Gulps V Z man, mixing scents??

[davostephens82]

I have recently tried z man after years of gulp. iv done ok on gulp but recently i think they have perished in pack easy, torn, split, bent , swam odd..

I was in a shop and they had a pack z man paddlerz 5 inch bad shad.. so i thought id give em a go..

Well i will never use gulp again. Yes the z man caught a heap as the fish were on the chew but how they lasted will never cease to amaze me. Gulps if i got one fish they were ruined, well generally they are school or spanish mackeral.. even a trike and there toast,,,

But the Z man i tried first cast 9kg mac.. still like new. then another 8kg mac.. then 2 doggy mac. and a couple bludger trevally.. still in good nik.

I went home and left lure on the rod, it sat in my shed on rod for 6 -7 weeks while i was away at work. i took the same lure out and first cast a 10 kg cobia, then a 4 kg cod, then a 10 kg mac, then a couple of small dog mac.. and still in good nik. i dipped it in gulp juice occassionally. Then finally i lost the plastic to a bust off from a big fish. Oh no my lucky plastic. And yes i do put 3 inches of wire above my head for these toothy critters. Single strand joined by albrite knot to mono leader.

From that experience i bought a whole pile of em and are yet to use.. so many gulps i have chucked out as dried, bent, tails bent, moldy, split head when thread headkeeper through. Yet Z man stayed on well, didnt tear even while in the crush zone of spanish mackeral jaws throughout fight. and they hit like rockets... INCREDIBLE lure durability.. I was sceptical about this 10x tough BS but man i give em credit where its due.And I was a typical die hard bait or live bait fisho, Well still am  but some days cant lose a full pilly, and one cast of these little buggers  and your on. 

Y

Well thats my experience. I do like re dipping them in gulp juice though, apparently dosnt stick well to plastic but seems to work. Maybe someone else has some cool ideas with scenting. The paddlerz are prescented in package.

[kingie chaser]

I have also started to go to Zman & similar plastics that don't require to be kept in any liquid.

 

BUT I still have a heap of gulps to use up so I just make sure they are kept in the 'alive' liquid to keep them hydrated!

[dirvin21]

Only plastics I use now are zman because of how long they last, for scent I put s-factor on them

[mii11x]

Yeah you cant let them dry out and have to reseal the packs for gulps.  I did, years ago, drop them all in a sealed container and mixed them all up, but the red colour(2 inch worms) bled through them all, and I havn't done that since.  

I still like my gulps, I just make sure I seal the packet up properly and the wallet sleeve as well so it's completely airtight.

I use all 3 major brands, Gulps, Squidgies and Zman.  I mix and match the scents really.

[blaxland]

Off to the tackle shop again for me 

[zmk1962]

33 minutes ago, blaxland said:

Off to the tackle shop again for me 

yeah ! .... like we need another excuse !

Cheers Z

[kingfishbig]

I use Z Mans most of the time. Sometimes I give the Gulps a go if  the fishing is a bit quiet - but the difference in the attrition rate is huge.

PS: I haven't had any problems with Gulps deteriorating if they are in an unopened packet.

[DerekD]

When teaching people soft plastics and Berkley Gulp comes up in the discussions I will usually tell people that I think the concept is genius. You have an edible lure which is biodegradable. I also then point out that I would probably never buy them again though. They dry out unless kept in the liquid and if the liquid leaks out in your tackle bags you will end up rather unhappy.

Berkley power minnows and power grubs I am happy to continue using as I have found them to be effective and I can leave them in my bag knowing they will be ready to go for my next fishing trip.

[davostephens82]

I read somewhere u can hit your zmans with a wire brush to put tiny holes in them. That way the juice goes in a bit for some extra stink. I have also been leaving mine in with pilly and squid bait tub while not using. Wonder how any used ones u dont want to put back in the packet would fare if you froze them with rest of leftover bait. As they are silicone probably be ok?

[New Signing]

Used Z-man and savage softies on the weekend and was impressed with both

[connico]

I use zman mostly but use a scent like sfactor or saxs

I used to use a lot of gulps but keeping them useful was hard. Even tried putting them in sealed containers cos the ziplocks wear and they destroyed the plastic containers i used...

[Oz98]

I really like the Squidgies from Shimano, really good quality plastics.

In particular the bio tough range. When i first started rigging soft plastics to jigs heads i wasn't good at it and probably re rigged over 50 times and the soft plastics were still in good nick after being  poked several times..

 

 

[Rebel]

I use all types, but Zman are the go. I keep all the lures seperate in zipp bags.