Drying out lures on jigheads in direct sunlight makes them more durable
Berkley Gulp products have certainly earned a spot in my tackle box.
My personal favorite is the 3-inch shrimp in new penny. I call it “artificial live bait” because it does a great job of imitating live shrimp, without actually being a living, breathing crustacean.
This lure helped me reduce the number of actual live shrimp I’d use, which was great for keeping expenses down on my charter business. After all, costs adds up when you need up to 300 live shrimp for each trip.
With Gulp shrimp, I was able to get lines in the water faster, and ultimately catch more speckled trout.
So what’s not to like?
Gulp lures come in a container containing a stinky liquid that works as a fish attractant.
It works great — but the problem is that it can over-saturate the lures themselves. When that happens, they get spongy and tear off the hook easily.
But, over the years I learned a pretty nifty trick to save my hard-earned dollars: Just rig them on whatever hook or jighead you plan to fish with, and leave them out in the open air in direct sunlight.
Without the “juice” to keep them moisturized, the lures shrink down to a much smaller size. And when they do, they basically mold themselves onto the jighead or hook and became somewhat permanently attached.
Afterwards, just put the baits (still on the jigheads or hooks) back into the container and let them re-absorb the attractant, and they’ll return to their normal size — while retaining the toughness from being dried out.
This tip saved me a ton of time, energy and dollars — and it will work for you, too.
If you liked this article, then you may like more I have on my website, Louisiana Fishing Blog.
There’s a lot to see there, so I recommend you get started with my free video course on my homepage.
Tight lines, y’all!
Editor’s Note: Devin Denman is an avid inshore fisherman who writes the Louisiana Fishing Blog. To read more of his articles, visit lafishblog.com.