Before going into details, it might be worth explaining a bit what a worm is. A maggot is simply the larval stage of a fly that is usually found in decaying organic matter, be it household garbage or a dead animal or the like. As with flies, not all worms are the same. If you take a look around in the summer, you’ll probably find that there are several different types of flies that manage to invade your home, but usually, in the UK at least, they come from a list of three and are the common ones. house fly, green fly and blue fly.
The three different types of flies are easily distinguished, with the housefly being the smallest with a gray or yellowish abdomen and four dark stripes on the thorax (the bite between the head and the main body). The greenbottle is slightly larger and is metallic green, while the bluebottle is slightly larger again with an overall metallic blue tint.
The larvae (or worm stage) of each of these different types of flies are as distinctly different as the flies themselves and each type of worm will be readily available at your local tackle store. In fishing parlance, housefly worms are called “squats,” green bottleworms are called “pinkies,” and blowfly worms are known as “gozzers.” Unless you specify squats or pinkies, you will be given worms that come from eggs laid by blowflies if you go to a tackle store and simply ask for a pint of worms.
You may be wondering why anyone would want to breed worms when they are so readily available in stores. The answer is simple: it all depends on price and quality. If you like match fishing or just fish a lot, it gets expensive. Raising your own is much cheaper. On top of that, store-bought worms are nowhere near the quality of bait you can produce yourself. When you’re done, your home-raised bait will be bigger and fresher than anything you can buy in stores and that’s guaranteed.
Essentially, to breed worms you only need a few items; a container with a lid for the worms to feed and grow in, a couple of chicken breasts (or fresh fish if you prefer) for food, a worm strainer (a colander will do), some bran, and finally two bowls to washing or similar containers.
Lay the chicken or fish on a few sheets of newspaper and in turn place in a covered container that is filled an inch deep with bran. Leave the container in a quiet place in the garden with the lid on but not tightly closed. Leave a small enough space for flies to get in and out of the container. Periodically check the container to see if flies have ‘flown’ into your food. It will be obvious if they have, as you will see one or more clusters of tiny white eggs in the meat, usually 30 or more eggs in each cluster. When you think you’ve got enough hits, wrap the meat in newspaper to keep the feed and eggs contained in a package, and close the lid to prevent more flies from entering the container. Make sure there are a few holes drilled in the lid small enough for air to get in but not big enough for flies to get in.
Leave your container in a dry, airy place so the eggs can hatch and the worms can start feeding, but be aware that after a day or so the meat will begin to smell and the smell will intensify over time. weather. Periodically check on the worms to see how they are progressing and to make sure there is enough food to support them all. If necessary, fill in the feed. At some point between 5 and 8 days, the worms will stop eating, that is, they will stop eating. They will be big, fat, and fresher than anything in the stores.
Next, you need to clean them before taking them fishing as fish are quite picky when it comes to hooks. Remove the newspaper and let the worms fall into the bran and leave for at least 12 hours. Sieve out the bran and transfer the worms to one of your washing up bowls and add a couple drops of dishwashing liquid and enough water to cover the worms and give them a good rinse. Next, pour the worms over a sieve and transfer them to the other washing container that you will have filled with a one-inch layer of bran. Give the worms a complete mix with the dried bran. Clean the first container to wash and refill it with another inch of dried bran and add two or three tablespoons of sugar and the same amount of turmeric powder. Sift the worms once more from the wet bran and transfer it to the bowl containing the dried bran and the sugar and turmeric and mix it all together.
Leave the worms alone for a while and see if they can be transferred to the refrigerator or not. You should look to see if they are still wet enough to be able to climb up the walls of your bowl and escape. If they do manage to climb up the sides of the container, add a little more dried bran until they are too dry to stick to the sides of the container. They can now be placed directly in your fridge as is until you are ready to use them (note that it is usually a good idea to have a dedicated worm fridge for this, as for some reason wives and girlfriends object to having worms in the food refrigerator).
And that is. This is how worms are raised. These will keep for at least a month if stored in the fridge before they start to turn into wheels, but they’ll be more productive the sooner you use them.