Pink Maggots for Fishing Bait

Pink maggots are generally an artificial bait that looks like food for fish, smells like food for fish, or is generally used to mask the smell of humans, all while presenting a color of bait that is irresistible to most fish. I’ve used pink maggots for panfish, trout, bass, salmon, and more. In my experience, they just work, and the pink ones really seem to be better.

I’ve been writing and experimenting with fishing, especially for kokanee salmon, and have tried a lot of different baits, especially around the maggots and wax worms. Artificial and real baits are only improving, and pink maggots just plain work.

Why Pink?

There’s just something about the color pink that many fish just like. Trout and salmon often have pink flesh, and pink eggs, and perhaps that accounts for the reason why fish like it, but most types of fish just seem to have an attraction to the color pink. I’ve read reports that bass, salmon, trout, walleye, and panfish all seem to be attracted to it. I’ve noticed this is especially true in trout and salmon, and have experimented with it extensively on kokanee salmon. Kokanee salmon love pink, whether that be in corn, dodgers, lures, or of course: pink maggots, pink is our most successful color when fishing for kokes.

How to Use Pink Maggots

Pink maggots can be used like you would a nightcrawler, but its also used in more versatile ways as well. Pink maggots are often used to tip lures, hoochies, and other trolling rigs to both attract, and to entice fish with the scents as well. Below is a basic Kokanee salmon setup, and Gulp! maggots would be used to add scent to the lure or hoochie at the end of the rig on one or both of the hooks.

Cheapest Place to Buy Pink Maggots

The industry standard for fishing maggots are the pink Gulp Maggots. As of the time we’re writing this, Amazon has the same price of pink gulp maggots as Walmart, Sportsman’s Warehouse, and is cheaper than Cabela’s and Bass Pro. I’m also a fan of the convenience of ordering fishing gear online, from home in my underwear. Or if I see I’m running out on the lake, I can just pull out my phone and get them ordered at the same price as most anywhere else, and have them to my door the next day, ready for me to get back out and hit the water again. Amazon really ought to sponsor me.

Berkley Gulp! Maggots: Pink

Should I Use Real or Artificial Maggots?

If you want pink maggots, they’re most likely going to be artificial. The main problem with using real maggots is their life cycle. Maggots are larva for flies and other insects. It’s like a tadpole, before it turns into a frog. It takes about 14 to 36 days to go from an egg into a fly. They’re only in the maggot stage for a week or less. It would make it really hard for them to be sold if they really were maggots.

If you see something advertised as maggots and they’re alive, they’re most likely wax worms. Wax worms are significantly bigger than maggots, and are actually big enough for you to put on a hook. Wax worms can be used for fishing, and are also commonly used for lizard and reptile food. Some maggots and worms can be dyed to be pink, but the neon pink that fish love does not occur naturally. Earth worms are pinkish/purple, but that’s about as close to pink as you’ll probably find. In addition to being able to dye wax worms, manufacturers can also add scent boosters to the worms to make them even more attractive to fish.

I’ve fished with both, and honestly, both work. I prefer the gulp maggots both for the convenience, and because I have confidence in their scents. I’ve had great success with them, and I don’t have to stop by the store for wax worms before I hit the lake.

Fishers Choice Wax Worms