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First trip out with the Gripz beak points: Unfortunately no weed to contend with on this trip so the interesting part wasn't tried, however six takes six landed, no slippage or damage caused, 3 fish on a single hook, before changed. The successful rig was the KD with a wafter hookbait taking 5 of the fish, the relevance of this I'm not sure of because those 5 came from the left side of the baited spot for whatever reason. All good so far, the trail continues...

You can freeze up to 48hrs and they’ll come back to life 😱😱😱 I use a lot of dead maggots when using them for carp with just a pint of wrigglers for hookbaits 😬

Overnight in the freezer and they could well be still alive next day, just very slow until they warm up. I used to use a lot of maggots, so here is my advice: Buy fresh maggots from the tackle shop. The newer, fresher they are the larger the food spot is. Older maggots have almost no food spot, and will soon turn to casters. When you get back riddle the maggots, take off all the sawdust sold with them. Put them into a maggot tub with fresh clean sawdust or maize meal. If you buy a pint of maggots, put them in a two pint bait tub. Basically for the amount of maggots you buy, double the size of the bait tub. Keep your maggots in the fridge, and riddle them every day. This removes dead skins and casters, and check the sawdust/maize meal. There is a 'but' to fresh maggots, in winter, especially on rivers, older maggots wriggle more on the hook.

Be more or less same as last year...few kg of bait and PVA...see what else on offer. Hopefully Sonik have some clothing range by then...

ticket bought 😁

Anyone going 2020 ?? Pre registered for my ticket...bought tonight...sure its dearer this year ? Going Sunday 23rd Feb 2020.

Thanks very much , Kev. Here's to your continuing success , and next report . 😀

Unfortunately not - PM sent lol

Probably not,mate. But I’ve found once they become pre occupied with em dead or alive will do. Always live on the hook tho. 😬

I don't think they're half as effective as live ones Stevo!

I buy my maggots direct from the maggot farm that supplies the surrounding area/tackle shops. I actually now request mine with no cleaning or riddling whatsoever - straight from the line - and just the tiniest bit of dust. They're absolutely disgusting and stink to high heaven - which imo is exactly what you want for fishing. Most guys love a nice clean riddled wriggler but in terms of effectiveness I do not believe it's the way to go.

They'll die if frozen ! You need a fridge not a freezer .

There's only one way and that is to keep them cold , decent cool box with lots of ice packs .

That's it right there. Confidence comes from experience; knowing what you are doing in a given situation will catch them. That is a hallmark of inexperience imo. A confident and experienced angler will determine why the chosen method isn't working as intended and fix it. I have no time for doubt. I am not prepared to sit behind rods that I'm not 100% happy with. Of course we all blank, it is part of carp fishing, but as long as you learn from it you confidence levels can continue to elevate. If you know why you blanked then you know how to adapt for next time.

My next river target!