iStockphoto / Prostock-Studio/MirekKijewski
Man pushing away a pile of artificial fishing lures
The fishing lure industry is massive these days with a global valuation of somewhere around $3.5 billion. There are an untold number of brands pumping out freshwater and saltwater lures to help anglers across the planet catch more fish by making baits more realistic in the water.
How exactly is that done? Creating new composite materials which enable baits to move more naturally underwater is one method. Hyper-realistic printing to mimic real fish along with reflective and loud components to trigger ‘reaction’ strikes from fish. Then there’s the tried and true method of ‘stink.’ If a bait smells/tastes realistic in the water then a game fish will eat it. It’s as simple as that.
Guy Is Taste Testing Lures So We Don’t Have To
How exactly do we know these stinky/tasty baits are doing the job right? Well, the best indicator is whether or not they are catching fish. If you toss it in the water and get a strike then chances are it’s working.
Arguably the most potent smelling/tasting baits on the market are the Berkley Gulp! baits from Berkley which is owned by Pure Fishing. Anyone that has ever opened a bag of these baits can attest to how potent the smell is. But most people, myself included, never take things to the next level by taste testing lures. Tyler Beattie is not most people.
Over on Instagram, @tylersgonewalkabout has started taste testing fishing lures to see how legitimate they are. For his latest taste test he tries a Berkley Gulp! bait. In Tyler’s own words, it is 1/10 for him and 10/10 for the fish. Check it out:
Worth it?
The top comment from the @meateater account sums it up. They wrote “This is the type of commitment it takes to catch fish. You must become one with them.” Someone right below that comment said “It’s like we’re all prisoners watching this.” I feel both of those comments on a deep level… The only way to catch more fish is to think like a fish and honestly, I couldn’t look away from the train wreck that was this video.
That led me to his prior video of taste testing fishing lures. For this one he is taste testing the ’10inch creaming soda uv daiwa bait junkie gar.’ How did it go? Well, the video has 3.5 million views in the past few weeks…
This all reminds me of an interesting fishing tournament concept my friends here in SW Florida do every year. The concept is you can use anything you want to catch a fish as long as you eat it first. So gummy worms, spam, bacon, etc. Whatever you want to fish with s fine so long as you are willing to eat one yourself, and that does not include raw shrimp or raw fish.
What would you use for the tournament?