 

[RMNDIL]

I reckon, the only thing you might be certain of catching if using dead maggots would be if you held your line by your side and tempted a minnow, maybe you would catch a tiddly dace or two.

Perhaps where you fish but not on the Thames. Deads are a great bait. Have been for 20 years. Catch everything and many times (summer more than winter) better than live maggots. There are many uses but the fact that the Thames has a trillion bleak is a factor. Sure if you can get a live maggot to the fish they will eat it but getting through bleak is a nightmare. Deads help a lot. Plus you are trying to catch 150 - 200 roach/skimmers on the deck and there is no hanging around waiting. If you're trying to winkle out an odd fish or two it's a different ball game. Same as if you're trying to catch bigger and avoid smaller etc. Your feed will be different also etc. Feeder or float they work in many circumstances. But not all. It's just another type of bait to use.