Plastic baits - do you leave them on the hook after fishing?

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DB731

Joined
Feb 10, 2013
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I read somewhere that they should be removed, as the agents from the plastic can damage the plastic tacklebox. If true, is the damage cosmetic or structural?

It would seem kinda overkill to ruin perfectly good Mogambo grubs by exposing them repeatedly to the barb going backwards...
 
I cut them off and put them back in the bag they came in.
Hook and all.
Most tackle boxes made now are "worm proof"
Bobbers and other plastic items aren't.
Back in the bag is a safe bet.
 
Ebbtide said:
I cut them off and put them back in the bag they came in.
Hook and all.
Most tackle boxes made now are "worm proof"
Bobbers and other plastic items aren't.
Back in the bag is a safe bet.
Click to expand...

I usually take them off and put them on later, by the time they would wear out the fish got 'em. Then I buy more bait....I usually use a bobber above the bait and wait and sometimes the fish gets/swallows the bait and I just get more they're not very expensive and removing the hook to me personally is kinda of a PTA so I just take it off.
 
I leave em on. I superglue the bait to the hook. This prevents a fish from pulling the bait half off the hook ruining the action for the rest of the retrieve if its spit. Saltwater tactic.
 
I pretty much just keep reusing them till they are unable to be hooked to rig them weedless.

I keep all my ruined plastics so eventually I will get a mold and melt the same color plastics down and make new bait.

[video=youtube;IYLSpQ30Rxs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYLSpQ30Rxs[/video]

Really all you need is a mold of you're favorite bait. Its like a creepy crawlers kit from when we we're kids.
 
Btw, I noticed some of the plastic baits have the California lead warning. What's that all about?

I really do like the warning about them not being suitable for human consumption. I wish they would put that on those 1+ oz Silver Minnows. :D
 
So that's what worm-proof means... I've been trying to puzzle that out. the only plastics I use now are berkleys, so they go in the trash after use, the go even more foul pretty quickly after getting wet.
 
Some plastic baits are impregnated with salt, which will cause your hook to rust.
If the plastic has some type of fish attractant from the factory, it's best to keep them in their bag, the oil from the plastic will discolor the compartment of your tackle box.
 
Ajack60 said:
Some plastic baits are impregnated with salt, which will cause your hook to rust.
.
Click to expand...

Damn! :mad:

Would that be the ones with the visible white specs in the bag or can they be more subtle than that? I just looked at some Mepps lures I have with older (pre-china) tinned Mustad hooks on them and they are stained in the area where contact with the plastics occurred. But, the plastic was sitting on them for at least a decade. I am not talking about the little fish that come on some Mepps lures, but the wiggly stuff with tails, aftermarket if you will.

I wonder if these things are just worth the trouble. Many times they just give the fish more space to miss the hook.
 
DB731 said:
Damn! :mad:

Would that be the ones with the visible white specs in the bag or can they be more subtle than that? I just looked at some Mepps lures I have with older (pre-china) tinned Mustad hooks on them and they are stained in the area where contact with the plastics occurred. But, the plastic was sitting on them for at least a decade. I am not talking about the little fish that come on some Mepps lures, but the wiggly stuff with tails, aftermarket if you will.

I wonder if these things are just worth the trouble. Many times they just give the fish more space to miss the hook.
Click to expand...

I would bet that is salt, I've got some that are like that. If the plastics set there for a while, you'll see the salt crystals in the bag. I try not to leave any plastic on hooks.
Depending on the time of year, longer plastics do produce more bites. On short bites, either use a double hook setup or go with a shorter plastic. I just ran into the short bite this weekend, the fish weren't feeding, just killing what came in front of them.
 
Cut the hook and plastic off and drop it in the bag while fishing.
If I go back to the bag I'll rig that one first.
At the end of the season I'll go thru all the bags and remove the ABC (Already Been Chewed) baits.
Some (the bright colors) will have the nose trimmed and be used as trailers for buck tail fishing on the beach.
Others will be trimmed and used as spinnerbait trailers.
If they are really beat up they go in the trash.

I only use Gamakatsu hooks for my plastics and haven't had problems with them rusting in the bag, salt or no salt.
YMMV
 
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