I’m over the salt

[Heron]

I understand the idea adding salt to soft plastics, is so the fish will hold on to the bait longer.  But there is salt on every part of everything...sometimes needlessly.

 

im not a fan of how the salt mucks with the natural buoyancy of the bait.  

 

The appendages of a craw, creature bait, or even chunk trailer, should be allowed to float up naturally...not be bogged down with salt.

 

same goes for the tail half of a worm, let it be naturally buoyant, without the salt.

 

I also see absolutely no need, to insert salt into a paddle tail, or any other swimbait.  

 

My two cents

 

 

[813basstard]

Fish are more out of shape now than in years past. Heavy salt/sugar diet is trickling down to animals. 

[Cgolf]

In the baits doesn't bother me as much as on the baits. I have actually soaked baits in water to rinse all the salt off before I boxed them up. Same goes for companies that dump like a cup of oil in the bag. After rigging up some of those baits you worry that the fishing pole will slip out of your hand on the hookset. I wish companies would just provide baits that are dry to the touch and minus the salt shake on the outside of the bait too.

[Hower08]

Salt is mostly for added weight, it's suppose to effect the buoyancy of the bait. 

 

Most baits come with salt and without 

[Mobasser]

I don't really give it much thought anymore. I fish salted, and non salt plastics. I havnt seen a big difference in catch rates or size

[mrpao]

My question is can the salt on these lures affect my magnesium framed reels. I have noticed that usually after I bait one up, my hand is covered in salt. Then some of that salt usually ends up on my reel that I'm fishing with.

[Heron]

3 hours ago, Hower08 said:

Salt is mostly for added weight, it's suppose to effect the buoyancy of the bait. 

 

Most baits come with salt and without 

I have lead and tungsten for added weight

3 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I don't really give it much thought anymore. I fish salted, and non salt plastics. I havnt seen a big difference in catch rates or size

Then it stands to reason, the addition of salt provided no real benefit.  

[RoLo]

 

"I'm Over The Salt"

 

Need to try anchovies?   

[Mobasser]

4 minutes ago, Heron said:

I have lead and tungsten for added weight

Then it stands to reason, the addition of salt provided no real benefit.  

For some folks I think salt makes a difference. It's just personal preference I think. I buy plastics because I like the look color or style, and based on what's worked in the past. We all have our favourites.

[craww]

Lead and tungsten add weight in a specific spot on the bait. There are stick baits that weigh a fraction of a senko, you can add all the weight you want but they will never wiggle the way that heavy, evenly distributed, salt laden senko does on the fall.
 

I definitely agree that some baits are obnoxiously COVERED in salt. Theres a tube I like thats got so much salt & garlic oil on it that catfishing W/cut bait may be neater option.

[waymont]

Aren’t Senkos salted to give them the magic drop everyone is always talking about.

[Heron]

Ok, for the record, I give Senkos a pass

 

because the salt in a senko is an integral part of the baits function.  I’m ok with that

[WRB]

What soft plastics are you using that have salt added to package?

Tom

[Heron]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

What soft plastics are you using that have salt added to package?

Tom

Me personally, don’t mind salt in the package.

 

instead I don’t like baits with droopy appendages and droopy tails, because of the salt content inside the plastic

 

not to mention, the compromised durability that the addition of salt into the plastic contributes to

[Hower08]

6 hours ago, Heron said:

I have lead and tungsten for added weight 

Many plastics greatly benefit from salt when fishing weightless. If fishing bottom contact with added weight the salt could negate the action needed by preventing the bait from having some buoyancy.

[DitchPanda]

The salt doesn't bother me but the oil dumped in the bag sure does. I've noticed it with a few brands...yum seems to be particularly bad at times. I've bought yum dingers that were so oily that I've dumped them out on a paper towel..cleaned them off...wiped the bag out and put them back. Kind of a pain to hold onto otherwise which makes rigging a chore.

[Heron]

48 minutes ago, Hower08 said:

Many plastics greatly benefit from salt when fishing weightless. If fishing bottom contact with added weight the salt could negate the action needed by preventing the bait from having some buoyancy.

Yes....when fishing weightless.

 

but when every other craw and creature bait loaded with salt, that goes on a jig, shakeyhead, or Texas rig....the salt becomes mostly irrelevant 

[N Florida Mike]

10 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I don't really give it much thought anymore. I fish salted, and non salt plastics. I havnt seen a big difference in catch rates or size

This ^^^

[Hower08]

57 minutes ago, Heron said:

Yes....when fishing weightless.

 

but when every other craw and creature bait loaded with salt, that goes on a jig, shakeyhead, or Texas rig....the salt becomes mostly irrelevant 

Best part about salted baits is you have enough on your hands at end of day no need to put any on your food

[MIbassyaker]

The idea that salt attracts or makes bass hold on to baits longer to any substantial degree is not supported by the evidence. Berkley lures scientist Keith Jones addresses it briefly in his book Knowing Bass:

 

"Bass are not the salt lovers we are. While sensitive to sodium chloride, bass find it mildly appealing at best. Flavor tests in the laboratory show consistently that bass quickly lose interest in objects flavored by sodium chloride alone. When added to an organic mixture, such as worm extract, table salt may slightly improve the overall flavor, but it is no more than a minor enhancement." (p. 57-8)

 

The data reported in the book from the Berkley experiments show table salt and garlic fare only very slightly better than sugar and anise which are "almost always spit out, often within a split second" (p. 57), and much worse than complex extracts or mixes of electrolytes found in actual prey species like baitfish and invertebrates:

 

"Studies show that whereas no single salt is overly tasty, bass deem salt mixtures that replicate prey species' electrolyte content to be quite palatable. Apparently the various electrolytes in the mixture react with each other synergistically to make their combination more potent than any single salt by itself. Although sodium and chloride are major ionic components of these mixtures, prey salts contain a wide variety of different electrolytes. Bass can readily distinguish between these complex mixtures and plain table salt." (P. 58)

[diehardbassfishing]

HA!

I'm not the only one that washes bags of baits with salt all over 'em.

Can sleep better tonight!

 

Karl

[Catt]

17 hours ago, mrpao said:

My question is can the salt on these lures affect my magnesium framed reels

 

Absolutely, so does the salt in your sweat. As long as there is no break in the protected finishes.

 

7 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

Berkley lures scientist Keith Jones addresses it briefly in his book Knowing Bass:

 

What Dr Jones fails to mention & what y'all are missing is all blood contains salt. 

 

Now all that salt dumped in the bag ain't doing squat.

[TnRiver46]

When I go to bite the tag end of my line off a strike king bitsy tube, I get a little salt in my mouth. Delicious! It makes me really want French fries though......

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, Heron said:

Yes....when fishing weightless.

 

but when every other craw and creature bait loaded with salt, that goes on a jig, shakeyhead, or Texas rig....the salt becomes mostly irrelevant 

Do you want to fish floating baits?  Get unsalted.  They're out there.  You want baits that sink?  Get baits that have salt in the plastisol mix.  The salt in the package just keeps baits from sticking.  It rinses off in the water, and has no effect on the plastic.

[Heron]

13 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Do you want to fish floating baits?  Get unsalted.  They're out there.  You want baits that sink?  Get baits that have salt in the plastisol mix.  The salt in the package just keeps baits from sticking.  It rinses off in the water, and has no effect on the plastic.

Are there unsalted keitech swimbaits out there? Does Yamamoto make any unsalted hula grubs? Does zoom make any unsalted chunk trailers?