®
B
ass fishing lures
have evolved
quickly and become more advanced
and specialized every year.
Some old standards have
worked for decades, but
even common lure types
are being enhanced with
the help of science.
Berkley is one of
the leaders in fishing
lure design and has a
unique blend of science,
technology, and real-world
fishing experience that
goes into each lure they
produce. Nothing they
build is rushed, and the
entire process from an idea
to design to being placed in
your tackle box takes time,
and it’s fascinating to see it
all come together.
THE BAIT DESIGN PROCESS
When it comes to soft plastic baits, Berkley’s Project Engineer of Soft Baits, Kyle Peterson, is heavily involved. He has overseen the development of everything produced by the company and works closely with the pro staff and the rest of his team to make things possible. But, for him, it all starts with an idea.
“The process we start with is a sketch or concept,” he said. “This could be what we want to improve on in the market to make it better or a brand new idea. There are also plenty of things we’ve never seen anywhere else, so it’s a give-and-take and often takes a lot of back and forth with our pros to get something started.”
Even once the product has been developed and a prototype has been built, there is still plenty of work before it is mass-produced and headed to your favorite tackle store.
“We have rounds of back and forth where we talk about it with the pros and then test it here in the water and the pros are doing the same thing,” he said. “We come back together with our thoughts and make sure we both like the action, how it swims, and more. We repeat this process until it is the right time to bring it to market.”
In addition to leaning on professional anglers on the team, Peterson also relies on the help of his Berkley co- workers, who help incorporate science into their products.
Berkley’s team consists of chemists and those trained in fisheries science, and the scents and formulas built into their plastics are done so with the fish in mind. They test different formulations with bass and other species to determine what to put in each soft plastic bait for the best results.
“We have a whole team that works on the plastic material,” Peterson said. “For instance, they’ll give us the PowerBait or MaxScent material to work with and build the baits. It gives us confidence that besides looking good in the water, we have something proven to catch more fish with science.”
INPUT FROM THE PROS
The Berkley pro staff is one of the most decorated there, including Edwin Evers, who has won both the Bassmaster Classic and Major League Fishing’s REDCREST. He’s been part of the team for five seasons and has developed two different baits, with more on the way. Evers says the process can get started through an idea he has or from the Berkley team in Spirit Lake, Iowa.
“It comes multiple ways but always because someone sees a hole in the market, like, for instance, when they want to figure out a better way to catch suspended fish or some other tricky fishing situation,” he said. “Sometimes someone from the staff will bring an idea or concept and other times Berkley will ask all of us for input. It’s a two-way street, and as professional anglers, we are there to help with ideas.”
The two baits that Evers was heavily involved with are the Agent E swimbait and Berkley Power Blade spinnerbaits, both proven lures built exactly how Evers wanted them.
“The process can take years to develop a project and get it on the market,” Evers said. “The spinnerbait, for example, took many months of testing different blade sizes for each configuration to get them to swim a certain way and do what I wanted. The blades are quarter sizes and you can’t just mix and match the blade to other spinnerbaits because some are designed for the bait to swim faster or slower - there’s a specific purpose for each blade size.”
Spring 2024
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