How to Store Soft Plastics Properly

By Ian

  We all love our soft plastics. They are extremely versatile, and catch fish left and right. They work. We all have lots of them. But one common mistake that I see with soft plastics are the improper methods of storing them. You are not catching all the fish you should be, nor getting the best use out of them. Let me explain. 

Above: Store your plastics in a Ziplock bag, or their original bag, if possible. Not your tackle box.

  1. A common mistake that I see often is storing your plastics in your tackle box, or just without anything to hold it in. That is not good for your plastics, people. 

​  In some old tackle boxes, the colors of your soft plastics will bleed into your tackle box. You will have a rainbow colored tackle box with all those plastics. This isn't really a problem in the newer ones, but just be careful.

  Some plastics, especially the ones more reliant on scent, will dry out and be useless if you let them sit in the tackle box. Also, the scent on your soft plastics is sure to dry out. You will catch less fish, people. The dust in your tackle box can also some times 

  Your plastics have scent, which will make the box moist. And moist boxes sometimes means rusty hooks, especially if those hooks are lower end, and are stored in the same compartments as your soft plastics.

  2. A storing your plastics all together is also a bad idea. Soft plastics bleed when heated up, people. Leave your bag out in the sun? Hike out on a hot day with your backpack? You will have rainbow colored plastics. And we want our colors to be that color for a specific reason (resembles forage, better contrast against surrounding, etc). Keep your soft plastics separate, by type and color. 

Above: The soft jerkbait on the tope used to be white. But it got stored with a charteuse colored jerk bait, and the colors bled, turning the white jerk bait into a yellow jerk bait.

​   So what is the correct way of storing soft plastics? In their individual bags, preferable the ones they came with. If you can't do that, get yourself a Ziplock bag, which is the next best thing. I hope this helps.

Tight lines,

​Ian