Bagged baits shelf life

[jsnyd86]

Hoping I don't bring up something that's been discussed multiple times, but I couldn't find anything in the search.

I'll be donating 100 bags of baits to the Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers Tournament this September and want to get started now so I can knock them out at my own pace. Is there any risk of the baits going bad or absorbing a plastic bag smell if I start bagging them and stashing them away for a few months? I'll be using a little worm oil in each bag. What should I be careful of?

[jsnyd86]

anyone?

[kipbass]

I don't think you'll have any issues, but I would not store them where sunlight can hit them.

[jsnyd86]

ok thanks, haha. That's good enough for me. I work in my garage in Northern VA. Last summer we had around 7 straight days over 100 (110+ with humidity). That certainly can't be good for baits so I've been thinking about a closet inside the house to keep them safe. Just worried about the possibility of the bag smell getting into the baits.

[ctom]

The last thing you should worry about is the "bag smell", or tote smell. I might add to this that having a few shoebox-sized rubbermaid tubs with covers can be handy. Baits need to be stored laid out flat and straight. Having adequate room to achieve this is allowed with the tubs and I'd avoid the oil/scent until these baits get bagged for distribution.

The three things that will mess with baits made ahead like this are light, being in cramped and crowded storeage, and humidity. Putting them in toes addresses the cramped issue. Putting the totes in a closte in the house addresses the light and humidity issues...being in VA I'm assuming your home has air conditioning? By waiting on the oil/scent you eliminate any chance that colors can run or that scents get funky over the period of storage.

The tubs are clear for immediate recognition of contents without opening and can be stacked to save space and are certainly re-usable. I'd shoot the colors/baits and force the cure in a refer and lay them out in the totes according to bait and color.

[Denny Welch]

I've got many bags of baits that I've poured a couple years ago that are still good to go.  I've also got many bags of commercial baits, mostly senkos, that are probably over five years old.  They are also in great shape.  I keep all of those bags in a garage cabinet...dark and out of the CA heat.

I don't think you will have any issues in keeping your bags of baits for several months.

BTW, donating those bags of baits is a great way to get your name out there.

[ctom]

 As you can see jsny86, opinions vary. There is no real right or wrong, just personal preferences. To support Denny's statement, I have maybe thirty bundles of assorted Culprit baits from three or four years ago stored in the garage. They are kept in a dark storage area and are as good as the day they arrived. My own plastics? I store them just as I described using totes and plano boxes and I keep them in the house.

Last year was the first year I have had baits turn on me while in tackle boxes in the boat. We too had a ton of very high temps and humidity off the charts a few times. I keep smaller boat boxes now with enough of what I fish with to last a few trips and replace baits as needed from what's kept in the house. If you are making a great number of baits consider the investment and how you handle them. Appearence when these baits hit the hands of anglers, even if a hand-out, is half of the future sales game. Myself I wouldn't chance it.

[BareKnuckleJigs]

When plastics are cooked correctly, they'll last forever.  The colorants may change over long periods of time, but the plastic won't change...as long as it's cooked correctly, initially.

I had a bunch of baits and scraps that were recently thrown out.  The bags were tossed into totes that were headed for the dump, themselves...uncovered.  I got called back to work 2 days early so the totes (containing the baits/scraps) sat outside for the few weeks I was gone.  The sun bleached the colorants...You couldn't tell what color they were.

I had quite a few packs of store-bought baits in some tackle boxes, that I've had for 15+ years...they were as good as they were when I bought them (they've been remelted)...mostly H&H.  So, Soft Plastics have a Shelf Life that's longer than Your own, but You should definitely protect them...mostly from exposure to sun.  If moisture gets to them, they'll turn cloudy, but that moisture-cloudiness will go away if You set them out to dry.  The moisture-cloudiness goes away overnight once You set them out to dry.