Best way of keeping Casters

joffmiester · #1

We are all feeling the pinch where our money is not going as far as it used to.nowadays more and more anglers are keeping the bait from the weekend if they haven't used it .Even G/B is frozen for another day worm are kept maggots are chilled down or bagged up hemp is frozen and bet some even freeze there pellets . the one bait you can have trouble looking after is casters what with fridge burn or the water they are in goes sour . Normally my Ducks have them they always know when ive been fishing

well earlier this year i took some bait a cross to Holland and used the new sensas Bait boxes that are used for pumping pellets.At the time i though i wonder if you can do the same with casters

There are endless uses for these bait boxes you could even put your pack up in them

For the Holland trip it was easy as i just filled the box with casters and pumped the air out and it worked brilliant .The casters would of kept all week and not a fridge burn in sight . when i got back i put it to bed and never really thought about it until the last few weeks when i'd got a build up of casters so i tried half filling them

After week the casters were still mint condition so i left them in the fridge for another week and still no change from the look of the eye .I opened them just to see if they smelt or had any signs of burns but no nothing looked as good as when i put them in .I then sealed them again and left them another week the result was a little change but still useable

but now things have got a hole lot better with Sensas bring out smaller boxes
well worth ago it will save your bait

Rigga · #2

Great idea im currently using old glass jars mainly coffee jars. Get the casters dry and fill em to the top and they stay good with no bag burns. Your method looks easier i must say i may try it out.

Pedro · #3

Talking abart caster for holland...Boycie

Found this tub lurkin at back of mi fridge early september

Was expecting em to be black.......tell thee wot they smelt fookin rancid wi inch of slime lining bottom of tub

chub_tamer · #4

pair of yr lasses tights put the casters in them tie it up and put it in yr toilet system water changes all the time they keep gr8 for a week

p s don't put them in with a toilet duck or they small like sh!t lol

big_cup · #5

pair of yr lasses tights put the casters in them tie it up and put it in yr toilet system water changes all the time they keep gr8 for a week

p s don't put them in with a toilet duck or they small like sh!t lol

What the crappity smack do you know about looking after bait??

big_cup · #6

Talking abart caster for holland...Boycie

Found this tub lurkin at back of mi fridge early september

Was expecting em to be black.......tell thee wot they smelt fookin rancid wi inch of slime lining bottom of tub

Peds, you should of took them on ne of your barble hunts

Years ago when we was on trent national a barble regular came watching us at collingham while he waited to get in his peg. He new what he was on with, showed me his casters that stank horrendous, he said they had to be a minimum of 6 weeks old. Anyway to cut a long story short we didn't have any barble where we were, he jumped in as we packed up, bucketed 4pints of the honking casters in with 3pint of hemp then chucked a lump of meat over top of it, hey presto he had one 12lb first chuck and had another 8lb before we left the bank

chub_tamer · #7

hes been crappity smack about with my pic again should never have given him my password

big_cup · #8

hes been crappity smack about with my pic again should never have given him my password

Thought you had got your lass busy?? Wheres stuff from bottom gone? You removed it

Paul_T · #9

Joff do you let the air out daily and let them breathe at all then re-pump? Or do you just keep them pumped for a whole week and not touch them?

As casters are "living" I would have thought they would suffocate and go black if you left them without letting them breathe for a week? A great tip, cheers!

joffmiester · #10

Paul I tried it first for one week I never touched them and the casters were perfect . I then opened them by letting the air out looked and smelt them .i then put the lid back on for another week if anything the caster did go a little darker but still perfect for caster fishing .i can tell you I still have a bait box full of casters and they are going into the fourth week . This seems too long to me but I can tell you they still don't smell or look bad .it might be us the angler that are more bothered about how our bait looks

The glebe fishery is one of the best fisheries in the country and I can tell you some of the lads up there use caster that are 6 to 8 weeks old

and bag up

#11

A caster lives for about three days but there is no reason why fish will not eat them, - after all they eat dead maggots.

When I go to Ireland I use caterers boiled egg buckets which hold 6 pints and are 100% airtight. I put a couple of layers of kitchen roll at the top of each bucket and seal the lids down. As long as they are kept on a cool concrete floor they will comfortably last 10 days but don't keep opening them until you need them.
Save one bucket for any casters you have left after fishing, wash 'em off and fill this as much as you can; they will be fine for the next day or two.
You can keep maggots in the same buckets for about three days; just get as much shyte off them as you can and chill them down before you bucket them. They can take a bit to come round but they will eventually.

Casters were only 3 euros a pint in Ireland in September; at the time equivalent to £2.40 here!

Anyone want to know how to keep squatts from one week to the next without the size decreasing?

#12

Forgot, if you keep your casters in the fridge use two placcy bags inside one another, this reduces bag burn.

simon_m · #13

shop i get em off supply them wrapped in a brown paper bag then this is wrapped in normal poly bag they keep bang on with no burn at all get em on the friday and thel keep for ages like that

Paul_T · #14

Thanks Joff.

I have used frozen casters to good effect for mud pigs, but the more discerning roach doesn't seem to like them!

I have heard that Roy Marlow loves rank caters at the Glebe, the smellier the better!

NoCarpPlease · #15

Fred bailey anyone? I've read stories of the state of his casters .... Don't know how true though!

I've been meaning to try pellet pump for a while .... But that would mean buying one! This does look a good option.

old_trentman · #16

Mate when i used to fish on the severn yrs ago( pos 30yrs ) i spent alot of time with Fred and Ron Russel they used to use old bait that was that old it smelt gros for the chub etc ,the older the better lols .But you use old bait for roach and u wont get a bite ,i like my bait to be has fresh has pos any bait that i have left over i give to the carp lads they love it . So i say the fresher the better and dont keep any for the next week when roach fishing

MrV · #17

Fred bailey anyone?

Remember walking the bank on a Bewdly match with Pete Boden. He said "Fred must be pegged close by". Who's Fred, I ask. Oh he uses the mankiest, oldest bait he can get his hands on, replies Pete. Sure enough, a few pegs further on we arrived behind this chap who I had never met before and he is netting a chub. The smell from his peg was bloody awful. If I remember correctly, his bait was kept in biscuit tins, all mushed up like a stodge, which he fed like G/B

. Pete explained the Chub love the stinking bait, but only Fred would risk using it regularly

craftytafty · #18

casters?, why not just use maggots, best roach bait around, catches the small fish as well as the stamp fish!! simples ( sos Kingfisher, cudn't resist

damo28 · #19

What abouu wrapping them in damp newspaper and putting them in a sealed bag to freeze?

#20

Get mine off turner, there the dogs b.o.l.l.o.c.k.s