Saltwater Gulp Products

[cst]

Arenicola (Lug Worm)
I haven’t tried this one but I am under the opinion that it would make a good Dropshot bait. However, the Sandworm is very similar, proven effective, gives you the option of cutting it into pieces and comes in Camo.

Bait Swimmer

I’ve bought a few packs but never get around to using them. Seems like the bait lacks action and will spin on most rigs. I’ve heard of a few salmon fishermen catching fish on them but that’s about it.

Bloodworm

The third worm shaped bait in the Saltwater Gulp Lineup. This one can be cut in half and again, it doesn’t come in Camo. I can picture myself using the Lug Worm but don’t think I’d ever use this bait.

Clam / Mussels

I’m not really sure what to think of this bait, it’s an artificial clam but I’m not much of a clam/mussel fisherman anyway so I don’t imagine myself fishing these. Who knows though, they might work.

Cut Bait

This is a cool bait that offers a lot of customization. Put strips on a Drop Shot Rig or on your swimbaits. You can also cut split tails or tentacles into your baits. Good thing to have when the bite is slow. Works really well on your rockfish rigs too!

Jerk Shad

The jerk shad is a perfect size, works great on dropshot rigs, heavy darter heads or lighter cottee jig heads. The bait comes in a lot of great colors too including new penny, camo, smelt, sardine, nuclear chicken and my two favorites, Blue Pepper Neon and Chartreuse Shad. The darter head technique with an erratic retrieve is a killer for all types of bass and especially barracuda.

Peeler Crab

I’ve fished this a few times at Newport harbor using a Carolina rig and a jig head but neither produced any fish. I’ve only heard of two reports on these baits. One was from a guy who said they slay the Sheepshead and another was from a rock fisherman.

Pogy

This is Gulp’s equivalent of a swimbait. It is fat, has a tiny tail and the gulp formula tends to bend the tail. With all that said people fish it and catch fish.

Sand Crab/Flea

There was a lot of excitement around this bait. It’s gulp, it’s a sand crab, and it’s available even when the real ones aren’t. The bait does work however, with all the great surf fishing baits out there by gulp, this one just doesn’t need to be with you. I’ve caught fish on it every time I tried them but they always were out fished by the sandworms or the swimming mullets.

Sandworm Nereis

The 6” sandworm is by far the most popular gulp bait and possibly the most popular surf fishing bait. The California Beach Masters Tournament was won using the Camo colored Sandworms and I’m pretty sure the vast majority of fish caught were on the Sandworm. I’ve seen some nice sized halibut caught drop shotting these things, and a bunch of slab perch caught fishing this on a Carolina Rig. Best way to describe it is by using the Perchinator’s term, “Perch Crack.”

Shrimp

The shrimp comes in 3 sizes and is said to work wonders on all types of SW fish. It has even caught a bonefish from Newport. With that said I have never caught a thing on them and I’m not sure why that is.

Updated on March 2008The 3” and 4” shrimps have both proven to work well dragged around the bottom and have, in my books redeemed themselves after some poor performances over the last few years. With little adjustments to my technique, I have caught all three types of bass, halibut and even barracuda in our local harbors. The straight tail and low profile make this a good choice for tough bites.

Squid

Lots of people were excited about this bait and they showed it by paying over $9.00 for a 3 pack! Fortunately, the price has gone down a bit and people still show interest in it. I’ve used a lot of the squids I’ve gotten from sample packs and they have proven very durable and are Sculpin slayers. The Sand Bass don’t seem to like them too much though. I’ve caught a few on the squid but have always caught more after switching to swimbaits or the Jerk Shad.

Updated on March 2008I finally got around to trying the 3” Squid and have nothing bad to say. Again, just like the shrimps, it has a low profile and very little movement from its tentacles. This makes it great for finicky fish. The 3” squid, just like the original 5” size, is one of the more durable shapes that are available. You can go through many bass before having to switch it out, and even then, you can rig it upside down (usually I put the darker color on top but after some use put it on the bottom so there isn’t a gaping hole near the hook to tweak your bait). One other thing I really like about this bait is its ability to be fished rather aggressively on a darter head. Due to its shape, when rigged on a darter head, you can make it zig and zag really well. The only issue is that with the squid, shrimp, minnow and jerkshad, you have 4 different baits that all have a straight tail, do nothing shape and there is really no need to carry all of them.

