anyone use maggots??? I just picked up some really small size 20 and 24 fly hooks to try on small gills and was thinking about trying to use some maggots insead of tryinmg to cut redworms up into pieces.
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anyone use maggots??? I just picked up some really small size 20 and 24 fly hooks to try on small gills and was thinking about trying to use some maggots insead of tryinmg to cut redworms up into pieces.
I use them and also wax worms. They are extremely effective on Bluegills. I myself would probably impale them on a #8 hook or #10 hook for Bluegill. (Easier for me to see and to get out of the fish's mouth.
I have also tipped jigs with them and had great success. The attracting color of a jig and the scent of meat equals fish for dinner for you.
robo if your getting your own maggots best bet is to pick them out of whatever trashor whatever and put em in some sawdust, they stay relatively clean and wont be all slimey from the trash.... i agree with ship a #10 or 8 is fine i wouldnt worry bout using the super tiny ones cause the gills will swallow em
Try putting a maggot on a 1/124 black microspoon. We caught and released over 200 gills at Ky lake in a few hours, one day last spring. They've been my go to gillie bait ever since and i've never been disappointed by them.
I've been using them almost exclusively for over 10 years. They're a killer bait.
I don't think you have to go that small for hooks. I have used a #20 on occasion, but I generally use a #14 or #16 dry fly hook. If you're going to use hooks that size, get a disgorger and learn to use it. It's much better than pliers or hemostats:
http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/ta...ger&by_title=Y
Each maggot has a "fat end" and a "pointed end". You just want to lightly skin hook the fat end. That way, the maggot stays very frisky. Don't thread them on the hook. Here's a couple of pics of how to correctly hook one:
Attachment 16998
Attachment 16999
In the second picture, you can see a dark spot on the maggots. That's called the "feeding spot". A big, dark spot means the maggot's tummy is full, and he is very fresh. A small or nonexistent spot means the maggot is old.
As you can see, these maggots are red. They are available in several colors, if you order them from a dealer. I always get plain white, though. The dye they use to color the maggots shortens their lives.
I use maggots all the time.I put 3 or 4 on a single size 8 or 10 hook.I alsotip my jigs with them.Great bait.
Do you buy your maggots locally? I haven't seen anyone selling them around here. How long do the keep for you?
I don't think they're popular enough for a lot of bait shops to carry them. The only local shop I know of that carries them is Henry's in Chicago. I'm sure there are others, though, particularly in ice fishing country.Quote:
Originally Posted by gone_fishing
Two good online sources are Grubco and Vados:
www.grubco.com
www.vadosbait.com
I have kept maggots for over two months, but that's really pushing it. Six to eight weeks is a typical life span.
Soldier fly maggots are the best! At least when they are young and tender (white). At least here in Texas they occur naturally in the fall when it cools down enough for me to put rich food scraps in the earthworm bin, I am hoping to get some going this spring. These guys are much bigger that regular maggots and a #8 bait holder hook is just fine. However the pet food variety are harvested when the larva are ready to pupate and crawl out of their food source. By this time they have a thick leathery skin and are much less effective as bait.
After pulling up crappie and largemouth in addition to tons of bluegill I had a few folks come up and ask what I was using. LOL, no, not minnows, here take a look ;-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony from Oak Point
Thanks for the tip. I know we have soldier flies here in Georgia. I'll try 'em out this summer and run them head to head against my blue bottle maggots.
great suggestons from everyone on here. i learned more bout maggots then ill ever care to know lol.... i think im gonna do an experiment and see if food dye affects them cause with all my fish scraps i get tons of maggots in warmer weather and would be nice to have a bunch of different colored ones...
ohh probably most know this but great place to get some of these off the wall baits is at aquarium stores and such, we have one in town that here that has all sorts of different types of worms such as meal, wax, mousies and its just a lil store so im sure bigger ones might have more stuff
Yep... why buy them if all you gotta do is put a fish carcass out for a day or two? I never used them before, but come summer time, when the garbage gets full of them, I'm gonna start collecting them for bait. As always, lots of good info on CDC!
John writes ya ya --different types of worms such as meal, wax, mousies
what are the "mousies" I always thought they were like a meal worm but people tell me know?
mousies are like maggots but have a tail on em
In short, Mousies ain’t mice and they ain’t cute. They are the aquatic larvae of a relatively nice looking fly called the Drone fly A fly larvae, as you may or may not know, is generally called a maggot. It so happens that the maggot of this particular fly is commonly called the Rat-tailed Maggot. Now there’s a name to inspire all kinds of nice thoughts. The necessity of calling them Mousies should become immediately obvious in polite society. For instance, my wife will allow me to put a container of Mousies in the refrigerator next to the salad dressing, but would have forbidden a container of Rat-tailed Maggots. Pre-schoolers love looking at Mousies but their parents will forbid them to look at Rat-tailed Maggots. Of course, I should mention that ice fisherfolk also call them Mousies because they do resemble a mouse in a somewhat horribly skewed way
heres a pic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8739502...36798/sizes/o/
Thanks for all the replies everyone, some good info here. I will have to dig out my unused lindy small hook disgorger:p. I will start saving some fish and scraps for maggots also, good idea. I have used small 8-10-12-16 jigs over the years and smaller jigs and hooks have proven them selves many times to me I only go up to size 10 when i run out of 12s. I do enjoy catching small fish also though and they have come in handy as bait more than once.
Thanks to all & john h for all the good info on maggots, you guys sure make this a great site for all.
maggots "the other white meat"