Gulp 1" minnows and Fish Fry

I tried these baits again today and got fish. Crappies seemed to like the minnow baits, but sunfish wouldn't touch one. The sunnies did smack a fish fry though.

Thru the ice I was doing ok with these products, but then when we first got open water the fish seemed uninterested in them and preferred a plain plastic. Now that the water is at 50 in most of the lake at the surface they seem to like it again.

I like fishing the Gulp products but I don't like the lulls that the fish seem to bask in when using it. I don't know if its a temperature thing or if there is more natural food at a certain water temp and they don't feel compelled to hit the gulp.

I've tried the 3'' minnow with little success. I think its to big personally but I've not seen the 1'' here in Oklahoma. I may have to find some and give them a try. I would be very interested to see when others have had success with the bait. They look great but that doesnt always mean they will catch fish!

I bought the 1" today at academy sports. I will try them tomorrow.

Boat....

Gulp comes in a 2 1/2 inch size too, but I find that a bit much and its spendier than heck. The 1" minnows are something else though. Pure Fishing now offers a 1" panfish leech in a handful of colors too. These are working pretty well, but I find I need to remove a few from the juice and allow them the "stiffen up a bit so they don't tear off so easy. I do this by laying them in a single row just inside a ziplock bag with only the last 1/4 inch of the wide end exposed. I don't zip the bag of course. Normally I do this at home, then just toss them back in the jar of juice. Once "toughened", they cannot revert to soft and easily torn again.

So you know, if any of these things are allowed to dry on a jig or hook, you'll pay hell to get it off. Since I use lots of this stuff thru the ice, when I am done with a bait in open water I put it in a jar of juice with others and use pieces and parts of them after we set ice again. I never allow this stuff to dry on the hook.