Plastic Baits Left In The Lake 2024

buzzed bait reply :

Just an odd question that popped into my head last night. I pulled in someone else's line that had broken off, on the other end was a curly tail worm that looked like it had been there for a while. a few casts later i somehow tore my rage tail anaconda in half (seems to happen a little more lately) and half went flying into the pond. my question is do the worms ever breakdown/dissolve/biodegrade (whatever the appropriate term is)?

thanks.

Master Bait'r reply :

There was an article written about this a while back- ALWAYS try to recover plastics if you can. If bass eat too many pieces of plastic, it can stop up their gut tract and make them look skinny, eventually killing them.

Choporoz reply :

Not sure. My waste/ecology perspective on the question became extremely irrelevant to me after reading posts about terrible harm that 'lost' plastics do to the fish. I've never been so careful with used plastics as I have been since reading those.

J Francho reply :

You'd think with over 40 years of plastics being used for so many species of fish, and the hysterics of those that claim we are killing fish, that all the fish would be dead. I'm not saying dump your plastics overboard - to the contrary, try to keep the lake clean and dispose of worn out plastics properly - but I don't feel one ounce of guilt if I lose a plastic bait.

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/24/2014 at 9:46 PM, J Francho said:
You'd think with over 40 years of plastics being used for so many species of fish, and the hysterics of those that claim we are killing fish, that all the fish would be dead. I'm not saying dump your plastics overboard - to the contrary, try to keep the lake clean and dispose of worn out plastics properly - but I don't feel one ounce of guilt if I lose a plastic bait.

i don't typically feel guilty myself, just a thought that popped up last night and hasn't escaped my one track brain.....

but now that one worm i pulled back, a simple one finger tug on the line would have retrieved this person's worm.

Additionally, not saying that it doesn't do that much harm, but the amount of beer cans, wrappers, plastic bags, etc. i see in the water i feel i should do everything i can to combat the littering....

any links to said posts or articles about the fish digesting the worms or anything? i'm just extremely curious now.

thanks guys.

J Francho reply :

There's quite a bit of recent data about trout mortality and plastics. I know In-Fisherman has reported on it within the past year or so. They'll list the source, if you can find the article.

Felix77 reply :

I have a pocket filled with plastics when I am done with a tournament. I do my best to properly dispose of plastics in general but if I lose one because of a snag or otherwise I don't really sweat it. If you did it would drive you nuts and you wouldn't fish those areas as aggressively.

J Francho reply :

Crisco is more toxic to fish than a senko.

fishballer06 reply :

How long does it take a plastic bag or bottle to breakdown??? Same theory really.

5fishlimit reply :

On 9/24/2014 at 10:47 PM, fishballer06 said:
How long does it take a plastic bag or bottle to breakdown??? Same theory really.

Yes, and no. The plastic used on bottles is very different than that used for soft baits. I don't remember the exact science of it, but there is a difference.

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 12:30 AM, 5fishlimit said:
Yes, and no. The plastic used on bottles is very different than that used for soft baits. I don't remember the exact science of it, but there is a difference.

yeah, most plastics have the recylce sign and a number that somehow reflects the properties of that plastic (please anybody that knows what they're talking about chime in)

i'm sure it's not a big deal and frankly guys i'm not losing any sleep over it. it just happened to stick in my brain last night and i couldn't shake it this morning....

from a guy who also enjoys his golf, i assume it couldn't be much worse than leaving a golf ball in the water right?

J Francho reply :

Put a plastic bag, a bottle, and a plastic worm in a bucket of water. Chances all three will be there in 6 months. Not sure what difference the chemical make up of any of them matter.

Choporoz reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 12:35 AM, buzzed bait said:
(please anybody that knows what they're talking about chime in)

Wishful thinking?

Sorry, BB, but that cracks me up every time I read it. Mind if I put it in my sig?

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 12:43 AM, Choporoz said:

Wishful thinking?

