Popular bait almost missed the boat - It took convincing before getting OK

Written by Craig Nyhus

Friday, 21 December 2007

Dr. Keith Jones fights a Louisiana redfish while field-testing prototype Gulp! Baits. Photo by Craig Nyhus. Arguably the top new set of fishing baits in the past several decades, Berkley Gulp! products almost didn’t make it to the shelves. Until, that is, the company’s founder stepped in. Dr. Keith Jones and John Prochnow were and still are the developers of the products. Jones’ group works on the attractants, and Prochnow’s group works on the base material, and designs the shapes and colors of the baits. “Lab work began on the idea in 1995 or 1996,” Jones said. “The first field test we ever ran was in 1997. From there, we worked with it to develop a process to produce it in mass.” “In 2001, we had some manufacturing breakthroughs, and we began processing it in 2002. Jones said it was tough to perfect working with the new materials. “Gulp! is technically still a plastic, but it’s totally different from the PVC plastics used to make plastic worms and baits,” he said. “We had to design the equipment to make it from scratch. Then we had to work with how long to cure it and other issues.” Jones said more than once he was worried the project would get scrapped. “Around 1996 and after field testing in 1997, John and I saw that this was the product we were looking for,” he said. “But it would take significant capital input to make it in mass production, especially for equipment that would need to be bought to prove we could mass produce it at a reasonable cost.” The marketing department had to be convinced. “They didn’t know what we could sell it until we knew how much it would cost to make it,” he said. “But we had to get the equipment before we could know the answer.” The project had ups and downs from 1997-2001. “It was off and on,” he said. “We weren’t sure it was going to make it.” But the field research showed the original baits, designed to extrude a fish attractant into the water, did indeed attract fish. “The baits work best fished slowly with some motion,” Jones said. “Most fish are looking for some movement – movement indicates life – although sometimes just dead-sticking the bait and letting the fish come to attractant where they notice the bait works too.” It was the company’s founder, Berk Bedell, who gave the fateful advice. “He told Tom Bedell (Berkley’s owner at the time) they needed to get off their keisters and commit to it and do it.” “We haven’t looked back since,” Jones said. The product launched in 2002 with extruded lures only called Power Naturals. Better technology has expanded the product line, and now baits are available in nearly every shape and size imaginable, for both fresh and salt water. “The success has been phenomenal,” Jones said. “Fishermen tend to be somewhat conservative, and there is a growth curve to any product. But as our technology grew, it has exploded.” The introduction of Gulp! Alive, products Jones described as baits “packaged in their own juice,” have proven to be the hottest. “The packaging makes it so every bait is shaped properly and there are few bait deformities,” he said. “Plus the baits are presaturated.” The problem now is keeping up, Jones said. “It’s almost impossible to keep up with the orders.”

Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 December 2007 )

 

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