gentles

[J.T]

Now that is funny Jim, I only use Red's as well. :thumb:

[The Sweetcorn Kid]

Simple rule I use is Whites for Silvers and Reds for Preds.

[J.T]

I just use Red's for all, seems to work as well. :D

[JerryC]

Red's for me too however, as red is the first colour of the spectrum to be absorbed in water it would appear grey after depths of a few feet.

[SeanM]

Snape asked earlier about dead maggots. I'm a bit of a disciple of Uncle Archie on this and I use them a lot. Like the VFC I never throw maggots away and any live maggots left over at the end of a fishing trip are teated as follows:

Thoroughly riddle out any remaining maize or sawdust (just a quick shake in a riddle does this).

Put about a teaspoon of your favourite flavour (less for very concentrated flavours)in a freezer bag and smear it around.

Add the maggots, inflate the bag and shake well.

Squeeze all the air out of the bag, seal it and pop it into the freezer.

I've no problem in using dead maggots on the hook and some of my biggest barbel have been caught on them. I do feel that in clear water using live maggots on the hook over a sprinkling of dead maggots works well as the fish will home in on the movement (I think).

Archie Braddocks recommends 'gassing up' maggots which means putting some concentrated boilie flavour in a small container and adding a few dozen maggots. The maggots will die after an hour or so and will have absobed the flavour and be slightly buoyant. These should then be used as your hook bait. I haven't found that this makes any difference.

Good flavours to use are: The Source, for barbel (use around a tablespoon per pint of maggots); strawberry for tench; scopex for bream.

You can also freeze casters and if you use a little more flavour (use cheaper ones such as the Sensas stuff you can buy in larger bottles) and coat the casters thoroughly with it you can still use them on the hook.

[Bigoll]

A pint of red maggots is a standard part of my roving kit and have caught everything from minnows to 7lb chub to chunky perch to brackish eels. A couple of questions though:

I find it's very easy to attract flies into laying eggs - they can frequently be found in the cat's bowl, having been left outside in the morning and brought back in after work. Could these eggs be cultivated into fishable maggots? How would that be best achieved and would the resulting maggots be essentially the same as the ones bought from the tackle shop?

Without doing anything to them, I find maggots last in the fridge for 6 - 8 weeks after buying them, though they do get skinnier and sweatier. Dusting them with crushed bran flakes or other breakfast cereal can keep them dry but I was wondering what best to feed them on to keep them plump and juicy?

[Santiago]

I've heard dead are more effective on silty bottoms because they do not wriggle into the mud. But I've also heard dead are more effective on gravel bottoms because they do not wriggle under the gravel! Either way, I prefer to use them alive!

[Davyr]

Could these eggs be cultivated into fishable maggots? How would that be best achieved and would the resulting maggots be essentially the same as the ones bought from the tackle shop?

I'd say it would be more trouble than it was worth. Flies attracted to catfood may well be greenbottles, the larvae of which are known as pinkies - quite a bit smaller than bluebottle larva.

Home-breeding of maggots in any quantity takes, or so I've heard, a lot of work and really needs an outhouse at the end of the garden and tolerant neighbours!

[Santiago]

Interestingly maggots make their own antibiotics that is so powerfull research is on the way to see if these antibiotics can be used to treat MRSA!!! Perhaps that's why they are safe to warm up in your mouth!! Just out of interest, do any of you chaps do that? Why???

Making your own maggots is hit and miss! If the weather is cold, like most of this summer, you mainly get little flies laying, and they take forever to hatch/grow, and you only get a few maggots! I have access to pigs hearts left over from dissection and have bred them, but to be honest, they're not worth the effort!

[Davyr]

Perhaps that's why they are safe to warm up in your mouth!! Just out of interest, do any of you chaps do that? Why???

Absolutely not! My armpits are also no-go zones for gentles. I always did think warming them up "to make them more lively in cold weather" was spectacularly pointless - as soon as they hit the water in winter, they're stunned into inactivity anyway!