Sorry, BB, but that cracks me up every time I read it. Mind if I put it in my sig?

lol, fair point sir....

i forgot i was on the interweb where everyone knows what they're talking about...

i just know there are ones smarter than i on this topic.

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 2:53 AM, buzzed bait said:
i just know there are ones smarter than i on this topic.

Those smarts are a few clicks away, lol.

http://bit.ly/ZMNAzD

Fisher-O-men reply :

The only thing I notice about plastics that I find is that they are swelled to many times their original size.

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 3:33 AM, J Francho said:

Those smarts are a few clicks away, lol.

http://bit.ly/ZMNAzD

thanks J, see my previous post about the interweb making everyone a professional at everything..... not to mention the top google result from your search is from good housekeeping, i would not really consider them the knowledgebank for the plastics process....

although it does show that different plastic resins will react differently and not all plastics are created equally. i'm still a little curious though of those 7 different families exactly where the plastic worm falls. any "experts" know which plastics category the plastic worm would fall under? for all i know, it may be a different type of "plastic" and not really fall in any of those categories.

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 3:58 AM, Fisher-O-men said:
The only thing I notice about plastics that I find is that they are swelled to many times their original size.

Some do! Senkos will get as big as a Cuban cigar, lol.

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 4:53 AM, buzzed bait said:

thanks J, see my previous post about the interweb making everyone a professional at everything..... not to mention the top google result from your search is from good housekeeping, i would not really consider them the knowledgebank for the plastics process....

although it does show that different plastic resins will react differently and not all plastics are created equally. i'm still a little curious though of those 7 different families exactly where the plastic worm falls. any "experts" know which plastics category the plastic worm would fall under? for all i know, it may be a different type of "plastic" and not really fall in any of those categories.

I could be wrong, but I swear "plastisol" was PVC. I could way off on that, though.

buzzed bait reply :

i found a submerged senko once that as you say, was the size of a cigar. when i tried to pull it out of the water, it just "crumbled" into countless pieces.... do you think this is more of the salt reaction than the plastic?

J Francho reply :

No clue, other brands swell up, some don't.

primetime reply :

The Reason States like Main were looking to ban platics on top of lead is due to the fact that birds, turtles, and fish eat the worms and I have caught a few bass in ponds that were emaciated and it was because they had a senko in their gut blocking everything...If you fish Bio baits Like Gulp, Trigger X, yo-zuri excite a bite then it will degrade and is not toxic.....Whenever I gut hook a fish by a accident I try to carfully get the worm out and just cut the line at the hook since the hook will rust away quickly, and I have caught bass with hooks in their throat several times.

primetime reply :

I may be wrong but I know pvc is a form of platisol or plastic as a general term, but pvc baits have a smell to them usually, although Roboworm uses pvc like many of the baits made overseas which are buoyant and often have the best action but pvc tears very easy....

I also know that some forms are not allowed anymore so I am curious to figure out the differences of pvc vs. plastic as I know they put salt in both, can hand pour both, and I also know some grubs are marketed as "Silicone" so I don't know.....I do know that I have purchased PVC baits from overseas that were awesome looking, super soft, you could float a 5" hammer tail swimbait with a 5/0 ewg hook, but it smelled like oil and had a jelly feel. Silcone baits have a unique feel, and I have some old baits from "Hart" that were silicone and they are super soft and popular for Trout in Saltwater.

Overall I think it is all PVC or a form of it and like anything else, changing 1 molecule can make it a new animal..Anyone who makes Hand pours should know this, and I am now curious.

primetime reply :

http://www.theonlinefisherman.com/reel-news/item/soft-plastic-lures-the-future

Above is the like that talks about the issue of soft plastic formulas and how most do not break down at all...I doubt soft plastics will every be banned like lead since companies like Pure Fishing(Jarden) and other large companies with boatloads of money also have a strong lobby, unlike say "Gremlin".Imagine a Bass Pro Catalog or sporting good store without bags of plastics and Just bio baits and lures???? Lead was easy to replace as Tungsten is more profitable and expensive, everyone who has heard about lead poising just assumes lead is bad so that is easy to ban when companies are not buying off their local congressman. I would imagine 1 anchor getting lost on the lake bottom is worse than every split shot or weight I could ever lose, plus lures are more expensive now with Tungsten weights inside....

