SALT

[Mic]

I have been wondering about this for a while.  I know salt will make your baits heavy and sink. The questions are: how to keep it suspended in the plastic when shooting?  How will it effect your colors?  Can you reheat plastic with salt?  Is it better to just put it in the bags....(oh, thanks for the advice about putting salt in the bags to keep the baits from sticking).  What is your experience with salt and baits.  Good and Bad.

Mick

[Jason]

My experience is that it is about 50/50 on guys using it.  The benefit to using it is it makes your baits heavier.  The negatives are that they are easier to tear and make the baits harder - requiring softener to add the flexibility back in, it takes a lot more colorant to get your baits the color you want, you can't make translucent baits.

As far as keeping it suspended, you have to get your plastic over 350 for it to cook right.  Then you can let it cool so it thickens and will suspended salt better.  You will have to keep it stirred well.  Also keep an eye on moisture and salt.  You may need to bake your salt to dry it out if it has moisture in it.  You can reheat it, just cut it up into chunks first.

Jason

[etterz21]

Yes it will have an effect on you color, you just have to add extra color. The best way to keep it suspended is by stirring just before injecting.

[andrewlamberson]

There are many...many threads on salt on the forum...and lots...and lots of opinions!

Mine: I don't use it.

If I want my worm to sink...I use a weight..I can control my sink rate better and more consistently.

I like baits to float for a couple reasons...
     When the bass throws the worm...it floats and I can find it.
     I want the tail of the worm/bait to stand up when the bait is on the bottom.
     When I wacky rig them...I want the tips of the worm to float.

I doubt if anything a bass eats in nature ...tastes like salt.

Salt was originally used by large bait manufacturers as a "filler" to replace expensive plastic with inexpensive salt.

Salt significantly decreased the durability of a bait.

Salt affects the color of the bait.

I'm sure others will post how wonderful salt is...but they are wrong! 

[ghostbaits]

I will echo everything Andy says but one point, I doubt if anything a bass eats in nature ...tastes like salt.  Supposedly, everything a bass eats tastes like salt if it has blood in it. One of the reasons many anglers and companies use salt (supposedly) is that the salt makes the fish hold on longer as it thinks it is eating something that was alive and the salty taste represents blood.

I think all that is hog wash myself and salt is added as a filler and as a way for the bait to tear easier.

To each their own! I don't use it becuase it causes more complications in the process of hand pouring or hand injecting.

Jim

[MonteSS]

I use heavy salt in some baits as ballast to make them sink.

Stick baits, wutzit, carrot, etc. I like the slow horizontal sink without a weight

I use a finely powdered salt sold by another vender and really like it over other fine salts (popcorn, pick;img, etc)

I use 1 cup of medium plastic
3 tablespoon softener
2 tbsp salt for slow sink
3 tbsp for medium sink
4 tbsp for fast sink

....Bill

[Dave]

Truthfully, I use salt in some of my baits. In my color 41 I use a Tablespoon for every 4 oz of plastic. Reason being, it adds density to my bait, gives it more of an opaque coloring and in my opinion makes the fish bite on it longer, Like I said it's only my opinion.

The down fall to salt is, it does everything that Andrew and Jason have mentioned.  The strength of the bait is less and doesn't have the elasticity that straight plastisol has. It's heavy so it changes the speed of the presentation of the bait. and finally, it fades the coloring. Meaning, you have to add twice the amount of color to meet your expected color.

Now in my color #44 , Which I will post a video that demonstrates it's production, I don't use any salt in it and the color alone is deadly. Hope this helps...