Most maggots are bought over the counter at the local tackle shop nowadays, so quality bait is always available. Always use a popular or specialist tackle shop, because they will have a good turn-over of bait which means that the maggots will be soft and fresh.
When it's fresh, the maggot will be soft and lively and you'll see a feed spot in the centre which means they have just come off whichever feed they were bred on.
When you buy maggots, they'll come in maize or sawdust to keep them clean. To keep your maggots in the best condition, we advise you to riddle them when you get home (riddles available at most good tackle shops). To do this, empty the bait box with your maggots in on to a riddle with a 3mm mesh. Shake the riddle to separate the maggots from the old maze or sawdust and dead skins and let the maggots drop through into a container to catch them. After they have all dropped through, place them in a clean bait box with fresh maze or sawdust, then put them into a fridge to stop them turning too fast and keeping them ready for you to fish with. Only take out what bait you will need for a single fishing session, as this will also prolong the life of your bait.
Pinkies
The 'pinkie' is the larva of the green bottle, and in its natural state it's pink in colour (hence its name). This maggot can also be bought dyed red. The pinkie is a great bait in colder conditions, like autumn or winter, and can be used as a feed maggot. Pinkies are loose fed mainly, but due to their size they can't be thrown very far, so a catapult is recommended.
It can also be used as hook bait when bites are shy and hard to come by, and is a good bait for bream, roach, rudd, perch etc. The pinkie is an impressive escape artist; it can climb out of a bait box if it's allowed to sweat up or becomes damp, so keep them in the fridge and don't allow them to get wet when you're fishing in the rain.
Squatts or Feeders
This is the smallest of the maggot family, and it's the larva of the house fly. Naturally they are white but they can also be dyed red, used mainly as a feed maggot as loose feed, or they can be placed in groundbait as they are not very lively; they won't break it up when it's rolled into a ball.
Squatt or feeder maggots are a very good fish attractor, particularly when they're used as loose feed with a cupping kit. Feeders can also be used as hook bait on small size hooks - sizes 22, 24, 26 for example - and they can be fished doubled or single when bites are hard in the winter. Squats or feeder maggots are sold in damp sand to keep them at their best, as they tend to float on the surface of the water if they become dry, and you'll have to move the fish from the bottom to near the top in the water if this happens.
Gozzer Maggots
Some anglers like to breed their own maggots, and the most popular home bred maggot is the gozzer, a super soft pure white maggot which is excellent for bream fishing. To breed gozzers, take a pig's heart and make 2 to 3 cuts through it. Then, place the heart on clean bran in a biscuit tin or box, and make a hole in the lid of tin through which a fly can enter. Place the tin somewhere dark. Depending on weather and temperatures, you'll get a blow (a cluster of tiny white eggs) in a day or two. After you notice the blow, place the heart in fresh newspaper and cover it with bran to keep the smell down. Place it away from the house in a dry place, and in 6 or 7days you'll have perfect gozzers ready for riddling and placing in fresh bran in a bait box for fishing.
Casters
Casters are the pupae of the Bluebottle. The skin of the maggot goes hard and forms a shell. As the age of the caster increases so does its colour darken; the casters turn from light beige to an orange, then to a reddish brown and finally to a dark brown. Casters are best used up to and including the reddish brown stage, after that they become "floaters", although in the right circumstances even these can be useful. For example, floaters can be used to catch rudd off the surface, but beware, the wind will carry your free offerings away, and the fish with them. Casters are a particular favourite of the tench and are also particularly good at sorting out the better roach too. To hook a caster, use a small enough hook to be buried inside the shell of the caster, and push the point of the hook out through the side, so the point is not masked at all.
Wasp Grub
Wasp grubs are very large and fleshy compared with the 'true' maggot. They are not commonly used, and are a traditional favourite of anglers fishing for chub on small rivers. They can be found naturally, but it's not wise to tamper with a wasp's nest to extract them. So leave well alone.