maggot ( 4)

Jackson

<P>If you leave the meat in the tub, the
maggots will crawl from it into the bran, which
will clean them. Gozzers take about six days,
depending, naturally, on the temperature, to
mature from eggs to full size. It's no use
leaving them longer in the hope that they will
grow even bigger and more succulent because
they stop feeding after some time. Some
anglers prefer to take them off the meat
earlier, believing that a small gozzer is more
effective on the hard--fished canals. So, once you
have some already crawling in the bran, or the
folds of newspaper, you can shake the
remainder out of the meat. Sieve away this old bran
and put the gozzers into some fresh and
slightly dampened bran. Now you have one of
the best canal baits; one which many anglers
believe is indispensable when it comes to
catching bream and roach.
Ifyou can get a bluebottle to lay its eggs
on chicken, the maggots you'll get will be
very white and soft. I've found that the
greenbottle -- which produces the maggots we call
pinkies -- homes in on this meat much more
quickly than blucbottlcs, but don't be put off
trying if chicken's what you have available.
Gozzers bred on liver have a faint yellow
colour; not quite as buttery as annato, but
nevertheless almost as attractive to roach.
Whatever you flurture them on, gozzers
have a way of making usually shy fish take them
boldly. I don't know how an organism as
unsophishcated as a fish develops the discernment
of a gourmet but that's cxactly What it seems
like. You can fish for hours using commercial
maggots -- even with those you've diligently
scoured -- maybe gethng the occasional finicky
bite, and then swap to a gozzer to find yourself
suddenly getting a bite off every cast of quality
brcam which don't want to let go.</P>
<P>Some anglers, like my mate mentioned in
the beginning, try adding extras to the feed
while the maggots are eating and growing.
You can add all sorts of exotic food flavouring
or colours, but don't use too much or add it
too early in case it actually puts the maggots
off feeding. I prefer my gozzers
unadulterated. If I want coloured maggots, I buy them
coloured, or dye shop--bought whites myself,
after cleaning them With Turmeric. This
removes their greasiness and makes sure the
dye stains them properly.</P>
<P>Sour-bran Specials
This sounds like an Ancrican football team.
They certainly beat the hell out of the fish in
canals! They look like feeder maggots, only
they're two or three times bigger and whiter
and softer. It will take you longer to start a
nursery of sour--brans. But if you get the first
lot going in a shed, you've only got to put
down another boWl of souring bran to attract
more blows.
Use bowls or trays. Soak two or three
pounds of dry rough bran (which is sold in
most pet shops). Spread this evenly in the 1
bowl or tray, and leave it in the shed or shade
until a crust forms on the surface. Some
anglers soak the bran in milk, but I've had just
as good results using water for the initial
soaking. You'll probably have longer to wait for
blows off the fly responsible than you did for
those from the bluebottle, but at least you'
don't have to hang about to chase away any
unwanted flies. As far as I know, only this parti-
cular fly chooses to lay its eggs in sour bran.
And I've never known a bowl to be
overblown, either. Sometimes, once you have the
maggots feeding on the bran, you can tell by
their size that they are two different batches.
But all you need do is take off the mature
maggots and transfer the others, in the bran,'
to another bowl you've been preparing.
(to be continued)
</P>

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-12-13 9:48:36编辑过]

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