Technology Rules!

Fishbites – Yum!

Anyone who has shopped to improve the tackle knows that disappointment follows 75% of the time. I have been frustrated in this column in finding an item I can recommend.

Until now (finally!) Deep among the dense forest of golf courses of Hilton Head, there are a couple of places to fish, namely the Atlantic Ocean and Calibogue Sound. Having packed a saltwater kit, complete with a fistful of artificial bait, I was hopeful of catching something new.

Of course most fishing outfits give you live, frozen, or cut bait, and in HH, the preferred bait was shrimp. (Well we are in Forrest Gump territory …)

After months of sitting in the fridge, I now had green squid strips, red bloodworm spaghetti strips, large pizza-cut slices of white crab and smaller bits of white clam – all somehow held together on plastic netting. Think of candle dipping, until the mesh is covered numerous times with delightful smelly. Luckily, it is smell-free to homo piscatoris, but not to fish, when it is wet, and dissolving in salt water.

If I had not been so discouraged with the party boat, I might not have felt so inspired. I rigged a drop-shot 3/0 circle hook with strips of squid, since the boat was pushing squid and shrimp and both seemed to be pulling their share equally fairly. I wish I had bought the plastic shrimp and have no idea why I didn’t, but the squid did fine, outfishing the pros’ bait, two-to-one.

I therefore stuck with squid strips the rest of the week, catching fish every time. I have tried Yum with one success and Berkley’s Gulp with no success (and, hey, they are only usable once!)– all smellies, but this was the first time an artificial caught fish high-tide or low-tide , 72° - 83°(!) ocean temperature.

If you are out on saltwater or even surf casting, I would say try this stuff. (You will need scissors to cut the mesh off the hook when it has all dissolved, so bring your best Swiss Army knife.)