Browsing the web this morning, I came across this. I know that they used to exist but this is a pretty current site (last post 2005). Please let it be true.
Maggots as Fishing Baits
“Show me maggots and I immediately think of fishing bait. A fly, specially bred as the parent of our fishing bait, lays its eggs on liquidised meat and fish. Five to ten days after hatching the maggots are drinking only liquids at which stage they pupate for 14 days. After the first day or so the pupae is of no use as fishing bait: it now floats rather than sinks.
Development of the maggot can be retarded for up to six weeks by refrigeration. Hence English coarse fisherman can buy maggots (natural shade or coloured) from “Mag-it” vending machines:
Cambridgeshire and Norfolk
Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk
Kent and Northants
NB A link to suitable fishing sites for the areas served by these “Mag-it” 24 hour machines is on each page.”
So, you can’t buy Beech Nut chewing gum or fags on the street anymore but you can still get the fishermans friend. Please, someone, send us a photo.