maggots

[deathb4disco]

I would like more information on how you fish with the maggots deathb4disco.. do you add the maggot to a jig, or just fish with the maggot directly on the hook?

I rarely tip jigs with maggots. It will definitely work, but a much deadlier method is float fishing with maggots. That’s all I ever do. For a good demo on the float method, check out the Youtube video below. This is almost exactly how I fish maggots for bluegills, trout, crappie, etc.

YouTube - Ian Heaps Fishing at Holgan Farm

That’s Ian Heaps in the video, a former English world champion. He’s fishing with a maggot called a “pinkie”. They are the larvae of the green bottle fly. There are two other types of maggots used for bait: “squatts”, the larvae of the house fly and plain ol’ “maggots”, the larvae of the blue bottle fly. Blue bottle larvae are the biggest of the three and the only ones that are sold here in the US. It’s the only maggot I’ve ever used.

It’s important to use light line and small hooks. Even though he’s fishing for carp, he’s actually fishing a little lighter than I do. I normally use 4# line with a 2-3# leader. I use dry fly hooks in the #14 - #20 range. I use English waggler floats identical to the ones he’s using. Thill wagglers and Drennan wagglers are good substitutes and are readily available here in the US.

Hope that helps.