I'll preface this by admitting that if I had to write down all I knew about 'Soft Plastics' all I would need would be a builder's pencil and the back of a postage stamp.

However it has not escaped my attention that these 'things' are all the go at the moment for catching fish that I wouldn't recognise if I tripped over one. I've even seen some (I think) when in a tackle shop buying some crimps for 600lb Momoi Hard (man's tackle) - they'd be the squidgy numbers in plastic pouches swimming in a small amount of goo. I assume the goo has an aroma that fishie finds nice enought to eat.

They presumably don't last very long and are not cheap. Am I starting to smell a terrific marketing ploy? Is Berkely and his mates trying prise the dollar that would have gone to the bait shop from a bunch of unsuspecting gullible anglers? Is this all a big marketing con up there with abdominisers and never dull steak knives? Are we about to be bombarded with soft plastic infommercials?

I suspect the answer is yes to all of the above - but what would I know? My impetus to pen this drivel was a glance at the 'What I bought today' thread. Bushpig, my marlin tagging hero, last night spent $100 on these things, this money even including a wallet to keep them in!!!. The Mayor of Swinewaka is a discerning gent with his dollar (he even buys Legend Lures) and for him to shell out this sort of money that last year would have gone on pilchards is testament to the powers of suggestion and peer pressure.

I wonder if in five years packets 'soft plastics' will be lying in the corners of garages up and down the country next to piles of leisure suits, George Foreman grills, exercise bicycles, all in one make up and other such 'must have' consumer items. If I were a pilchard retailer I would not be shaking in my boots just yet.

its something different and its bloody good fun on light gear. my best is 6kg snapps on 4lb line and it was a great little scrap. kingies are even more fun

Quote: Originally posted by Bushpig on 03 May 2006

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1 x 12 or 21 ?

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Quote: Originally posted by A C on 03 May 2006

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Quote: Originally posted by Finatic on 03 May 2006

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What they said.
. How many snaps can you catch on a single pillie?

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1 X 21 lb on Monday.

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Yeah must say I'm new to them as well and impressed.

I thought great value for money, fair few in a pack for $9.95 and ya dont seem to lose many unless busted off.

I used only 3 (2  for me and 1 for a mate) while out on saturday and caught a fair few fish.

And yep great fun on light gear!

Might cast a few tonight at the mt maunganui wharf

Finatic, Yes and No. Firstly Berkley have poured more time and research into it than anybody else. Well at least they claim to and I imagine it is true. They started back in about 1989. They have spent a lot of time duplicating organic tastes and overall they have done pretty well. I have a number of articles here by members of their staff and the guy that heads their research staff.  Are you conversant with artificial coffee flavours. The situation is a little similar to that. I was involved and have been involved with that for something like 20 years and some of the early stuff was dreadful but as time has gone on a lot of the best ones today are pretty reasonable. A lot of their early attempts and especially the American ones were bloody dreadful in my opinion. Some of the better ones came from German and some of the European Flavour Houses. Unilever used to have one of the best research facilities in the UK. The floors and everything were so spotless you could eat off them.  A lot of the early stuff was very artificial and metalic in taste. Tea and wine are pretty similar in that respect. In most cases you still cant beat natural flvours and tastes. That is why things like pillies and squid are still some of the best out there. It is not just a matter of exactly copying a flavour profile but imitating it and producing something that has a unique but attractive flavour profile in itself and still strongly appeals. Perfect imitation is often impossible anyway. That is why aniseed works with fish. Once they get accustomed to it they get a real hankering for it once they recognise it. The secret is getting fish accustomed so they instantly recognise it. Ive met guys who reckon aniseed dosnt work and the reason is its because its the first time the fish have come across it. (aniseed isnt a natural flavour that is readily available in the ocean). I can certainly tell you it works alright. I can remember years ago back in the 60s I use to live in a house in Boyle Crescent just near Auckland hospital and my flatmate who is a well known NZer and wouldnt like me mentioning his name as he has a high profile job and needs to present a very squeaky clean image used to work as a seagull on the wharves plus loading beer at the railway station during his uni breaks. He used to work on the grain ships that brought the wheat in unloading those and as well as spilling a bit of wheat in the harbour at the wharf to attract the fish the wharfies use to use aniseed. This guy used to regularly bring snapper home like clockwork and also come home half cut from all the beer they used to filch at the same time. The snapper were just trained and it took stuff all to catch them. I could tell you a lot more but wont for various reasons. Ive made some pretty good attractants in the past myself and will probably bring what I have been working on for the last 5 months to market fairly shortly. In the past I have used krill as both a powder and a hydrolysate and know that works. Its a tremendous amount of work and knowledge to get it right. The good thing I found years ago was the more you work on it the better you perfect things and the better you get at it.  

With regard to Berkley I dont think they have done that much work on pheromones which is another thing and which work if you know what you are doing but like all these things it does depend on what they are combined with. You have to be a bit careful with Berkley and take some of their claims with a grain of salt. It really depends on who's giving you the information wether it their reasearch people or their sales staff. Sales staff are like sales staff anywhere and some sales staff have s**t for brains and will tell you the most outrageous lies. Always remember Berkley is a really big corporation and its mostly the almighty dollar that drives the business. I take what I am told carefully and verify it but at the same time I will admit they do have some very good products.  

At the end of the day plastic tastes just like plastic if that is all there is and just about all the good S/P manufacturers have learned to add attractants. As they say the sincerest form of flattery is imitation. Those that have learned to imitate both flavour, scent, and action generally produce the best S/Ps. Remember Scent and Action are what attract fish but Flavour/Taste is what holds a fish. With no flavour/taste you will generally only get one strike/bite. With FLAVOUR/TASTE the fish will hold on or return. The idea is to increase the odds in your favour. Flavour plays a far bigger part than most people realise. Its a bit like the old joke about Sambo and Rastus and the Intelligence Balls.