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In a moment of fiscal irresponsibility, I bought a jar of Berkley Gulp! Earthworms, and then, when I opened the jar and saw what an ugly mess they had fobbed off on me, I put it on the shelf and it sat there for at least 6 months.
Then I watched one of the In'Fisherman fishing shows on TV and there was good ol' Doug Stange, pitching out those very same fake earthworms under a bobber and catching big trout.
"Well," says I, "Maybe if Mr. In'Fisherman himself is pushing the product, maybe I ought to give it a chance."
So I rigged up two identical rod/reel combos with slip bobbers and #6 aberdeen hooks, and did a side-by-side test. One rod had half of a real night crawler (about all the hook would hold), and one had the Gulp! earthworm. I fished them side by side for about 4 hours.
And, I'll be damned, they both caught fish, and they came out even. The fake worm didn't outfish the real Lumbricus Terrestris, but it didn't fall behind, either. They both caught numerous bass, a couple of big bluegills, two or three perch, and a couple of trout. I really can't say either one came out ahead.
I really didn't expect this stuff to work, but it did. It didn't beat the night crawler, but it came out the exact equal of a night crawler. I still can hardly believe it. I'll say one thing, if you think you might like to have live bait along for a backup, but you don't want to mess with buying and toting the worms, just keep a jar of these in the tackle box, and they will fill the bill.
W. E.
Note:
This is not a commercial, I have no connection with Berkley except for paying my own hard earned cash for their highly priced products.
Another note:
For the confused, these are not the Berkley plastic worms, they come in a jar and they look like they have been extruded from some powerbait-like material, although they are tougher than powerbait and don't smell like powerbait. (They don't smell any better, just different.)
Then I watched one of the In'Fisherman fishing shows on TV and there was good ol' Doug Stange, pitching out those very same fake earthworms under a bobber and catching big trout.
"Well," says I, "Maybe if Mr. In'Fisherman himself is pushing the product, maybe I ought to give it a chance."
So I rigged up two identical rod/reel combos with slip bobbers and #6 aberdeen hooks, and did a side-by-side test. One rod had half of a real night crawler (about all the hook would hold), and one had the Gulp! earthworm. I fished them side by side for about 4 hours.
And, I'll be damned, they both caught fish, and they came out even. The fake worm didn't outfish the real Lumbricus Terrestris, but it didn't fall behind, either. They both caught numerous bass, a couple of big bluegills, two or three perch, and a couple of trout. I really can't say either one came out ahead.
I really didn't expect this stuff to work, but it did. It didn't beat the night crawler, but it came out the exact equal of a night crawler. I still can hardly believe it. I'll say one thing, if you think you might like to have live bait along for a backup, but you don't want to mess with buying and toting the worms, just keep a jar of these in the tackle box, and they will fill the bill.
W. E.
Note:
This is not a commercial, I have no connection with Berkley except for paying my own hard earned cash for their highly priced products.
Another note:
For the confused, these are not the Berkley plastic worms, they come in a jar and they look like they have been extruded from some powerbait-like material, although they are tougher than powerbait and don't smell like powerbait. (They don't smell any better, just different.)
the key is to burp them and put the lid back on for a couple days and burp them again. this way it dries out evenly. you dont want it to be rock hard you just want it to be like rubber. stays on the hook really well this way too. i have seen those gulp worms and after my powerbait experience i may get me some. was even thinking of getting some artificail eggs. my salmon eggs get nasty in the heat. anybody ever fish with those pickeled minnows?
