Newbe Needs Some Help With Using Salt

[pete1955]

First of all I would like to say thank you all for your posts as i have learned a lot by surfing and searching on this forum.   I have only been pouring baits for a couple months so I am green as it gets.   My question is how do you guys decide when to use salt and when not to use salt.   I understand most folks use salt in stick baits but do most of you use some salt in most of your baits.  I understand also that most plastic does float.  I read a couple post that mentioned 1/4 cup salt to a cup of plastic and another said 1/2 cup to one cup of plastic ???   Thanks in advance for your help. 

 

[Basseducer]

I use salt only in my stick baits. Unless requested by a customer.

[hpssports]

I run salt in everything. How much, depends on the bait. You want to add just enough salt to release a flavor but not effect the performance of the bait. The amount of salt & the type of plastic will also effect performance. We spent over a month finding the best plastic to use & formulating salt amounts that work the best for each bait we produce.

[pete1955]

I run salt in everything. How much, depends on the bait. You want to add just enough salt to release a flavor but not effect the performance of the bait. The amount of salt & the type of plastic will also effect performance. We spent over a month finding the best plastic to use & formulating salt amounts that work the best for each bait we produce.

Hpssports do you have like a light salt ,  medium or heavy if so how much do you use or do you have like a starting point I guess.  I do appreciate your help I am going to start on some pouring later this week I am waiting for some coloring to come in. 

[hpssports]

We use just standard size table salt in our formulas. Some use flour salt but it can dull the colors of the baits. We found most baits perform well with 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of plastic. If you're using plastics from Do-It, you may have to cut back on the salt. Their plastic is somewhat heavier & doesn't float as well. We wanted baits that had a great salty flavor & still have a good floating action, so we went with a higher quality floating plastic in our formulas. Now i'm not saying that Do-It's plastic is a lower quality, it just didn't perform as well with the formulation we were looking for.

[Vodkaman]

Pete - have an idea in your mind about how you want your bait to move in the water. Starting with no salt, pour a bait, then rig it like you were going to fish. Try it in a large bucket of water. Repeat with various amounts of salt, until you find what you want. Keep notes.

 

Dave

Edited January 26, 2016 by Vodkaman

[pete1955]

Pete - have an idea in your mind about how you want your bait to move in the water. Starting with no salt, pour a bait, then rig it like you were going to fish. Try it in a large bucket of water. Repeat with various amounts of salt, until you find what you want. Keep notes.

 

Dave

Dave that is by far the only way I am going to find out what I need.   I guess it all has to do with the type of plastic your using.  I am using do it molds plastic right now but I am going to switch over to luckycrafts the next time I order i think   I will get me a used small aquarium that will tell the story on what the bait does.  I just needed like a starting point and I was curious what other folks was doing.  I have a long way to go on pouring plastics but that is half the fun right !!  ha ha.   Thanks my friend for the help I will do just what you suggested.    Pete

[MonteSS]

There are two reasons to use salt.

 

#1 is it adds ballast (weight) to a Senko style bait so it sinks slowly when fished weightless. I will also use this formula in fluke type baits sometimes or trick worms.

 

Formula is 

4 oz soft plastic

2 heaping tablespoons pickling or popcorn salt

 

If using medium plastic add one tablespoon softener.

 

#2 is for taste so fish supposedly hold on longer. I dont believe in this personally and add scent instead. I would think a teaspoon or so per 4 oz would work. Any more and the bait will sink and be less durable.

Edited January 27, 2016 by MonteSS

[pete1955]

There are two reasons to use salt.

 

#1 is it adds ballast (weight) to a Senko style bait so it sinks slowly when fished weightless. I will also use this formula in fluke type baits sometimes or trick worms.

 

Formula is 

4 oz soft plastic

2 heaping tablespoons pickling or popcorn salt

 

If using medium plastic add one tablespoon softener.

 

#2 is for taste so fish supposedly hold on longer. I dont believe in this personally and add scent instead. I would think a teaspoon or so per 4 oz would work. Any more and the bait will sink and be less durable.