Swimming Mullet

the swimming mullets come in 3 sizes and are great baits. The 2” baits in watermelon are a great replacement for the MORF grub and the brighter 4” grubs are killer on the rockfish. Furthermore, all sizes are great on bass and halibut. One interesting thing to point out is that Turners couldn’t keep the 4” red Swimming Mullet in stock during the Fred Hall Show. Not sure why but I guess it works if people kept buying them.

[DementedFish]

Sweet

[Catcherman]

First off, I want to thank Chris for putting all this effort into these reviews.

I'm the Berkley sales rep. for his store, so I have a few insightful pieces of info to add to what he's written. See below:

Lug Worm
I've used this in the surf and had great success. I actually caught my largest BSP using the 4" dark brown lug worm while fishing for 15 minutes up in Santa Barbara. Though I agree, with the success of the sandworm, this shape suffers for the surf fishing crowd. The thing you guys may not have tried this for is stripers. I know several fishermen in the Bakersfield area that love to fish the dark brown or natural 6" lug worm for striper and do very well with it.

Bait Swimmer

This bait is best used for large rock fish, particularly ling cod, and for salmon. Take a look at these photos taken in La Jolla:





For lings, I like to cut off the head (as shown above) and use a lead head. For large rock cod, just fish it like you would a fresh dead squid.

Bloodworm

Striper bait. See 6" lugworm above. The reason this doesn't work so well for surf fishing is that it maintains its shape rather than flexing like the sandworms do. This causes the bait to spin in the waves which causes line twist. Stick to using this in still or slower moving water where you can use a swivel to counteract what spinning may occur.

Jerk Shad

This bait is now available in a 7" size. Blue Pepper Neon and New Penny have been the best sellers, but many of the other colors have been shown to produce fish.

Pogy

The new 4" size is starting to become very popular. These fish well on a lead head.

Shrimp

The shrimp comes in 3 sizes and is said to work wonders on all types of SW fish. It has even caught a bonefish from Newport. With that said I have never caught a thing on them and I’m not sure why that is.

Squid

These come in some new sizes now too. The original shape was a 5" model. We now have 3", 5", 8", and 10" models. I've heard all kinds of fish being caught on these. Everything from surf perch to marlin. Yes marlin. A 10" squid was used to bait a sleeper down near Cabo San Lucas earlier this year before they were released to the public.

Swimming Mullet

The 2" mullets work very well for surf fishing, and we came out with a new color for the mullets in May... CAMO!

The 4" swimming mullets work very well for rock fish. That is why they sold so well at the Fred Hall Show and continue to do well.

What has really made Gulp! so successful here in California is the inginuity of the southern California anglers. They continue to take new shapes out on the water and rig them in all kinds of different ways. You guys aren't afraid to target any species with these baits and you're not afraid to share your information with your fellow anglers.

Keep the reports coming. And thanks again Chris.

[cst]

thanks for the updates Mickey!

[Catcherman]

Oh, and by the way, here's the bonefish from Newport Harbor you were referring to:

[Beresford13861]

wow thanks to you both, excelent info. im gona be surf fishing this fall so all this good stuff helps

[aftahour]

the jerk shad 5", squid 3", shrimp 3" works great for hali drop shot.. i tryed all of them..

[filz]

hey great review! thanks for doing that for us!

[Local Rookie]

Cool, what would you recommend we use for the Gulp Only Tournament

[Catcherman]

GCSW

[cst]

i'll never tell

[YakityYak]

hey thanks for the reviews and additions. Here's a question? Does the Camo Sandworm some in only the 4" size? That stuff is so small I have trouble rigging it. Any suggestions?

[Catcherman]

6" or 4" are your only options.

[cst]

cut the 6" sandworm into halves or thirds. i havent tried the 4" one yet because it just looked so small and thin.

[cst]

just updated a few things.