Recycling Plastic Fishing Baits: A Sustainable Solution

As anglers, we go through a lot of soft plastic baits – creature baits, worms, swimbaits and more. Instead of throwing away used or torn plastics, why not recycle them by remelting and repouring them?  This not only saves money but also reduces plastic waste in our waterways and landfills. 

Every year, millions of soft plastic baits are discarded. Estimates suggest that anglers in the U.S. alone lose or throw away over 20 million pounds of soft plastic baits annually.  Much of this ends up in landfills or, worse, in our lakes, rivers and oceans, where it can take hundreds of years to break down.

This past weekend, Columbus Bassmaster, Hartley’s Hawgs, parents and grandparents got together to recycle plastic baits. 

Follow this link for a video overview of the process:

Clean and Sort

Baits are sorted by color and impurities (O-rings, weights and keepers) and incompatible plastics, such as Elaztech, are removed.  Once the baits are sorted, they are cut into pieces to make them easier to melt.

Melt and Inject

The sorted plastics are then melted using microwaves and customized Presto Pots.  Once the plastic is uniformly melted (usually around 300 degrees Fahrenheit), it is ready to be injected into a bait mold. 

Several of the young men made their own customized color blends. They then chose from dozens of custom molds to finish their creation.

Finishing

Once the baits cool, they are removed from the molds and laid out flat and straight so they can cure.  The finished baits are then packaged up and ready to fish another day.  By remelting and repouring old baits, anglers can practice sustainable fishing while getting more use out of their favorite plastics. So next time your bait gets torn up, don’t toss it, recycle it!

We appreciate all of the parents and volunteers for the work they did to organize the event, for bringing in lunch and spending the day with us.

If you’d like to learn more about our club or the Hartley Hawgs Youth Fishing Club, use the contact form on our main page to get in touch.