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First crack at a maggot feeder

Richard Isaacs

Richard Isaacs

Senior Member & Supporter
And to be honest I’m not really impressed with them. Yes they will do the job and yes I can achieve big weights which is what people want but they lack the perfection I can achieve with the cages. The leads are not particularly straight and I’m really not a fan of plastic but I can’t think of another way to do them without killing it with my time.
Anyway what’s your thoughts. I’ll get them better the more I do them but this is the first. They are a long way off sellable yet so not offering any at moment until I’m happy with them.
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Film cannisters.
You are a bit anal about the finish Richard. Seeing your other feeders you will stick at it until you are happy I am sure , and they will be things of beauty and very useable as well .

I have been making maggot feeders from those cannisters for years , they are dog rough compared to yours and are black not white. I elasticated the lid on using Power Gum because occasionally the lids popped off . I made them
With the lids uppermost and
Not on the bottom , the lids on the bottom ( I tried them ) resulted in them popping off on the retrieve occasionally so I reversed them . Lids uppermost
But they work and cost me virtually nothing in time or materials .
Basically a disposable item . I hate leaving end gear of any type in snags etc, but sometimes it is unavoidable so for me making working items that dont hurt the pocket is a no brainer .
I am sure the fish do not care how well finished they are , certainly not in my case anyway 🤣🤣
I fully expect you to produce a concourse maggot feeder within a week .👍


David
 
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We used to make them out of ladie's hair curlers and a strip of roofing lead in the 70's.


Recently I have set about making jumbo feeders for initial baiting up out of tubes used to hold epoxy resin. They are about half as long as silicone tubes.
 
David Craine said:
Film cannisters.
You are a bit anal about the finish Richard. Seeing your other feeders you will stick at it until you are happy I am sure , and they will be things of beauty and very useable as well .

I have been making maggot feeders from those cannisters for years , they are dog rough compared to yours and are black not white. I elasticated the lid on using Power Gum because occasionally the lids popped off . I made them
With the lids uppermost and
Not on the bottom , the lids on the bottom ( I tried them ) resulted in them popping off on the retrieve occasionally so I reversed them . Lids uppermost
But they work and cost me virtually nothing in time or materials .
Basically a disposable item . I hate leaving end gear of any type in snags etc, but sometimes it is unavoidable so for me making working items that dont hurt the pocket is a no brainer .
I am sure the fish do not care how well finished they are , certainly not in my case anyway 🤣🤣
I fully expect you to produce a concourse maggot feeder within a week .👍


David
Click to expand...
Cheers Dave. Some nice information there 👍🏻

I know I’m anal about the finish but I sell feeders frequently and for a premium price too so they’ve got to go out looking the business.
I’d like to add maggot feeders to my range when I’ve got them right.

Also I’m an engineer…….. for us guys it’s all about the finish 😉

Oh one more thing. Can you still get brown film canisters?
 
Never seen brown film canisters. It was either white, black or semi opaque.
 
Rob Weldon said:
Would be good in brown Rich and with a method to secure the lid
Click to expand...
On these particular ones the lids snap shut and take a good pull to remove
I might actually just offer the complete weights for people to attach to whatever they want
As my weights come pre coated with the links all attached it would be a very simple case of taking the container you want to use and simply drilling 2 x 6mm holes. ……. Another option I suppose
 
I find the main problem with large heavy feeders with a flat face is...reeling the buggers in again. I used some 3 oz models that I bought off ebay this year on the Trent. My idea was to recast regularly to keep a steady feed of maggots going in but it was such a pain winding in against the flow that I gave up, although I did have one barbel. I've bought more streamlined feeders to try the method again in the new season.
 
John Allan said:
I find the main problem with large heavy feeders with a flat face is...reeling the buggers in again. I used some 3 oz models that I bought off ebay this year on the Trent. My idea was to recast regularly to keep a steady feed of maggots going in but it was such a pain winding in against the flow that I gave up, although I did have one barbel. I've bought more streamlined feeders to try the method again in the new season.
Click to expand...
A big part of this problem John is the fact most of them are linked through the center of the cap and the feeder hangs and returns on the wonk. If you connect directly to the lead it does make both casting and retrieving much better and easier
 
They are connected as you recommend Richard but I still found them hard work, even on 2 3/4lb daiwa powermesh rods. They no longer have the end caps are are now ground bait feeders.
The same ebay sellers lists the same feeders at up to 8 ozs. I can only imagine what deep joy they must be to use!
 
I think this could be a nice idea to supply
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All the pain in the arse stuff has been done and it allows people to make their own by just drilling 2 holes in a 30-35mm diameter thing of their choice.
Be it pipe or container etc and make them to suit.
The thick coated round lugs are really meaty so once they are bent over they’ll never pull loose
Way better than dead cows.
 
First batch of 10 3oz bases going out tomorrow. (Yes I miss counted)
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I think it’s a nice little idea as it offers my awesome indestructible bases and links but allows you you put them on whatever you like without fear of them ever parting company. 3-7oz in the range
 
black caps are low weight feeders generally and their reliability comes mostly from the fact that they don’t really get used in extreme conditions. Good feeders. But would they be as great if they were carrying 4-5 oz and being whacked on the rocks of the Trent or Wye.
Drennan bombs …… now there’s a challenge! Superb feeders and weighted bottom end would be difficult to replicate in a reasonable time frame. That’s the ultimate key to home made feeders is being able to make them quickly enough to pay but good enough to justify the extra cost. My stainless cages (without sounding cocky) I’ve not seen anything as good. You won’t break one through use and I’ve put them to the test. Even cast the deliberately into bridges and they still straighten back out and carry on going.
Maggot feeders are never going to be able to do that being plastic and cages don’t work for maggots imo. Too many escape points.
I’m sure a fantastic maggot feeder could easily be made as I did it myself from aluminum and it was exceptionally durable but again….. time, cost …. It doesn’t pay
 
For me black caps are horrible things to cast and retrieve when you start adding weight to them. They are fine in lower weights but I hate feeders that hang on the piss due to the swivel being through the center cap. They are clumsy to cast and no where near as direct or accurate as a feeder with the link attached to the heaviest part. I have a good number of black and clear caps from Kamazan and I think they are good feeders but I think there is better out there for bigger weights like the FFF and Korum shown above. Two good Feeders that hang perfectly horizontally
 
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