Why You Should Pre-Scent Your Soft Plastic Lures
- By: Tony Acevedo
- on
If you aren’t already, you should start to pre-scent soft plastic lures!!
It is an excellent way to save time and money while enhancing your presentations.
I’ll even show you ways to maintain the profile of soft plastics so they don’t bend out of shape.
Take a look!!
Pre-Scent Soft Plastic Lures [VIDEO]
Get Dr. Juice Saltwater Slam Scent
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There is a myriad of different scents and solutions on the market to choose from.
Dr. Juice is what we use and the Saltwater Slam scent is exclusive to Salt Strong.
Another option is heading to a tackle shop and picking up some Menhaden or really any kind of fish oil.
All you need to do is spray some Dr. Juice or drop some fish oil in the plastic bags the lures come in.
For this demonstration, I have a pack of F.R.E.D. BOMBER lures that I’ll scent up with Menhaden oil.
The lures are slightly sticking together which can cause the lures to bend out of shape.
Adding additional scent or oil eliminates this issue and boosts the scent of the lures.
I use a small piece of tubing to put the oil into the bag but you should use whatever is easiest at home.
Then take the oil and spread it out over the lures in the packaging.
Close up the package and begin to mix the lures and oil around inside the package.
You’ll feel the lures sliding around freely inside the package.
Now, when you’re out on the water, you can simply take a lure out and rig it up and start fishing.
As long as the solution or scent you add is oil-based, it will work perfectly well with any bag of soft plastics.
Get Dr. Juice Saltwater Slam Scent
Do you have any more questions on the importance of pre-scenting your soft plastic lures?
Have you done anything similar in the past to prepare your soft plastic lures ahead of time with scent?
Let me know in the comments section below this article!!
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How easy is that?
thank you. i have been wondering if i could do that very thing without harming the baits.does it work with other plastics just as well?
Yep it works with most soft plastics aside from Gulp products. Gulp uses a specific liquid for their baits that absorbs into them.
I have been doing this since Dr. Juice came out. Just one question – my baits and the bottle of Dr. Juice stays in my hot garage while going north for the summer.
Is there any chance of spoilage?
If the lures and scent are separate there aren’t any issues with them going bad. If you leave a bag of soft plastics mixed with the juice for an extended period of time you may see some discoloration of the lure (it will take on a slightly brown hue). So I would recommend only scenting the baits you plan to use for the day into a separate bag.
What’s the time frame? Pre scent for one month of bait? I’m in deer season now and won’t fish until April 2023. Suggestions? Love this community!
Hey Matt!
There’s no real time frame. Once the scent is on there it’s good to go, whether it be a day before you go out or months before using your lures. The scent doesn’t absorb into the lures, just coats them.
Tony, by my count you have caught about a million more fish than me. So obviously you really know what you’re doing. And it looks like the hack works just fine.
But — I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one for two reasons.
First: it’s a mess to dig the bait out of the bag. You get the smell all over you hands and therefore on your gear. And you know how hard it is to get your hands cleaned.
Second is financial. Putting a couple drops directly on each bait is one thing. But putting it into the bag automatically wastes a certain amount because it’s going to cost the plastic bag, too. And this stuff is expensive.
So I’m going to choose to stick with the one-at-a-time method.
Thank you for the feedback Paul!
It doesn’t take much to put into the bag. A little goes a long way There shouldn’t be a puddle of juice at the bottom of the bag. Just enough so you start feeling the lures sliding around easily and not sticking. In comparison to what drips off the lure and overspray scenting each lure individually it can definitely conserve more of the scent. Just one or 2 sprays into a pack of 7 lures is typically enough.
I probably use more scent on my lures then most anglers do I always put a piece of fishbites on all my jigs and spinnerbaits and I also use procure infused with Dr juice I find that the Dr juice alone doesn’t stick to lures as well as procure does but when both are mixed together they are perfect together and I also found out a way to make the new gulp baits a whole lot tougher and it’s extremely simple just take them out of there package and put them into one of those lure lockers that are leakproof and add some dr juice with the gulp juice that they come in and leave it in the sun a few hours when you go fishing for about 3 days after you will find them to be alit tougher and they last longer as well I know ow I discovered this tip after several days that my gulps were in I found b them to be tougher to all I know is it works for me thanks for the tip and all you do👍😉
Good stuff Steven!
1- Does Menhaden oil cause the lighter colored baits to darken?
2- Do you have a problem with the menhaden oil leaking out of the original bag of Slam Shady colored baits getting all over the boat drawer or whatever container they’re kept in?
I personally haven’t experienced the oil changing the color of the bait unless it’s left in the sun. You should only put just enough that it coats the baits. You don’t want it to puddle up in the bag.
Thanks Tony.
You’re welcome Rod!
Just another suggestion: you can also use a Gulp recharge
The Gulp liquid is water based and meant to be used with Gulp baits since they are a different material that actually absorbs the liquid. It won’t last nearly as long on a regular plastic material that most other lures are made out of.
Thanks Tony good tip.
You’re welcome Todd!
I’ve always applied Dr. Juice with a squeeze bottle. The question I’ve always had was,how many cast should I get out of an application before reapplying?
There really isn’t a magic number. As you have probably noticed it is super tough to wash off your hands. I would say after about an hour or so you could probably re-apply some more.