Berkley Gulp

[Red Childress]

I watched the Can-Am Walleye Championships on my new favorite channel (WFN) last weekend and was impressed with the success that the anglers were having with the Gulp line of baits. It was an "artificial only" format taking the top US and Canadian pros and pitting them against each other.

Most of the pros were a little hesitant in anticipating good catches with this artificial only format but after the first few hours on Day 1, most said the Gulp outfished live bait. The most positive aspect of using the Gulp, according to the fisherman, was the ability to catch multiple fish on the same single bait which translated into spending more time in the water instead of re-baiting hooks.

[RapRunR]

Thx for the tip !! My areas for getting baitfish in the 6" to 8" range is getting depleted as i'm not the only one that gets them in those spots. I'll have to get some Gulp baits and try them out. Amazing they outfished live bait !!

[b.bent66]

there is a ton of articles and vids on the next bite web site about the benefits of gulp and other products by berkley.

[Red Childress]

The crawler version of the Gulp pulled behind a spinner was just hammering the fish.........guys were double hooking the heads of the "worms" as to not allow them to get thrown when the fish started to thrash plus, by double hooking the heads it gave a little more spin to the crawler which enticed strikes.

My partner has been using this stuff for a while and he swears by it....especially the artificial leeches, when fresh ones are tough to come by while he is on the road.

[stushsky]

any thoughts on "scent" as it relates to musky fishing? i've yet to experiment but you never know!
stan

[Red Childress]

Hey Stan,

There have been contradicting assumptions regarding scent and musky fishing over the years. After reading several opinions from notable veterans in the musky fishing world along with the very few scientific studies that have been published about the Esox family, it pretty much boils down to this:

Muskies have better "hearing" due to a more refined lateral line and pike seem to be more of a "visual" predator BUT using scent for pike has long been a great way to increase your catch rates. Pork trailers/dead bait and scented cotton balls attached to the hooks of baits have increased catches of pike but NOT for muskies, according to everything I can find.

There are some famous musky fisherman/biologists who seem to think that muskies really do not get turned on nearly as much as pike when using scent BUT if your presentation smells "unnatural" and/or the musky is NOT in an aggressive feeding mode, the extra "fishy" scent on your bait could be all you need to turn that particular musky into an eater.

I would assume that the row trollers in WI or the guys who are "dead sticking" their suckers at boatside while casting artificials would have their own opinions and probably more worthy than mine.

The first musky I ever caught (December '93) was using a big jig tipped with a large dead shad......the fish followed all the way to the boat and ate me at boatside on a figure-8 in 39 degree water.

No scent seems to be much better than BAD SCENT, like the smell of petroleum products from dirty hands handling your baits..................