There are no secrets in fishing. Fishermen like to talk. And they do talk. People who make and sell fishing gear, along with those who provide fishing services, like to talk. And they talk.
Even when fishing gurus and their like want to keep something secret, they can’t.
A couple of months ago, I was invited to Bardstown for a media gathering hosted by Pure Fishing. If you’re not familiar with the corporate entity, you may know many Pure Fishing products: Berkley Baits, Abu Garcia, Penn, Plano, Hardy Fishing, Stren, Pflueger … it’s a long list.
Why the meeting was held in Bardstown was something of a mystery. Bardstown is delightful, of course, and the Bardstown Bourbon Company hosted the event, which included a tour and tasting. But fishing product launches usually involve: 1) a meet and greet, 2) a product rollout, 3) bags or boxes of product samples and 4) hours (sometimes days) on the water putting the new stuff to the test.
Not this time. No product test. No samples. The invitees in attendance (about 25 writers, broadcasters, podcasters and influencer types) who gathered in Bardstown also had to agree that all product information would be embargoed until June 1. No exceptions.
The Pure Fishing folks then announced they would be rolling out a new line of Berkley Lab baits.
When they finally got around to showing us the new baits, the stuff didn’t look like anything special. Three soft plastic baits: a minnow (available in two sizes and 10 colors), a flat worm (nine colors, one size) and a finesse worm (10 colors, one size). Plastic baits are hardly new, but the innovative stuff, it was excitedly explained, was on the inside. The fishing wizards at Berkley (smart folks, to be sure, when it comes to matching fishing and science) explained that the Lab Series line of baits combined a layer of Berkley’s MaxScent and PowerBait with a Max Scented Rapid-Release Slime (yep, “slime” is the word they used). Basically, they said, fish will be attracted by the new bait’s color, action, scent and taste. Bass won’t be able to resist. It a bait for the bass that’s seen everything.
“I think we’ve invented the most potent things in soft bait history,” a Pure Fishing researcher told the gathering.
• • •
Some of the attendees were skeptical. All, however, were willing to wait to see the stuff in action before passing judgment. Everyone departed the following morning, some headed home and others bound for Knoxville, Tennessee, which was hosting the Bassmaster Classic championship. All were sworn to the embargo deadline. The Berkley team promised that more information would follow.
Then something unexpected happened. At the Bassmaster Classic, generally considered to be the Super Bowl of bass fishing and where a victory instantly propels the winner to the center of the professional bass fishing world, 22-year-old Dylan Nutt won. It would be fair to say that his victory was unexpected. The Classic is a three-day event spotlighting the best bass fishermen in the world. Nutt hauled in a five-fish limit each day, bagging 19 pounds, 5 ounces on Day 1; 26 pounds, 11 ounces on Day 2; and 20 pounds, 13 ounces on Day 3. His total of 66 pounds, 9 ounces bested second-place finisher Yui Aoki by nearly 9 pounds. In fishing competition, that’s a blowout.
One of the first things every Classic winner is asked is which bait was used to catch the fish. I did not attend this year’s Classic, but Nutt was apparently a little vague with specifics about the bait he used to haul in an average of more than 22 pounds of bass per day; he acknowledged that most of his fish were caught on a soft bait that was a Berkley prototype bait.
There are no secrets in fishing.
Nutt’s win undoubtedly resulted in a scramble at Pure Fishing’s Spirit Lake, Iowa, headquarters. Berkley’s iron-clad information embargo vanished overnight. Fishermen were clamoring to know more. And no one—especially the people selling bait—wants the Classic-winning bait kept a secret.
In a hastily delivered news release, Berkley described its seemingly magic bait this way:
“Built to meet the demands of modern fishing pressure, Lab Series baits are engineered to trigger bites from fish that have seen it all. Through a small-batch layered pouring process, Berkley combines a MaxScent layer, a proven PowerBait taste layer, and a MaxScent Rapid-Release Slime that provides an explosion of fish-attracting scent the moment it hits the water. This bait platform represents a breakthrough from the leader in scent and taste, as it is the first time MaxScent and PowerBait have been combined into a single bait, allowing for a myriad of translucent color options. The small-batch pouring process allows for the delivery of technique-specific finesse actions. The result of this combination is a series of baits that is built to get more fish to commit, bite and hold onto the bait.”
Nathan Ragsdale, a senior product manager for Berkley who was part of the Bardstown presenters, added, “For the first time, we’re able to combine the scent dispersion of MaxScent, the proven taste of PowerBait, and new scent activation technology in the same bait while maintaining the exact profile, action and colors anglers demand. It allows us to approach bait designs and techniques that simply weren’t possible before.”
No secrets.
Berkley Lab baits (MSRP $14.99 per package) will be available at a sporting goods store near you May 1.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com.