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13 hours ago
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 21
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I would like to know what everybody thinks about using a wire basket filling it with fish scraps or old meat and letting it rot so maggots fall thus feeding your fish. Ive been doing it for two years and its cool to see bluegill and schools of perch go to town under it.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1
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I think it's a great idea as long as you don't mind the smell! 
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Chad, the most obvious potential problem might be the smell, but it does sound like a great idea.
Just do it...
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 14,676 Likes: 509
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
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Which sounds worse - "rot basket" or "maggot box"? :rolleyes:
I have considered the concept, Chad. I decided I wouldn't do it in a pond my family swims in. I didn't like the thought of the chunks of fur from old road kill getting in the pond.
I believe that was the one decision wrt the pond I made last year that my wife considers sane.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling ![[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ed/b5/e7/edb5e7f935843b996cf52be593c9ebd2--smoothie-smooth-collie.jpg)
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Joined: May 2005
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Lunker
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I've too been doing this for several years. Works great, smells bad when you're down wind. My pond extends way out beyond my back yard far enough that you never smell it from the yard. So the family doesn't even know it's there. I use waste fish and road kill in my basket. I think it's a very efficient way to convert dead things into fish food. The following is not for the faint of heart ... I put a grey squirrel on there once and when it was fully maggotized I picked it up by the tail and shook the maggots out the mouth and eyes. I swear I got two cups of maggots and the hide was empty afterwards other than bones. In a couple of days it turned from squirrel to high protein fish food. And it's free.
Gotta get back to fishin!
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 21
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I here ya but my basket is about 500 feet away. And the fish are crapping and ducks otters turtles frogs birds are to and what about all that spawning going on that your family swims in. Rotting fish on bottem that you dont even know about. Just throwing this out there take for what its worth. I like it because I dont have to buy fish food and its a garaunteed spot to show my kid all the fish.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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I have a mechanical timed shaker on mind and i get millions because of that concept you got to get those maggots out of there to keep it going.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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I personally have not used anything furry.
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Joined: Oct 2005
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Field Correspondent Lunker
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Chad...I fear that somehow I'm going to regret asking this, but the curiosity is overwhelming. I gotta see a pic of this shaker mechanism. Yes...in action.
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(btw, have been thru your fair town (city?) no less than a gazillion times on the way to and from our place up in the Nicolet when I was a kid...very nice slice of Americana)
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 14,300 Likes: 450
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bz, you are quite a man to go up and shake that maggot infested gray squirrel.
I have come to terms with the fact that I am a wussie.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Lunker
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Sunil-
You're selling yourself short.
You're just "smallie-licked"
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Joined: Sep 2003
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I don't know Yolk.
"Know thyself" is an important concept to me.
While I feel I can accomplish anything I set my mind to, there is some disconnect or short with me trying to convince myself to vibe with the rot basket. Baiting the rot basket is one thing, but going in and shaking the semi-processed attractant is a whole other matter in and of itself.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 449
Lunker
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This has been one of the most entertaining threads that I have ever read on this forum. LOL
 2008, 2011 & 2012 conference attendee. Striving to be the person that my dog already thinks I am.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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Patent pending lol it is a motor that rolls the basket like a raffle ticket box. You know it is not just the maggots its insects who land on the surface of the water that get picked off.
The smell really is no worse than field dressing a deer.
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Joined: May 2005
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Sunil, I had my nose plugged the whole time. My family does not swim in my pond. I do occasionally but not near the basket. The shaker is a creative idea but I can't believe you need one. Maggots feed until they mature and then they crawl out of the carcass and naturally head for the ground. They normally burrow into the dirt to chrysalise and turn into flies. I have manually shaken mine many times but find that I get way too much oily "crud" dropping along with the maggots. They all end up in the pond on their own anyway and they're full grown when they drop naturally. Whatever method you use go to it and get that high protien feed growing and falling into the water. I think those of us who use this method deserve some sort of "green" recycling award or something.
Gotta get back to fishin!
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Protein offset? :p
Life is Good on Bremer Pond!
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bz wrote "I think those of us who use this method deserve some sort of "green" recycling award"
Oh yeah! You do deserve some kind of award.
Really, I'm all for the method though.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 15
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This is the funniest and most disgusting thread I think I've ever read on here. Classic quote - "I personally haven't used anything furry" I have a picture in my head of guys scooping up road kill...what for? To feed the fish, of course! This would make for a great question on a test measuring your level of pond obsession - "would you put a box of rotting animal flesh over your pond for the resultant high quality fish food?" Bonus points if you'd use road kill. :p
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 14,676 Likes: 509
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Moderator here: We can talk about rotting flesh and maggots all we want guys, but let's lay off the politicians. This IS a family friendly site. 
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
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Joined: Oct 2006
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When your women doesent have with a death grip come talk to me like i said its all fun and games. theres some things that time cannot erase.
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,287
Lunker
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Neat idea, in a messy kinda way. It might be prudent to know how the dead critter met it's end. Botulism is a food poisoning. The toxin-producing bacterium, C. botulinum, is common in surface soils of both the terrestrial and the aquatic environment. Toxins are produced only when conditions favor growth and multiplication of the bacterium.
Type C toxin occurs in carcasses of dead invertebrates, in the flesh of birds dying of botulism, and in maggots feeding on toxic carcasses. In a type C botulism outbreak the sequence of events are: aquatic invertebrates ingest the bacterium when feeding and a lowering of water levels or an increase in water temperature causes large numbers of the invertebrates to die. The carcasses of the invertebrates provide a good medium for growth of the bacterium with subsequent production of toxin. Ducks feeding on the toxic dead invertebrates found in the bottom sediments become poisoned and die. Maggots infesting the duck carcasses become toxic and are eaten by ducks and other species of birds, thus increasing bird mortality in an explosive manner. I'm sure there are other toxins that could be passed to your fish via the maggots. It probably would be a rare thing to lose fish this way, but it's worth considering.
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Joined: May 2005
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Sorry about the politician comment. Yankee your comment about botulism is interesting. I wonder what conditions would have to exist to make that happen. I originally started doing this at the suggestion of my local DNR fisheries guy. You got me having second thoughts. The old saying must be true, there is no free lunch for my fish is there?
Gotta get back to fishin!
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Joined: Apr 2007
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Lunker
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bz, did you check out the link under the quote? It seems to cover the basic conditions that lead to this situation.
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 274
Lunker
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you sure dont need to shake the box because they pupate underground
maggots are clean, despite what they eat. to clean frostbite it has long been common to allow maggots to clean up the putrified flesh of explorers and mountaineers
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Originally posted by bz:
I wonder what conditions would have to exist to make that happen. I originally started doing this at the suggestion of my local DNR fisheries guy. You got me having second thoughts. BZ, The "pro's", that is, people that commonly do post-mortems on animals, will tell you there are a lot of myths about dead animals spreading disease. I wouldn't worry at all. Botulism in any situation is very rare. As long as you know what killed the animal, you'll be safe. Even if you don't know what killed the animal, the chances of it being infected with botulism is execcdingly rare.
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