# Berkley Gulp vs. Powerbait?



## JohnPD

What's the main difference other than one you soak in liquid and the other you don't? I really never see anyone talk about using the Gulp products, always about the Powerbait products. I've also noticed that some of the Powerbait stuff is getting harder to find too.
Is it just that people around here don't use Gulp, or that it just doesn't work around here as well as Powerbaits.


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## Shad Rap

I was looking at the jars of gulp yesterday...the thing that turned me off was the price...I have heard some good things about them though...not sure but with the powerbait I think everything is blended into the bait where as gulp is based on the liquid it sits in...dunno.


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## Jmsteele187

The gulp baits are made of a different material. I'm not sure it's even plastic. But, they work, and they work well. The bigger buckets are pretty expensive, but compare the quantity to a package of powerbait. You get a lot more than just a six pack of worms. It is mostly about the liquid they sit in though. You can keep dipping your bait back in the bucket to recharge the scent. If you leave them on your hook, when you're done fishing though, they shrivel up and dry out. I use the little jar of 1" minnows for crappie. I swear they out fished real minnows last spring, not to mention out lasted them 6:1.


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## M.Magis

Gulp alive comes in the liquid, but there&#8217;s also regular Gulp products. They seem to have a lot more &#8220;flavor&#8221; than Powerbait. Powerbait seems to have more rubber content, and is more durable. I think as technology makes the Gulp products more durable, Powerbait will be discontinued. My experience is only in saltwater, but the Gulp products work very, very well there. Not sure about the Gulp Alive, I&#8217;m too cheap to buy any.


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## Jmsteele187

I use the gulp alive stuff. I tried the regular gulp once for walleye during the run, but I didn't have any luck on those or powerbait that day.


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## Bassbme

Both are good to great baits. Gulp disperses it's scent better than Power Bait. Which seems to make them more effective in low visibility situations, like dirtier water, or thick cover. Probably because fish can smell them better and will hunt them out? IMO Gulp products are a lot more durable than Power Bait products. They're not nearly as supple as Power Bait products, so they have a lot less action . They've made some great improvements in Gulp products since their introduction years ago. Hopefully they'll make more. I'd love to see them make a frog chunk that could be used as a jig trailer.


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## JohnPD

Thanks for the replies. I'm currently picking up a few things here and there to try some bass fishing this spring, and really didn't know if I should try some of the Gulp products that look like Powerbait replicas or just stay with the Powerbait stuff.


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## M.Magis

Maybe try both and see how they stack up against each other. As for fish catching ability, I think Gulp wins hands down. But, there are other factors to consider.


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## tadluvadd

Gulp is biodegradable because it made from real fish.its not plastic.ive caught some of my biggest fish using gulp and gulp alive.what makes me a believer is when i use it bass fishing,i dont just catch a few,but a lot of catfish using it.this tells me its scent is powerful and real.it is expensive to buy gulp alive but worth it considering how many baits you get.and if u dont want to spend that much,you can buy the jerk shad and many more in pkg for same price as powerbait.fyi most of the fish in my album were caught on gulp.


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## Flathead76

The powerbait catfish chunks in a bag are complete garbage. Was fishing the Maumee for channel catfish drifting under a float. It was the day of days in the streatch I was fishing. Hands down I have never even had close to a day fishing channels on the river like that. Every drift with a night crawler fish on. Was about to run out of crawlers and used shrimp. Every drift fish on. Caught a few small sheephead and twisted thier heads off for bait. Every drift fish on. So I figured lets try this powerbait catfish bait. Fished it for 15 minutes with not one take. Tried liver and blood. Was thinking maybe I caught them all. So switched back to the other three and started knocking the piss out of them on every drift. There were two guys standing behind us keeping all the fish that we caught. They quickly had all the fish that they wanted and more. That day was unreal.


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## Flathead76

I have used gulp for jigging on the reefs for walleye and have had good results on a leadhead jig. I prefer to use plastic over live bait due to the cost of shinners that time of year. When the season is early I will buy shinners because the water is very cold still. Once it starts to warm up a little forget it plastics all the way.


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## PolymerStew

I don't know this for certain, but based upon the information available in the patent literature, I suspect Powerbait is poly(vinyl chloride) based and Gulp is poly(vinyl alcohol) based. I searched for patents assigned to Berkley or Pure Fishing that appeared to describe lures with the characteristics of those products.

Poly(vinyl chloride) plastisols are what conventional soft plastic lures are typically composed of. I think Powerbait is such a material with added fishmeal, fish oils, and salts to increase the attractiveness to fish. (Based upon info in US Patent 6269586)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) is a water soluble polymer. In Gulp lures water appears to act as the plasticizer (the compound that makes the lure soft and rubbery). That's why Gulp lures get tough and leathery if left out to dry. PVC plastisols use phthalates or phthalate substitutes as plasticizers, which don't readily evaporate under ambient conditions. Also, the Gulp lures contain 15 wt% "fish attractant" according to the patent. Because they are a water soluble polymer, they do a good job of taking up and releasing the water/oil-based fish attractant "gravy" they come soaked in. (Based upon info in US patent application 20090196849 and US patent 6174525)


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## drew7997

One hello of an answer if I ever saw one! 

Drew

Sent from my Droid 1

2013:
Common cold - 0
Flu - 0
Sniffles - 0
Bluegill - 0
Crappie - 0
Smallmouth - 0
Largemouth - 0
Perch - 0
Redear - 0


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## James F

Yes the price is up there on the Gulp products,However they keep far better than live bait.And for Me they last longer on the hook and catch way more fish per live bait. I was a little hesitant about the small bottles like the maggots these little buggers did better than I expected,and they didn't try to wiggle out of my fingers.


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