Dynamite fish attractors!
When an old angler once told me to use maggots to catch trout I couldn’t eat my lunch…after all maggots are disgusting right?
They come from dead animals… and who wants to touch those?
Well, that was more than 20 years ago and now I am a “maggot fan” …if there can be such a thing.
Why are maggots so good?
I caught fish, lots of them, using maggots!
Not only that but I started to think about other baits I was using and realised that whenever I used dead baits like prawn, squid, white bait, fish fillets, pippies and so on I was using something that was DEAD and smelled pretty bad too…so I got over the whole “yucky” maggots thing.
I also did a bit of research and found that cleaned maggots are a great source of protein… and some people actually eat them!
OK, I’m not going to make a maggot sandwich for lunch but I know they aren’t all that bad.
Every fish likes maggots
The great thing about maggots is the wide range of fish they catch….I have landed large varieties of fresh water fish using them – and in good numbers too…trout, Redfin, cod, yellow belly, Macquarie perch, carp, tech, roach…even gold fish (in the Yarra river) have all fallen to maggots…
…and then there’s salt water fish. They love maggots too… bream, mullet, garfish, whiting, pinkies, flathead, leather jacket, parrot fish, mackerel, salmon, trevally…even small mulloway up to 40cm.
It seems there’s nothing that wont eat them!
Use small hooks for maggots
…problem is they’re hard to put on a hook if you don’t know how…but it’s pretty simple.
First thing is to start with a small hook – sizes 14 to 10 will work…
…and “YES” a small hook WILL catch a big fish….European anglers often use size 18 and 20 hooks in winter to catch a variety of strong river fish up to 5kilos. (A size 20 hook is about the same size as a capital “J” in Arial 12 font…it’s very small!)
How to put them on the hook
To hook a maggot- so it stays lively and keeps wiggling, you need to hook it just through the skin…and preferably in the “butt”!
So where is their butt?
If you put a maggot on the ground you will see it has a pointy end – its head, and a blunt end – its butt.
Hook it in the butt!
There’s a little bit of skill in doing this but try a couple of times and it will be easy. You just squeeze it very gently between your fingers and then just push the hook into the end of the maggot, just through the skin…not deep in the body.
Put 3 to 5 maggots on a hook, depending on hook size – this way and you’ll have a wiggling mass that attracts attention…this movement and the white colour really seem to make them irresistible to fish.
Use light line with maggots
Maggot fishing is a light line method. You’re using small hooks so you use light line so the bait is presented naturally and will move like any other food in the water…but always be prepared for big fish!
I’ve used maggots in the surf, estuaries, rivers and lakes…and they’ve worked every time.
I generally use a light to medium power rod and a spinning reel with line weight from 2 to 5 kilo.
When using maggots you’ll get best results when you include them in your berley…and really get the fish looking for these little white “uglies”…
…keep the berley going in and you’ll keep pulling the fish out!
Where do you get maggots?
Not all tackle shops carry maggots…but many do!
Talk to a staff member who uses them and they’ll give you some tips on best methods and places to fish. If you are really keen you can raise them yourself.
How to use maggots properly
Fishing with maggots really works but it still has a few challenges – sometimes you’ll get bites but can’t hook the fish…
When you check the bait you’ll find only skin left on the hook…
…this is usually small fish hitting the maggots and sucking the guts out of them without swallowing the hook.
If this happens there’s a couple of things you can do:
-put less maggots on the hook,
-change to a smaller hook
-and finally put just one maggot on the smallest hook…
this will get you closer to hooking those fish.
Maggots catch big fish
If I’m getting bites I always continue fishing because I know that small fish often attract bigger fish.
Yes, it might get frustrating getting those small bites and losing the bait but this is goooood!
This is your chance to experiment and work out how to catch those difficult small fish…
Get good at this and youll get good at hooking the big ONES!
Many times Ive been plagued by small fish and it looks like that’s all there is…then suddenly my rod swings around as something big has decided to get in on the action…
this kind of thing makes the whole outing worth while!
How to store maggots so they last for weeks
One other thing…maggots can last several weeks if stored at low, but not freezing, temperatures.
Put them in the fridge when you’re not using them and they’ll be there for next time…but remember – not everyone is enjoys finding maggots in the fridge right next to last night’s pizza.
Wrap their container in a plastic bag or put it inside another container and make sure it’s securely sealed…maybe even label it as “bait” so no one gets an unpleasant surprise!
If you get a bit of experience you can even raise you own maggots…but this doesn’t suit everyone.
No matter what, give maggots a go.
Thousands of anglers in Europe use them, including some of the best competition anglers in the world…so the message is clear, maggots work!