Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3709 April 13-27, 2018 | Page 20

20
FRESHWATER
April 13 - 27, 2018
HOW TO
By Cal Kellogg
Gulp! is not plastic. Standard soft-plas-
tics are made of polyvinyl chloride – the
same material used to make pipes and
other items. To make a soft-plastic out of
PVC, the material must be heated up and
combined with an oil-based resin. The
more oil-based resin added to the PVC, the
softer the bait will be. This is how Berkley
PowerBait is made.
The difference between Gulp! and
PowerBait is that Gulp! is made using
water-based resins. This allows for much
more scent distribution than with oil-based
resins. Because oil and water don’t mix,
when scent is added to a bait created from
PVC and an oil-based resin, the oil liter-
ally traps the scent inside the bait. While
some of the scent does get out, the oil
actually functions as a barrier. However,
anglers know that when fish bite Power-
Bait, they hang on much longer than they
do with other baits. By biting the bait, the
fish is releasing that scent, which makes
them think it’s actually food. This results
in more positive hooksets.
Most of the time I use Gulp! like I
would use live or dead bait. Here are a few
of my favorite presentations…
For drifting in both saltwater and fresh-
water Gulp! grubs work great, provided
the boat is moving fast enough to make the
continued from page 11
baits swim. In saltwater when targeting
rockfish and lingcod, I like to take a 6
inch Gulp! grub and place it on a three
way rig. I slap a 12 ounce weight on
the rig and swim it just off the bottom,
ticking the rocks occasionally.
In freshwater, I downsize the same
three way rig and use it for targeting
bass with 3 inch grubs. The presenta-
tion is exactly the same as in saltwater.
Locate some fish holding structure and
walk your bait across it from a drifting
boat. This approach will hook the occa-
sional trout too.
Stepping back into the saltwater for
a moment, for decades strips of squid
were the bait of choice for tipping
shrimp flies. These days I rarely use
squid for this anymore. Instead I go with
3 inch Gulp! grubs. Not only are Gulp!
grubs tougher than squid, the rockfish
actually prefer the Gulp! over squid
most of the time.
When trolling for trout Gulp! Min-
nows and Killer Crawlers are dynamite.
To hook up all you need to do is thread
these baits and run them behind a dodger
or a set of flashers. The worms are
hollow and work every bit as well as a
conventional ‘crawler.
If you are in a situation when you
California Inland Fisheries Foundation, Inc. -
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8th ANNUAL
COLLINS LAKE
TEAM TROUT FUN FISHING DERBY
Team & Youth Divisions
2 fish weigh-in —
Pay down to 15 places!
North Bay Boat, RV & Sport
Show: April 20-22!
T
he North Bay Boat, RV
& Sport Show is coming
to the Sonoma County Event
Center this April.
See the latest models of
boats, RVs, motorcycles, wave
runners, ATVs & More! Fun,
food, music for you and your
family…Don’t miss the action!
Hours: Fri Noon-7pm / Sat
10am-4pm / Sun 10am-3pm
Location: Grace Pavilion &
Shade Park
Admission: Saturday and Sunday,
Adults $5 / Children under 12 Free.
FREE FRIDAY: Free Admission for
everyone on Friday April 20th
For more information, call Kevin Wod-
linger at [phone].
think casting is the way to go, both of these
baits perform well when rigged on a 1/8
ounce jig head despite the fact that the baits
have little built in action. Clearly the scent
and shape of these baits play the major role in
triggering strikes.
All of the presentations I’ve touched on so
far have focused on moving baits. Can you
use Gulp! for still fishing like traditional bait?
You can and in some situations Gulp!
works as well or better than the real thing.
When I’m trout fishing I often bait up with
Gulp! Pinched Crawlers. The size of the
worms is perfect for trout fishing and you
don’t even need to have a worm blower
because Gulp! Pinched Crawlers float on their
own right out of the package!
In saltwater when fishing from the
shoreline for surfperch, stripers and rockfish
soaking Gulp! Sandworms and Crabs can
pay hefty dividends.
In closing it’s important to point out
that Gulp! has different physical proper-
ties then traditional soft plastics. Gulp! is
made mainly out of soybeans and water.
If you leave them out of the water for a
long period of time the baits will shrink
and become hard. For this reason, Gulp!
baits either come in a zip lock package or
a liquid filled tub. When not in use store
your baits in the package they came in. If a
bait does dry up, soak it in water or Gulp!
liquid solution and before long the baits
will regain their size, shape and softness.
If you’ve yet to give Gulp! baits a try,
pick some up and experiment with them.
They are truly the nexus between natural
bait and artificial lures!
WHAT’S HOT
Saturday,
April 28,
2018
1st Place
$300
VOL.37 • ISS. 09
3708
SHORE ANGLERS WELCOMED AND ENCOURAGED!!
All youths entered as part of a team must pay the full entry
fee and will not be considered in the Junior division.
out to be the biggest of the day at just over
3.5lbs.
As the day went on, the bite slowed down.
We managed to land 9 in total for about 10
pounds. As we talked to others heading back
to the ramp, it sounded like it was generally
a tough bite overall.
Water temperatures remained in the in the
55-56 degree range with only about a foot
of visibility. All of our bites came 10-25 feet
deep on a very slow presentation. It’s only a
matter of time before the spring bite really
erupts at Berryessa.
Louis’ Tackle Box:
The key, in my opinion, to a success-
ful day throwing a jig is having the right
equipment. My jig preferred jig set up is
a Dobyns Extreme DX 744 paired with a
Third Annual
NORTH BAY BOAT, RV & SPORT SHOW
Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Friday April 20th – Sunday April 22nd, 2018
BOATS – RV’S – ATV’S
PERSONAL WATERCRAFT
For vendor and event info, go to
https://sonomacountyoutdoorexpo.com or call