A ban will never happen on soft baits and I just think if we all do our part and I am sure we all do, everything will be fine even if we use lead as well. I would think Fishing Line is more dangerous than all of it, but Dupont will not hear any of that.

tomustang reply :

Plastisol is a pvc with additives that modify it's form, pvc takes around 150 years to degrade and more toxic thsn othet plastics when doing so.

hatrix reply :

On 9/24/2014 at 10:47 PM, fishballer06 said:
How long does it take a plastic bag or bottle to breakdown??? Same theory really.

A bottle will never break down. They do "break down" but only to a level. They breakdown to a ton of super tiny pieces and stay that way for well.. I guess ever. None of us will be around I can tell you that. The ocean is wrecked with plastic everywhere and there is so much you cant see because it has broken down to that tiny level. If have never heard of it. Look up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There is many of them actually but that one is the biggest I believe. They catch fish and when they open them up and look they all have these piece of microplastic in there stomachs. It is everywhere and so small you cant see it. Its bad news

Choporoz reply :

I don't get too worked up about a lost worm, however, I am much more careful after having read this.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

Thanks, Glenn, for linking this last time it was discussed a couple months ago.

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 8:08 AM, Choporoz said:

I don't get too worked up about a lost worm, however, I am much more careful after having read this.

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

Thanks, Glenn, for linking this last time it was discussed a couple months ago.

thanks for that link, very interesting yet alarming. again, not saying i think there's some crazy epidemic.... just one event led to another and got me thinking about it. really appreciate everyone's responses though, very interesting topic in my opinion.

buzzed bait reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 8:00 AM, hatrix said:
A bottle will never break down. They do "break down" but only to a level. They breakdown to a ton of super tiny pieces and stay that way for well.. I guess ever. None of us will be around I can tell you that. The ocean is wrecked with plastic everywhere and there is so much you cant see because it has broken down to that tiny level. If have never heard of it. Look up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There is many of them actually but that one is the biggest I believe. They catch fish and when they open them up and look they all have these piece of microplastic in there stomachs. It is everywhere and so small you cant see it. Its bad news

i was in NYC like 2 weeks ago and walked past some shop that sells clothes all made from ocean plastics.... thought that was interesting, but ties right into your argument. crazy thing is these wild events like indonesian/japanese tsunamis, hurricane katrina/sandy, etc. will keep dumping trash into the ocean TONS at a time....

Bluebasser86 reply :

I always have a "dead pile" in the bottom of the boat after a fishing trip. Any plastic that's too torn up to be fixed or used as a trailer goes into the pile to be tossed later.

Can those old plastics be melted down and used to make new plastics?? I don't make my own but I know some guys that do. If it's possible I might start saving them in a bucket for them.

iceintheveins reply :

I've caught plenty of bass with plastics in their stomachs. That being said, some looked fairly unhealthy. Assume that it CAN be harmful to fish, because it can. It's not a death sentence, but you want to try and retrieve your plastics if possible.

Josh Smith reply :

Along the same lines, how long does it take mono or fluoro to dissolve?

Josh

Catch and Grease reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 8:19 PM, Josh Smith said:

Along the same lines, how long does it take mono or fluoro to dissolve?

Josh

I've always heard normal monofilament fishing line will take 600 years to decompose in a lake. dunno how accurate that is.

J Francho reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 8:19 PM, Josh Smith said:

Along the same lines, how long does it take mono or fluoro to dissolve?

Josh

Simple answer, they don't dissolve. That's one of my peeves - leaving balls of line behind.

