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One for the maggot men.

D

Dan Whitelock

Senior Member
Hi all,

Maggot colour. Do you think it matters? Do you think red gives you an edge over whites? Do you catch more or less nuisance fish on bronze?
I tend to nearly always get whites, I'm not exactly sure why I just find myself asking for them instead of any others, maybe there's something in my sub conscience that is telling me they're a more natural colour?

Or would you get mixed and keep changing hookbait colour to mix in with loosefeed?

Apologies if it's been done here before recently........ only returned bfw after a break of several years!

Cheers,
Dan
 
I think its largely a confidence issue but i always use reds, used to be bronze but their not the same since they changed the dye that was believed to cause cancer. Do change it around slightly depending on what i am fishing for.
 
One of my Uncles was an every weekend matchman in the 70s and 80s, he swore by bronze maggots on rivers, red for a specific target of perch and grayling and casters to get through the small fish to chub and bigger roach. I took the advice onboard and stick to it to this day.
 
Tend to buy reds more than anything else, mainly because I've found them to be most effective for tench and grayling and those are the main species I use maggots for. For barbel, chub, etc I normally only use maggots in winter and don't worry about the colour.
 
For barbel, if you are using them in sufficient quantities, the colour is totally irrelevant.
 
That's kind of where my thinking takes me Alex. Though you know us Barbel anglers tend to overthink, over analyse and overcomplicate matters sometimes!
Saying that I'm still more confident in feeding 5 pints of whites instead of 5 pints of reds!
 
I used to use any colour but white (usually red or bronze). If i tried to hook a white one and it burst, and the pus stuff oozed out i would feel quite ill.:eek: Seem to have gotten over the worst of that now though.:confused::) I like Gavin's rule of thumb.

Stephen
 
Tend to agree with Alex,..I don't think the barbel mind as long as they just keep coming!
Good mate of mine always uses reds and does well. He took a nice 13.10 on reds from the Stour last week. I tend to use casters when the river is low and clear but when using maggots I go for whites with a small scoop of reds mixed in to give me the chance of ringing the changes,...good tactic for chub as well.
 
If I'm feeding in quantity I'll always use whites.

Played around a few years ago watching shoal barbel reacting to maggots being fed steadily through them and white maggot always, without fail, was the quickest colour to cause a feeding response. We never took the pseudo research any further to see if the subsequent feeding reaction was stronger, or more sustained, depending on colour, probably because we invariably got distracted and started fishing once we knew the shoal was feeding!
 
Dan if i an laying a big carpet down the colour is always whites but i like to get a few reds in the hookbait tin just to tip the hook with one, that can make a difference mate,
are you the same dan that andy thatcher used to know
 
I have used reds, whites, bronze and casters, mixed or individually and have spotted no preference with barbel. For tench I use reds, not sure why really but I used to catch a lot on strawberry mini boilies and assumed tench like red as well as sweet flavours! If I didn't have red maggots for tenching it would be at the back of my mind, whereas with barbel I don't give the colour a second thought.
 
Never really used them in earnest for Barbel...... Despite what the 'experts' will tell you, I've always found 2 Whites better for Grayling, a single Bronze for decent Chub and a couple of reds for Dace.............. For Roach Casters..........
 
I'm amazed Paul, Itchen grayling have a definate preference for reds!
 
John Walker said:
Dan if i an laying a big carpet down the colour is always whites but i like to get a few reds in the hookbait tin just to tip the hook with one, that can make a difference mate,
are you the same dan that andy thatcher used to know
Click to expand...

That is indeed me John, only got back into fishing and BFW after a break of a few years....... fishing a really pressured bit of river where I've seen fish turn away from every bait going so maggots seem to hopefully be the answer hence my curiosity.
 
Dan figuring out why is half the fun and 90% of the interest mate, good luck and get them 4 pints in the swim all at once, that should preoccupy em for a while.)
:)
 
John Walker said:
Dan figuring out why is half the fun and 90% of the interest mate, good luck and get them 4 pints in the swim all at once, that should preoccupy em for a while.)
:)
Click to expand...

Interesting idea John. I've never put all my bait in at once in case the barbel take some time to switch on and every other fish from minnows upwards hoovers up the bait carpet! Also, in any sort of flow won't it all carry out of the swim? I imagine if active barbel are seen in the swim it could have the desired effect but I'd sure like to keep a pint or two in reserve.
 
Nigel, certainly at Amesbury and a couple of other rivers I fish for Grayling Whites have always sorted out the better fish.......
 
Alex,the flow right down on the riverbed has nothing like it does above tha last few inches mate, yes you,ll lose some of it but most wil lay in the swim just like a carpet, a bloke named fred showedme that at kings weir about 52 years ago
we used to take a gallon of maggots lay half down and top up occasionally if bream reared their heads, its the activity of the smaller fish that arouse the barbels interest mate:)
 
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