Casters

A caster is the chrysalis form of maggot. The colour of a caster can vary
from a light creamy colour to a dark brown. As the colour changes the buoyancy
also changes to. You can tell the buoyancy by the colour of the caster the darker it is the more buoyant the caster and it will float; this is useless as bait.
Casters are usually sold in airtight polythene bags which are fine for keeping casters in for a couple of days or so in a fridge. The only potential problem with keeping them in polythene bags is that sometimes they can develop burn marks uneven discolouration. To prevent this store them in a plastic maggot box with a couple of sheets of damp kitchen roll on top followed by a piece of polythene and then the bait box lid. A bit of a faff but worth it when only a perfect caster will do. When you get to the bank side it is vital that you keep them submerged in water. On a warm day a caster can turn into a useless floater in a couple of hours or less if they are not kept in water. Put them into a bowl or bait box full of water and if any float skim them off and keep them for the hook. Feeding floating casters can be a disaster as the wind or flow will take them and possibly your fish out of your swim.
Hooking a Caster
from a light creamy colour to a dark brown. As the colour changes the buoyancy
also changes to. You can tell the buoyancy by the colour of the caster the darker it is the more buoyant the caster and it will float; this is useless as bait.
Casters are usually sold in airtight polythene bags which are fine for keeping casters in for a couple of days or so in a fridge. The only potential problem with keeping them in polythene bags is that sometimes they can develop burn marks uneven discolouration. To prevent this store them in a plastic maggot box with a couple of sheets of damp kitchen roll on top followed by a piece of polythene and then the bait box lid. A bit of a faff but worth it when only a perfect caster will do. When you get to the bank side it is vital that you keep them submerged in water. On a warm day a caster can turn into a useless floater in a couple of hours or less if they are not kept in water. Put them into a bowl or bait box full of water and if any float skim them off and keep them for the hook. Feeding floating casters can be a disaster as the wind or flow will take them and possibly your fish out of your swim.
Hooking a Caster

To hook a caster all you have to do is take the point of the hook and push the point into the end of the caster, the end with the two brown dots these are the casters nostrils then push the caster along the hook so it is buried in the caster. Then finally push the hook point out the side of the caster another way it to simple nick the caster in the blunt end of the caster just like a maggot.
Tips
Tips
- Always keep your casters in water.
- Try different colours of caster.
- Use floating caster on the hook when fishing on the drop as the weight of the hook will sink the caster slowly.
- When adding casters to groundbait only add them as & when you are ready to feed. If you add them all at the start of the session they will turn to floaters as the day goes on.
- Try different colour casters on the hook. Some days the fish prefer dark ones while on others they go for the lighter ones.