Casters on the Bridge

The other day I was at Chaumussay, standing on the bridge over the Claise. I noticed that an angler had dropped some bait and there was a little group of fly pupae lying on the pavement.

Blow fly pupae dropped on the bridge by an angler.

Maggots, the larvae of flies, have been used for centuries as bait for fish hooks. They are easy to raise yourself or they can be bought from a fishing supply shop. They go by different names depending on what size they are. The small ones are squatts, the medium sized ones are pinkies and the big ones maggots. Within a few days maggots will transform into pupae, known to fishermen as casters and also used as bait. Maggots sometimes come in rainbow colours to further attract the fish. This is achieved by feeding them dyed meat before sale and they will take on the colour of their food.

A female Urban Blow Fly Calliphora vicina feeding on Ivy Hedera helix nectar.

 

Most bait maggots in Europe are blow flies Calliphoridae, either the Urban Bluebottle Calliphora vicina, or the greenbottle Lucilia sericata, but they could be the House Fly Musca domestica, which belongs to the Muscidae family. All of them can be raised in warm conditions in decaying animal flesh, usually chicken.

A rather well equipped angler at the village pond in Preuilly.

My reading suggests they are mainly used for Carp, Barbel and Chub here.