Thread: How do I keep my maggots from floating

I used to dig maggots outta old rotten corn left in our silo as a little boy and they were bigger than waxies also now that i think about it.

Originally Posted by Southern Young Gun

just last week I asked for waxies and the guy at the bait shop replies "we dont carry em but we have maggots though". I opened the container and they were bigger than any waxies I have ever seen, and i almost exclusively use waxies when i can find em so im pretty familiar with em. been using em my whole life. The maggots werent any thicker than the waxies just alot longer. But your right in SC i have never seen maggots, only waxies but i guess down here in FLA is a diff story

I don't doubt you know what a waxworm is. I'm just doubting that the bait shop guy knows exactly what he's selling. Maybe he just calls them "maggots" because he doesn't know what else to call them. Maybe they're actually some other type of grub.

What chaunc and I are talking about are bluebottle fly larvae. Bluebottle flies lay their eggs on a dead animal. The eggs hatch and the larvae (maggots) eat the dead animal. If there's no dead animal involved, it's something other than a maggot. Typically, a bluebottle maggot will be about 3/4" long. If it's bigger than a waxworm, it's gotta be something else.

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

If it's bigger than a waxworm, it's gotta be something else.

Possibly mealworms?

Originally Posted by sbcpower

Possibly mealworms?

Could be.

Originally Posted by Southern Young Gun

just last week I asked for waxies and the guy at the bait shop replies "we dont carry em but we have maggots though". I opened the container and they were bigger than any waxies I have ever seen, and i almost exclusively use waxies when i can find em so im pretty familiar with em. been using em my whole life. The maggots werent any thicker than the waxies just alot longer. But your right in SC i have never seen maggots, only waxies but i guess down here in FLA is a diff story

Did you take a look at the pics i posted? If the maggots dont look like that, then he sold you some grub baits. Cant remember the exact name of them but they come from a plant. I'll try to find the name.

Originally Posted by sbcpower

Possibly mealworms?

mealworm would fit the bill of having a "harder shell". And they will float on occasion.

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I've been chumming with maggots for about 15 years and have never had this happen.

Remind me again how you got them. Did you buy them or grow your own? If you grew them, what kind of flies are they? Bluebottles (the kind I use), greenbottles and house flies all sink. If you grew them yourself, maybe you have something else. Can you post a pic of some of them?

Here's something else to consider: what bedding are you storing them in? I use yellow corn meal. Among other things, the corn meal helps to "degrease" the maggots. Anything that small with grease on it will tend to float.

P.S. I saw your post on "Maggotdrowning". groundhog gives some advice similar to mine.

Yep, I keep them in cornmeal. I think I know what I have been doing wrong. First of all, I've mostly been growing them in fish (ground up bluegill). Then I think I have been keeping them too moist. I didn't want them to dry out so I started keeping a little flat piece of sponge in the container with them. So I took some out and let them dry in the sun. Didn't seem to hurt them. I made three pva bags with maggots, cornmeal (I figured it would smell like maggots), and a little rock. Maybe it worked or maybe I would have caught them anyway. They didn't float to the surface, and the water was only about three feet in one spot, and five feet in another.

Originally Posted by chaunc

I agree with DBD. I've been using maggots most of my life and i've never had any that floated. Are you sure you're not using waxworms? Those will float.

Hi Chaunc. I am sure I am not using waxworms. I grew the maggots myself, and I know what they came out of. I also grow waxworms, but I wonder if I will ever go back after the success I am having with maggots.