Josh Smith reply :

I tend to catch way more snagged line than lures. Using braid, I can usually get most of the snagged mono in.

I would guess that an advantage to braid would be that it reduces line breaks.

Josh

OkobojiEagle reply :

To do harm to a fish, plastic baits must be ingested. Most game fish such as bass, walleye and pike are not scavengers and most likely will not pick garbage off the lake/river bottom and eat it. Scavengers have a very good sense of smell/taste and will examine their food before swallowing. Don't intentionally litter the waters you fish, but don't lay awake nights and worry about the plastics you lost the day before. (I've read a couple sources that claim the vision of a bass (and other game fish) is triggered by motion and will ignore what is not moving in the water.)

hoosierbass07 reply :

If soft plastics have been around for forty years or more how come the manufacturers haven't come up with a plastic that dissolves when in a fishes stomach? They've had the time, where's the safe plastics at? We can take hard aspirins and other pills that dissolve in human stomachs. The fishing companies can't make safe safe plastic worms for fish? I bet they can if they really wanted to.

tomustang reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 8:44 PM, Catch and Grease said:
I've always heard normal monofilament fishing line will take 600 years to decompose in a lake. dunno how accurate that is.

Nylon lasts longer if it's wet, without it it becomes brittle. So yeah it'll take a very long time to disappear if not ever in the water

tomustang reply :

On 9/26/2014 at 9:12 AM, hoosierbass07 said:
If soft plastics have been around for forty years or more how come the manufacturers haven't come up with a plastic that dissolves when in a fishes stomach? They've had the time, where's the safe plastics at? We can take hard aspirins and other pills that dissolve in human stomachs. The fishing companies can't make safe safe plastic worms for fish? I bet they can if they really wanted to.

Those are two different processes though, one is meant to be dissolved after eating and the other is suppose to be reusable.

Materials like geltab, soon as they get wet they start to degrade so they are easier to digest. That's very different.

tomustang reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 11:09 PM, OkobojiEagle said:
To do harm to a fish, plastic baits must be ingested. Most game fish such as bass, walleye and pike are not scavengers and most likely will not pick garbage off the lake/river bottom and eat it.

Dead sticking a senko does work

OkobojiEagle reply :

On 9/26/2014 at 10:43 AM, tomustang said:
Dead sticking a senko does work

How certain are you that your bait is "dead" motionless?...

Alonerankin2 reply :

You Guys are making me wanna quit fishing! (Kidding) yea, plastics are petro, they leech out, same as a plastic bottle, don't reuse a plastic bottle or drink outta one you left in the truck say over nite ( opened ) some company should work on a line type that would dissolve at some point.. As far as 600 years? Geez, that's a long , long time for line to live..

What about Braid? Seems like it could decompose quicker than say nylon- composites.

Anyone know?

tomustang reply :

On 9/26/2014 at 11:58 AM, OkobojiEagle said:

How certain are you that your bait is "dead" motionless?...

oe

Bass are opportunistic feeders, what's stopping them from eating a stationary senko in there travel path or line of sight when they are known to eat them any other time

Slade House reply :

My theory is that when i leave a jig or jook with a plastic bait stuck on a stump or log, that bait will become less effective for a little bit there because the fish around there become a custom to it. most likely this is all in my head , but hey , isn't most strong convictions we have about fishing?

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 9/25/2014 at 9:21 PM, J Francho said:
Simple answer, they don't dissolve. That's one of my peeves - leaving balls of line behind.

Can't hardly go fishing at a lot of the local lakes without catching someone's line they left in the water. Seems like a lot of people don't know how to break off if they get snagged so they just cut it, leaving yards and yards of line in the water. I always retrieve as much as I can of their line if I snag it and throw it away when I'm done fishing. I found a blue heron stuck in someone's heavy catfish line this summer. Taped a knife to the end of my telescoping lure retriever and managed to cut it free. It makes all fishermen look bad and it drives me crazy!

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