How Much Salt?

[reconfishing]

I am new to this.  I just ordered my first fine salt and got it in.  How much salt do I add to my plastic and do I add it before I heat it or after?  

Thank you for your time.

 

[Bassinfool]

How much will be trial and error. I always added my salt before heating (I no longer use it) because adding it after heating seemed to cause more issues with air bubbles, bubbling in general as well as problems with cooling the plastic and clumping.

[mark poulson]

Salt makes a bait stiffer, and a little more fragile, so I use only small amounts in thin worms, and baits with thin appendages, to keep them more durable.

Senkos need a 2/1 ratio of plastisol to salt to achieve the weight of the originals.  I use soft plastic for them, to try and keep them flexible.

Because salt clouds up a bait's color, I add it after I've heated my plastic and added the color and flake.  It's easier for me to get the color I want that way.

If I wrote everything down for whatever color/bait I was making, I could add the salt at the beginning, but I don't, so I can't.

[smallmouthaholic]

Salt makes a bait stiffer, and a little more fragile, so I use only small amounts in thin worms, and baits with thin appendages, to keep them more durable.

Senkos need a 2/1 ratio of plastisol to salt to achieve the weight of the originals.  I use soft plastic for them, to try and keep them flexible.

Because salt clouds up a bait's color, I add it after I've heated my plastic and added the color and flake.  It's easier for me to get the color I want that way.

If I wrote everything down for whatever color/bait I was making, I could add the salt at the beginning, but I don't, so I can't.

 

Mark- it has been my experience that ultra-fine salt does not make a bait weaker- coarse, granular salt does.

[mark poulson]

Smallmouthaholic,

You may be right.

I flip and pitch my 5, 6, and 7" senkos, on 5/0 wide gap heavy duty offset worm hooks, and I'm luck if I get more than one fish per senko.

I find that, in order to get the same fall rate as the originals, mine seem to be more fragile.  They hold up fine until a fish eats then, and then I'm lucky to even get one back with the fish.

I've been using Kosher salt, because the larger granules don't seem to change the color as much, but I'll try some of the Bear's fine salt I have, to see if it makes my senkos more durable.

[Apdriver]

I like to use HD additive and a little salt for taste. Makes a nice soft bait that the fish will hold on to. Don't use softener because the HD tends to soften the bait anyway. Very durable too. Wacky rigged with the Oring tool, one bait will last many fish. I like a small mosquitoe hook for this. 20lb. braid with 3 to 3.5 foot of 12 lb. floro makes nice hardware to throw this on. For the old timers(me include) the hi vis braid is nice because we can see it. Take a permanent marker and color that braid another three to four feet from the knot. Reapply as necessary. They make a big marker with a wide tip I like for this. All this is dependent on your fishing style and water too. We have very clear water and have to make long casts to the fish.

[Basseducer]

That's right Mark, ultra fine salt does not weaken the plastisol as much. I was told by one of my re-sellers that he wanted them to break easier so they would not last as long.