The Caster
The Caster is the pupae of the blue bottle fly (Calliphora vomitoria) (also known as the blow-fly). It is an ideal bait for all fish, especially Roach, Bream, Chub and Barbel. The Caster is known for sorting out the better fish but exactly why this is a mystery. Many specimen fish have been caught and many fishing matches have been won using the Caster. Fish do not always respond immediately to Casters and it may be from a few minutes to an hour or so before they do, but when they do you could be in for a great day, picking off the larger specimen fish. Roach love Casters and many an angler will tell you that the best bait for catching Roach is Casters. The Caster varies in colour from a light, creamy colour in the early stages to almost black just before it hatches. Personally I like my Caster to be a light golden brown colour. As well as changing colour the Casters buoyancy also changes. As it gets darker it starts to float making it useless for fishing unless used as hookbait only.

Care of your Caster
Casters are usually sold in an airtight polythene bag. The first thing to do when you get your Casters is to empty them into a container of clean water. The good Casters will sink to the bottom and the floaters can be removed. Drain the Casters and place them in a plastic bag with the air expelled in the fridge at a low temperature. To prevent 'burn' marks on your Casters which are caused by being against the side of the bag, check them daily by opening the bag and giving them a shake. This will also allow fresh air into the bag. Again exclude the air from the bag, re-seal and replace in the fridge. If you want your Casters to be all the same shades of brown the way to do this is; Empty your Casters onto a shallow tray and spread them evenly so that you have a single layer of Casters. Cover them with a damp cloth and place the tray somewhere cool with an ambient temperature checking regularly as to the colour change of your Casters. The warmer the temperature the quicker the change in colour. When they are the colour you require put them back into a plastic bag with the air expelled in the fridge at a low temperature. Fresh Casters can keep for up to a week in the fridge if looked after, although they are at their best if used within 2 or 3 days. For each pint of Casters you will need approximately 1 and a half pints of maggots and many serious anglers turn their own Casters by riddling the maggots 4 or 5 times a day to catch the maggot at the turning stage. I have turned Casters myself but I find it time consuming and the Casters I have bought from fishing tackle shops have always been good Casters anyway. Only once was I given old Casters and on that occasion the delivery to the fishing tackle shop had been cancelled for some reason and the shop owner told me the Casters were old. In fact he gave me them without charge. Maybe not all fishing tackle shops sell good Casters and I am just lucky in the respect that I have always received fresh Casters.

Fishing the Caster
When going fishing remove your Casters from the fridge and give them a rinse in clean water. Drain them off and put your Casters in a bait tub and cover the tub with cling film and replace the lid. When you get to your peg open the tub and fill it with water to immerse the Casters. Keep the Casters submerged in water for the rest of the day, changing the water frequently to keep them cool. It is vital that the Casters are kept submerged otherwise they will dry out and turn to floaters, although you can leave a handful of casters on a tray to become floaters and use as hookbait. The floating Caster will help to counterbalance your hook. On warm days casters can turn into floaters in a couple of hours or less if they are not kept cool in water. Skim off any floater and put to the side for hookbait or discard it. Floating Casters introduced into the water can be a disaster as the wind or flow will take them away from your swim and entice the fish away. As I have said, the Caster is an ideal bait for all fish, especially Roach, Bream, Chub and Barbel and is known for sorting out the better fish. Caster fished with Hemp is a deadly combination and is known for producing for large catches of summer Roach. Fish Caster on the hook and loose feed Hemp with a few Casters mixed in. If the bites become less, then cut back on the loose fed hemp and try feeding a few more Casters. You can also try a red maggot on the hook if bites are slow. Casters are a great ingredient to add to any groundbait. Use in plain groundbait or continental groundbait. All fish like Casters and unlike the Maggot or Pinkie that crawls away and buries itself the Caster stays where it's put.

Hooking Casters
The hooking of a Caster is different than the hooking of a maggot. The most common method of hooking a Caster involves burying the hook inside the bait. It is best to use a barbless or a fine wired hook when fishing Casters as they are easier to insert into the Caster and will not spoil your bait when you place the hook inside. Use a fine wire spade end hook of size 18 or 20, push the point into the blunt end of the Caster, rotate the hook inside the Caster until just the spade is showing, then push the spade into the shell of the Caster to end up with a totally hidden hook. The bigger the caster is the easier this is to do. If any of the internal white juice of the Caster is showing after hooking it, discard the Caster and start again because it is unlikely that you will get a positive bite or even get a bite at all. (Don't ask me ! I don't know why). The disadvantage with burying the hook is that the Caster gets 'shelled' more often (shelled means; after a bite, which in the case of Roach is super quick, you are left with just the 'shell' of the Caster on your hook). Another method of hooking a Caster is to simply hook it through the blunt end like a maggot and leave the hook visible. Try this if the fish are competing for food and you are getting lots of bites. This can be more effective as with the hook point showing, less bites will be missed. The other advantage of hooking Casters this way is that you can use smaller hooks which, when fishing on the drop for example, will not weigh the caster down as much and will allow it to sink slower than with a bigger hook. If fishing double Caster, hook one Caster through the blunt end and the other through the other end, this helps stop the bait twisting in the water. For bigger fish like Chub , Barbel and Tench try two or three casters on a size 14 or 12 hook.

To find where to buy casters in your area check out Local Fishing Tackle and Bait Shops

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