Maggots

[MaggotDrowner]

I usually buy a pint of mixed and put them on the hook in random mixtures, whatever comes to hand goes on. Perhaps I should be more selective?

[DaceAce]

Historically, maggots were dyed with aniline dyes derived from coal tar, Chrysoidine R & Y (bronze), auramine (yellow) and rhodamine (red); there were are other aniline dyes for black, brown etc. These dyes have been known to be carcinogenic for many years. The main industrial use of chrysoidine is to dye cardboard which is made from waste paper and grey in its natural state but commonly brown from use of this dye which is very powerful so not much needed.

Red maggots were fed the dye in the feed so the colour doesn't come off but chrysoidine and auramine are surface dyes that come off if the maggots aren't cleaned properly.

I suspect rhodamine is still used for red maggots. When it comes to bronze maggots there was a safe dye (Kent Kolour?) that produced maggots of a less vibrant hue than chrysoidine which might explain why bronze maggots are no longer as effective: make no mistake about it bronze maggots were incredibly good for roach. I suspect chrysoidine is still in use by some bait dealers.

Like others I buy mixed coloureds nowadays and switch around to find the best combination.

Back in the 70s for match fishing my local waters, we switched around to find the best combinations, roach and chub preferred bronze, small dace on whites, bigger dace on yellows, perch, bream and tench on reds, rudd on a red pinkie.

Dave Downes (Leicester Likely Lad and dye company owner) once told me that he supplied rhodamine to a Birmingham hot dog sausage maker who used it to colour the meat....

[Phil Arnott]

The issue with the aniline dyes was that they caused bladder cancer and it was found there was a higher incidence of bladder cancer in anglers than the general public. This was later attributed to the higher incidence of smoking in anglers.

Although I accept that the colour of maggots may have an effect on catches, I've personally never been able to establish a significant difference in my results. I seem to catch on whatever I'm using at the time.

Maggots are a superb bait because they are particle baits and when fed in at the correct rate they will draw fish in. I once had some maggots to dispose of and went to a small nearby stream. As the water was clear I could see there were no fish in the swim but a steady introduction of maggots resulted in some dace appearing from downstream. There were about 8 to 10 fish and what I learnt was just how much they can eat as they went through half a pint between them and were still feeding. I've learnt an awful lot by watching fish.

[Bobthefloat]

Reds for perch
White for everything else that swims