Monte do you use salt in your craws and regular worms or finesse type baits or do you pour them without salt.   Thank you so much for the recipes there I will give that a start and adjust one way or the other.   The plastic I have right now is medium but I do have softner.   Who's plastic do you use and like the best or is there that much difference in it ?  I have do it plastic right now.    roger

[MonteSS]

No I dont use salt in my baits. I think its an old myth that it helps fish hold on longer and is added by companies so baits are less durable and you need to buy more when they rip.

 

I use bait Junkies degassed and am very happy with it.

[camrynekai]

I use salt in my stick baits, and before sinking plastic came around I used a little bit in my dropshot baits as well (don't want them buoyant, neutral is desired) all other baits I make with floating plastic.

[fishon-son]

if you like salt in your baits..i said this before..get a magic bullet and do a cup at a time..the finer the better....it will be like powder after 30 seconds....kosher salt works great in powder form....better then the rest.....

[DaveMc1]

Did that for a few years, thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, until I tried an actual super fine manufactured salt and realized I didn't need to deal with the clumping and the absolutely crazy clouding it brought. The very fine salt I currently use doesn't completely destroy the colours (I only have one or 2 that I need to adjust for the salt where the ground salt I had to change ALL my formulas) and I get next to no clumping. And yes, I was powdering my own kosher salt, never again, buy several hundred pounds of it ready to go in 50b bags. 

[pete1955]

Did that for a few years, thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, until I tried an actual super fine manufactured salt and realized I didn't need to deal with the clumping and the absolutely crazy clouding it brought. The very fine salt I currently use doesn't completely destroy the colours (I only have one or 2 that I need to adjust for the salt where the ground salt I had to change ALL my formulas) and I get next to no clumping. And yes, I was powdering my own kosher salt, never again, buy several hundred pounds of it ready to go in 50b bags. 

Dave may I ask what kind of salt do you use ?  pete

[DaveMc1]

Here's one place to get it. just about all of the suppliers carry it. 

 

 

http://www.shopbaitjunkys.com/Fine-Flake-Salt-Gallon_p_223.html

[DaveMc1]

That will for sure work Bob, and lots of people do use it just fine. Me personally I found it to settle too fast for my liking, the larger granules sink in the mix faster than the super fine stuff does as it tends to suspend far better in my experience. 

[MonteSS]

Pickling salt at Walmart

[fishon-son]

Did that for a few years, thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, until I tried an actual super fine manufactured salt and realized I didn't need to deal with the clumping and the absolutely crazy clouding it brought. The very fine salt I currently use doesn't completely destroy the colours (I only have one or 2 that I need to adjust for the salt where the ground salt I had to change ALL my formulas) and I get next to no clumping. And yes, I was powdering my own kosher salt, never again, buy several hundred pounds of it ready to go in 50b bags. 

I don't have any issues at all dave ...but all my colors are dark......black,brown.ect.  never had a clumping issue...I only mix as much as I need and that's it....for me storing salt will get moist..and that's where your clumping starts......if you don't want to mix up your own that small qt. size from bait junkies seams like a great deal........I looked for salt at cosco and sams club....found at sams 50lb bags...way to much for me..that was a while ago....

[Travis]

Long term storage of salt will need special storage.  Nothing complicated just a good bucket with a gasket seal.   Also can easily just cook it in the oven before use if clumping is an issue.  Salt is commonly used for calibration of some instrumentation due to the well documented quantity of water uptake in regards to humidity.  This also is one of the reasons salt makes baits cloudy also.  First they will have anti-clumping agents in them secondly you are adding water to plastic during heating.  Finally when guys start to grind to powder they exponentially increase the surface area and defects of the salt crystal.   With the increased surface area you also shoot yourself in the foot with storage issue in regards to water uptake. All this makes for less than ideal for the intended purpose.   

 

As mentioned you want the finest crystallized salt you can get if you want the least issues with coloring the bait.  

[Vodkaman]

Good information Travis.

