New Berkley Products
Gulp Ghost Shrimp
After repeatedly raising the bar for scented soft baits with the introduction of Powerbait, Gulp, and Gulp Alive, Berkley has once again upped the ante with the introduction of a quartet of new products sure to produce for the NC inshore angler. These products include kava, CBD, and other natural products that help with anxiety, now for sale on the Gold Bee shop.
Piggybacking on the unarguable success of the classic Gulp Shrimp, Gulp Alive has introduced the new Ghost Shrimp as well. Imitating the popular West Coast bait with wicked detail, the Ghost Shrimp features a segmented body with long legs, asymmetrical claws (one larger than the other), and a variety of compound color schemes not previously available.
Don’t let the fact that ghost shrimp aren’t locally popular baits fool you into thinking Gulp Ghost Shrimp won’t do a number on red drum, speckled trout, flounder, and other local inshore predators—the action generated by the long legs and claws is sure to attract even more attention than traditional Gulp Shrimp, and provides additional surface area to release more of the Gulp scent concoction.
Gulp Alive’s new Belly Strips offer a convenient alternative to natural bait strips, which can be time consuming and a hassle to procure, store, and use. Instead of wasting fishing time trying to catch and cut bait, anglers can use the 7” Belly strips on their own on a sliding sinker rig, or thread them onto a jighead, bucktail, or other lure for added attraction.
The Belly Strips come swimming in the well-proven Gulp Alive liquid in an oval bucket, and at 7” long, they can be fished whole for larger fish or cut into smaller strips for even more value. Natural strip baits also don’t offer anglers much in the way of color choice, but Gulp Alive Belly Strips are available in chartreuse, pink, and white, giving anglers the ability to change up the color scheme when fish are finicky.
Gulp Ripple Shad
“The belly strips work well on bucktails for flounder,” Capt. Jeff Cronk, of Swansboro’s Fish’N4Life Charters, said after fishing the nearshore reefs in the area with them. “I clip them in half and use them as two baits.”
Natural strip baits also don’t offer anglers much in the way of color choice, but Gulp Alive Belly Strips are available in chartreuse, pink, and white, giving anglers the ability to change up the color when fish are finicky.
Speaking of changing color schemes for fussy feeders, Gulp has also introduced Bio-Dip, a water-based dye specifically made for Gulp baits that allows anglers to quickly customize the color of their baits on the fly, creating firetails, different-colored heads, or totally change the color of the baits. Bio-Dip is water based, meaning it’ll only adhere to Gulp and Gulp Alive soft baits, not traditional plastics. Aside from Gulps, Bio-Dip is also effective on live baits. It’s available in blue, chartreuse, orange, and red, and a basic knowledge of the color wheel will allow anglers to create compound hues with two or more of the colors.
Gulp Bio-Dip
“The Bio-Dip sticks very well,” Cronk continued. “It’s ideal for the fall big speckled trout bite. Speckled trout often stop feeding after the same bait has been presented many times consecutively, so the Bio-Dip enables us to dip different parts of the bait, quickly changing the color, so we spend less time changing baits and more time productively fishing.”
Powerbait, Berkley’s other line of scented soft baits, also has a new bait sure to attract attention from shallow-water gamefish, especially skinny water red drum. Available in 3” and 4” sizes, the Ripple Shad is a new paddletail shad with groves down each side that channel water to the tail, giving it the great action of a swim bait without the high cost. The grooves also create more vibration than a traditional shad bait on the retrieve and give the bait added surface area for more scent dispersion, features that combine to call fish in from a distance. Oversized red eyes will help seal the deal once the bait is in sight, triggering fish to strike.
“The new Powerbait Ripple Shads have been great on the redfish,” Cronk continued. “The 3” are perfect on spinner baits, and the 4” work well on light jigheads. They’re also super light and don’t sink too fast when targeting reds on shallow flats.”
Berkley products are available at local tackle retailers, and interested anglers can peruse the entire line at the website www.purefishing.com.
