Large maggots

In the video below, national canal fishing champion Simon 'Motty' Mottram explains the differences between squatts, pinkies and large maggots.

The standard large maggot is probably the bait most associated with everyday fishing when people think about baits. Large maggots are available at all tackle shops and eaten by all coarse fish species. Typically, anglers keep them in plastic bait tins with fine sawdust, maize meal or bran added. In the east of England, maggots are even available from vending machines at around 40 locations.

Commercial production

Maggots are the larva of the common bluebottle fly and are bred on maggot farms. They are typically fed on the carcasses of fish, chicken or turkeys, and take a week or so to grow to full size. Large maggots are naturally white in colour, but are often coloured, usually by the breeders who add dyes to the food. Hence, you can find red, yellow, orange, pink and even green versions.

History

Before the 1960s, maggots were known as gentles. Various types of maggots were described by Dame Juliana Berners in her ‘Treatise of fishing with an angle' written back in the 1420s, so have been in use as fishing bait in the UK for at least 600 years. Izaak Walton, amongst other authors of the era, describes how to breed maggots and by 1700 some fishing tackle shops were selling them commercially.

When angling participation and the use of maggots was at its height, many breeders got rich, including the maggot king, Arthur Bryant. It was famously said that a blind man could identify him at 20 paces.

Today, there are fewer than a dozen operational maggot farms in the UK compared with around 50 back in the 1970s.

How to store maggots between fishing sessions

When it's warm in the summer, the maggot will quickly pupate (turn to casters). To slow this natural process down, maggots are kept in the fridge.

Half fill your bait tin with maggots and consider adding extra maize meal or sawdust to ensure the maggots remain dry. The maggots will shrink slightly, with the skins becoming slightly tougher, but will certainly be perfectly useable for at least a week.

Do make sure you get the permission of the fridge owner. Take care to tightly close the lid of the receptacle, as stories of escaped maggots are the stuff of nightmares.

Motty's maggot tips

• Colour of maggot is very much a personal preference. Use the colour you have most confidence in.
• On canals, use large maggots on the hook only when targeting big fish, such as chub, perch, tench or bream.
• Hook them at the blunt end and immediately reject any that lose body fluid.
• Adding maize meal to shop-bought maggots keeps them in good condition.
• Don't overfill your maggot tin. Ensure the bait has plenty of oxygen available.
• Make sure the air holes in your bait tin are not clogged with debris, so the maggots are able to keep breathing.