 

You can dry the salt in an open door oven, but it is easy to over do this process and turn the salt brown.

 

Dave

[mark poulson]

I find that the coarser Kosher salt affect my plastic colors the least.

[fishon-son]

Long term storage of salt will need special storage.  Nothing complicated just a good bucket with a gasket seal.   Also can easily just cook it in the oven before use if clumping is an issue.  Salt is commonly used for calibration of some instrumentation due to the well documented quantity of water uptake in regards to humidity.  This also is one of the reasons salt makes baits cloudy also.  First they will have anti-clumping agents in them secondly you are adding water to plastic during heating.  Finally when guys start to grind to powder they exponentially increase the surface area and defects of the salt crystal.   With the increased surface area you also shoot yourself in the foot with storage issue in regards to water uptake. All this makes for less than ideal for the intended purpose.   

 

As mentioned you want the finest crystallized salt you can get if you want the least issues with coloring the bait.  

are you kidding me...never had any issues with the way I'm making any baits....if your doing thousands of bait your salt is going to get moist and clump....then you can regrind that down and dry on a cookie sheet in the oven....

[camrynekai]

This is how I move my plastic and salt mixture, 50/50 mix is the max for this unit. I use only rock salt which is one of the clearest and densest type of  salts available.  As you can see there is no settling with this method.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thomas.kail.7/videos/10205873303891429/?l=4506783653748150337

 

To be frank....making an accurate weighted bait is a bitch. Its all a trade off when using different materials to make a weighted bait (rock salt, flake salt, evaporated salt and blasting media) and each and every one has a draw back somewhere in the process. Another big issue with salt is its tenacious appetite for moisture compounded by operator errors. Big tip...when using salt, add it to your plastic in the beginning, allowing any moisture to cook off BEFORE your plastic kicks. If you add salt to late in the process it will cause numerous issues that could be avoided.

Edited February 4, 2016 by camrynekai

[Travis]

 

are you kidding me...never had any issues with the way I'm making any baits....if your doing thousands of bait your salt is going to get moist and clump....then you can regrind that down and dry on a cookie sheet in the oven....

 

I could have gotten more technical and thrown heat into the equation, differentiated salts based upon composition of the final product, and we can chuck in a few other variables as they will behave differently.  To avoid potential clumping or reduce issue get the Morton's or whatever table salt you want as they add plenty of anticaking agents.  These also cloud the bait  They will also retain a certain amount of moisture (both the salt and the caking agent as that is its intended purpose).  Use it as is,  only adds small bubbles to the plastic further causing cloudiness.    Just as using floured salt "muddies" the colors.  I understand that your method works for some just as for others it would be unacceptable.    If guys truly want non cloudy baits the glass bead blasting media is the best readily available option.

 

Many guys use different "cleaner" salts trying to escape "cloudy baits" only to find the other issues start to rear up more.   I tried to save time and just said salt and only the normal things they may encounter.  For example Kosher salts can come without additives and have a much greater tendency to clump.   A lot of cheap salt also will skip it (wonder why they are cheap) and wonder for the propensity to find rice in salt at many cheap restaurants.  Ground salts versus those crystallized.. if one were to.take a look under a microscope and you can see lots of imperfections, cracks etc...depending on how the salt was processed.  Think of a nice sheet of tempered glass in your windshield before and after a few strikes with a hammer.  

 

One should consider other things such as what works for their area due to humidity/temperature would not work for the guy making baits in Tampa, Seattle, New Orleans, etc.... Rarely a one size fits all answer.  However I can guarantee using better storage, selection of salt without additives, and using fine crystallized salt versus ground salt will indeed always impact color less than your procedure.  No debating it just a fact, is it important well that is up to the individual and depending on the guy reading the thread they can follow whatever method they want as it makes no difference to me.

 

Edited February 5, 2016 by Travis

[fishon-son]

I don't worry about matching the hatch...I do my own thing.......never had and issues with color or clumping  ..I don't store ground salt and my colors are darker...that's all I'm sayin........for me finer is better......