Do they need to be refrigerated, will scented baits lose their potency, are they uv protected? First time I have used them and I bought way to many, lol. I am impressed with them though. How do you store yours? Thanks.
I just put my plastics in a ziplock bag in the cool basement. I am sure the worst place to store it would be a hot garage!
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I just put my plastics in a ziplock bag in the cool basement. I am sure the worst place to store it would be a hot garage!
X2…keep them out of the sun and in a cool place where they wont dry out and/or harden… 
Why pack them away? Throw them in the boat and give them a try on open water!
I’d go thru the packages and toss any baits that are iffy. Next I’d be sure that that baits are laid out straight in their packaging and that the seals are tight. Storing them in a cool dark location is definitely to your advantage.
The tip about using them during the summer is a sure thing at certain times especially for panfish. I make up a small selection of productive baits and a few smaller jigs using 2″X3″ zip locks to keep things separate and put all of them in a quart sized freezer bag with a zip lock. The quart bag takes up little room, holds plenty, but doesn’t make things complicated by having too much tackle with a limited use. Its easy to take the bag in the house to refresh things as they get used, then put back in the tackle box or bag.
Something else to consider when storing your plastics is to put a drop or two of worm oil in the package with them so they don’t get too sticky during storage. Gulp products in the zip bags can lose a lot of the juice thru use, so buy a spray bottle of it and add enough to the packages so its visible that the baits are “swimming” in it like what you’d see in new packages and be sure to store these with the seals standing up, baits at the bottom of the package.
Baits [other than power bait, gulp and the X baits] during summer use can get bent from heat and exposure to hot sun. You can set these baits in a pan or water heated just to boiling long enough to get them hot. Remove from the water and lay them out on a DRY cookie sheet, keeping the baits and legs and tails straight and flat and allow to cool that way and sit for two or three days in a cool environment, like in a basement. Re-oil them, then re-bag them and they’ll be like new.
Great read. Tom what would you recommend to re-oil them with?
Netcraft, Barlows…places like these sell worm oil in the plastics making sections. Just a couple drops in a factory package will go a long way with keeping baits in good shape. Fleet Farm or Gander or Cabelas might have the worm oil in stock somewhere but I’ve never noticed it.
If you want to add some scent to the bait packages, just add a couple drops of scent that is oil based. You can make a cover scent using anise essential oil mixed with worm oil. A dozen drop of the essential oil will make about three ounces of scented worm oil and that mixture goes a long way….I’d add plain worm oil then a drop or two of the anise scented oil.
I’ll add here that the plastics that have been heated in water might take additional oil at and after re-packaging, so a quick check on those a couple weeks afterward might be doing good. If needed, re-oil. This is because plastics are not all the same, they’re made with similar but different components and in differing combinations. Some plastics will suck up oil like no tomorrow while others will almost weep oil from within. The plastic I use in making my baits will initially like to have a bit of oil to help get the packaging done, but if left alone in a bag will exude oil from within over time…it’s just the nature of the plastic formula I use. There are some on the market exactly the opposite.
The two big enemies of plastics are sunlight and heat and they go hand in hand. While a garage in the summer can get pretty hot, its still going to be cooler than in direct sunlight. Plastics in a garage will tolerate that sort of heat. In the boat while fishing they’ll be more likely take a warp or bad bend. Tackle left in the boat in a garage is way less likely to be harmed than tackle left in a boat open to sun day after day. [That sun will affect mono and fluoro line on reels too.] Most of today’s packaging will have some uv retardant in it to help preserve the colors and the quality of the plastics inside, so the sun’s damage doesn’t come so much from uv rays as it does heat.
If my gear and tackle get a soaking during a rain squall, I’ll spread everything out on the floor of the boat in the garage to dry. I’ll set a fan on a set to blow air across the tackle to hasten this process. Water left I and amongst ziplocks full of plastic can get past the seals and down the road the plastics can turn foggy and cloudy. Once in a while drying those cloudy baits in a room with a dehumidifier will get the color back but the next time they see humidity they’ll turn again. I try to keep my tackle storage system[5 gallon pail,lol] dry as much as possible. Those plastics with salt are a real challenge.
Put them in your boat/tackle bag and use them once the ice goes out. I use ice plastics year around.
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