I decided to test the Berkely Gulp Alive 1" minnows because it was bugging me that I had never tried any Gulp Alive, and this was a cheaper way to try it. I will test these on fish-catchability once it gets nicer here in Wisconsin.

I put water in a clean jam jar. This water happened to be 61*F. Next I put a popsicle stick over it and then attached a jig so it hung about 1" above the bottom of the jar. I then attached a gulp 1" minnow to the hook. Here is what I found.

The bait is quite hard to rig straight because it is so thin. Within the first minute of testing, which was jigging it with 2-4" strokes, I noticed a couple of things. 1, the bait was quite stiff, and 2, the bait kept the bends it had from the jar. After about 3 minutes, the tail started to move more. After 6 min. had passed, I noticed the whole tail was starting to move, instead of just the tips. After 6 min. and 30 sec. had passed, I checked to see if the minnow still had scent. It definately did.

By the time 7 min. and 30 sec. had passed, I noticed that the tail had lost some of its color. I again checked to see if the minnow still had scent at 8 min and 30 sec, and it did. At around 10 min into the experiment, the tail had begun to move a bit easier, with less jigging required to make it move. I once again checked to see if it still had scent at 11 min, and it still had some, but not as much as before. When I put it back in the water, I tried jigging very small, slow strokes. When I did this only the ends of the tail moved.

When 14 min. had passed, I checked if the minnow still had scent, and there was barely any left. After 15 min. I saw that the whole minnow had lost some of its color. By the time 16 min rolled around, the tails on the end of the minnow moved a lot more easier than before, but were still sort of stiff. I checked 16 min and 30 sec into the experiment to see if there was anymore scent, but it was all gone.

When 19 minutes had passed, the end of the tail started moving smoothly. But by the time 21 minutes had passed, I noticed the tail had lost a lot of color. The tail really started moving more smoothly about 24 minutes in. I took the minnow out at 25 and noticed that it had gotten noticably(spelling?) softer. It took 26 minutes for the whole minnow to become noticably(spelling? again) lighter. The whole minnow tail was quite flexible after 30 min., and barely required jigging for it to move.

I took the minnow out at 31 min. to look at it, and I noticed that the sides reflected light different than before. I think this is because of the absence of the juice. After 35 min. nothing had really changed from before, so I put the minnow back in the (very leaky) jar. However, to my surprise, it floated instead of sinking. I think that the density of the minnow had changed, and that is what made it float.

My conclusion is I think Berkely scientists missed the target on this product. The scent runs out before the lure gets good action. Maybe thats the price you have to pay for the minnow to be able to absorb juice, but in that case I would rather not have juice. I tried putting it back in to recharge and 1- it floated, and 2- that was like spraying on an attractant, you know, it just came off after a minute.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,
Fisherman123