How does salt content change a soft plastic, and how should it be specified?
Short answer
Salt is a priced ingredient before it is a fishing feature. Bassmaster's account of density records that stickworms are typically moulded from a dense plastic infused with salt to increase weight and sink rate, that salt arrived in soft plastics as a taste additive with the Gene Larew Salt Craw in 1983, and that denser plastic tends to harden the bait while softer, less dense plastic sinks more slowly.
In detail
Specify it as a percentage by weight of the finished bait and agree how the factory measures it, because a salt figure carried across from a different formula is not a comparable number.
The numbers behind this answer
| Formulation choice | What the source says it does | What it changes in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Texture and durometer | Outdoor Canada's makers say a bait can be made as soft or hard as you like by changing the ratio of resins to plasticisers, that a soft stickbait reads as a nightcrawler while a firmer tube reads as a crayfish, and that fish hold on longer when the feel matches the forage (Outdoor Canada) | Durometer is a separate order line from salt content, and a buyer who specifies only grams of weight has not specified the bait at all |
| Formulation choice | What the source says it does | What it changes in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Unsalted, soft pour | Bassmaster records that the original thin-walled tube carried no salt, and that softer, less dense plastics sink more slowly and are preferred for finesse work (Bassmaster) | The lowest ingredient cost and the slowest fall, bought back as a bait that tears up sooner and needs more of them per session |
Where this answer comes from
Part of the product record Fork-tail soft plastics: the multi-pack value tier (Soft Lure). The record carries the tables this answer is drawn from, the fields a factory needs before quoting, and an explicit list of what has not been verified.
Products that solve this
Sampled listings from the same product family (Soft Lure). Reference price per unit with the MOQ stated; a quotation against your specification governs a transaction.
All soft lure listings · factory identity is released after a trade account is approved.
Read next
- How to read a catalogue: the field that decides each price
- The 14 sourcing terms, including AQL and colourway tolerance
- Build the specification for this product
- Send a specification and get a quotation in one business day
Other questions in this record
- What makes a fork tail a fork tail, and what does the fork do?
- PVC plastisol, TPE or a 3D-printed body: which should a value multi-pack use?
- How many colours should one value multi-pack carry?
- What pack counts should a value-tier order use?
- Blister card or poly bag?
- How is a fork-tail multi-pack priced from a Chinese factory?
- What compliance risk sits behind a very cheap PVC soft bait?
Related questions
- Should the body be hard plastic, soft TPE or metal? - Lipless vibration baits (VIB): body, rattle, weight, MOQ
- How should sink rate be specified on a purchase order? - Glide baits for pike, musky and striped bass
- How does the weight-to-size ratio change as a vibration bait gets longer? - Lipless vibration baits (VIB): body, rattle, weight, MOQ
Still unsure?
Send the product, the quantity and the destination market, and you get an answer against verified factory records within one business day. If the question is useful to other buyers we publish it as a page like this one.
Sources
- PVC or Super TPE: Which Is The Better Soft Plastic Fishing Lure, Rapala - PVC plastisol versus Super TPE characteristics and the phthalate-free statement
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Soft-plastic Lures, Outdoor Canada - plastisol, resin-to-plasticiser ratio, 320 F catalysis, 24-hour cure and swimbait tail stiffness
- Ned Worm, Westin Fishing - TPR body, 7 pieces at 7 cm and 6 pieces at 9 cm, eight published colours and the TPR storage warning
- The density quotient, Bassmaster - salt infusion for weight and sink rate, density versus texture and the 1983 salt origin
- Custom Fishing Lure Packaging, RinPac - flexible hanging pouch versus blister or rigid clear pack, hook control and fitting a soft-bait pouch to the filled product
- Soft plastic, Safety Recall INFO/00134/24, Recall Europe - EU Safety Gate alert on cadmium and DEHP in a PVC fishing soft plastic, REACH non-compliance and the marketing ban
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Last reviewed: 2026-09-18 · build 2026-09-18-sz27n