Welcome to the BITE SCIENCE Soft Plastics Review. There were many amazing products released during AFTA 2022. One item that caught our attention was the brand new soft plastics range called bite science released by Jarvis Walker. An extensive range of soft plastics including grubs, paddle tails, minnows, jerk shads, critters and so on. The soft plastics market is a mature and saturated space with many household names competing with products quite similar to their competitors.
So why would consumers consider this new product range when we already have so many grubs, paddle tails, jerk shads and critters to choose from already? That’s what we will break down for you in this review. The Bite Science Soft plastics range provides an affordable option whilst still providing good design, range and performance. These soft plastics will be priced cheaper than other brands on the market ( currently priced at $6.95 ) and you receive more plastics per packet than its competitors. Gives you a good bang for your buck which is good news for those who like fishing on a budget and the design and performance of these soft plastics may surprise you.
Bite Science the brand new Soft Plastics range
After AFTA 2022 Jarvis Walker supplied FishingMad with a range of Bite Science soft plastics to test and put them through their paces. Now I’ve always had a bit of a running joke about Jarvis Walker products with close mates. Jokingly comparing our mate’s skill levels and high-end rod and reels to K-Mart Jarvis Walker gear. My expectations weren’t too high but I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived. The 2.5-inch grubs, paddle tails and critters resembled something quite similar to a Zman. Nice profile, nice colour range, squid scented & UV options. Again without sounding like a broken record I was very pleasantly surprised.
The bright green packaging catches your eyes, inside are clamshell plastic holders keeping the soft plastics in position nicely. It’s been a few weeks and I’ve taken these soft plastics out on several occasions now. The smaller soft plastics have been equally effective as other known brands in the space on species like bream, whiting, flathead, pinky snapper, snook, salmon, redfin, trout, and estuary perch. Whilst the larger size jerk shads and curtails look very promising for the upcoming snapper season ahead of us.
In my first session using this range of soft plastics, I rigged up a 2.5-inch squid-scented grub in the motor oil colour. I liked the generic profile size and the colours looked flashy. I rigged this on a 1/16 sub-strike DC jig head. Working the plastics quite slowly with hops, lifts and pauses along a river entrance feeding Port Phillip Bay. The plastic was easy to rig up and the swimming action on the tail was excellent. I landed 4 salmon up to 50cm, 3 pinkies up to 45cm, 2 bream, 1 whiting and 1 snook. I was quite impressed as this was during the end of August with the water temperature hovering around 10.5 degrees which usually shuts down many of these bread and butter species. I replaced the soft plastic twice, so they were a lot more durable than I was expecting.
Our first session with the Bite Science grubs was productive
Bite Science Soft Plastics Let’s lift the hood
In speaking directly with Jarvis Walker staff I could confirm that Bite science is a range of soft plastics including eight different profile shapes with a range of jig heads to match. Made in China however the tail shapes and colours were developed, tested and refined here in Australia for 18 months before going to market. The unrigged tails come pre-scented with fish attractant, to maximise fish-catching ability without the need to buy and apply scent separately.
BITE SCIENCE RANGE AND TECHNOLOGY
- XT ULTRA Tough – Tough, durable and holds tight on jigheads.
- MAX ACTION FORMULA – Enhanced for underwater performance.
- BIO-TECH DESIGN – Expertly designed by a Biological Scientist.
- SCENTED – Scented for Maximum attraction.
The range includes
- DIRTY GRUB – 2.5 inch & 4 inch sizes ( Motor Oil & UV Bloodworm )
- BUNKER BUSTER – 3 inch, 4 inch & 6 inch sizes ( Pumpkin & Camo )
- JERK MINNOW – 5 inch & 7 inch sizes ( Radioactive & Blue Shad )
- MAD MINNOW – 3 inch & 4 inch sizes ( Watermelon & UV Purple Pearl )
- KICK MINNOW – 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch, 5 inch sizes ( Watermelon & UV Smelt )
- CREEPY CRITTER – 2 inch, 3 inch sizes ( UV Motor Oil & Camo )
- TWITCH WORM – 2.5 inch sizes ( Motor Oil & UV Bloodworm )
After catching 4 salmon in 4 casts the soft plastic was still in good working condition
Pros
- More durable than what I was expecting
- Excellent colour range
- Good range of profiles and sizes
This is such a new product and I’m still in the early stages of testing. However, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised at how well they have performed. As these soft plastics filter their way into tackle stores it will be really interesting to sit back and see the take up as many anglers love affordable products. I suspect we may also see these soft plastics in retail stores as well as tackle stores which may be a big advantage. These soft plastics should appeal to those fishing on a budget or even new to soft plastics fishing. I’ve been fishing with soft plastics for many years and was quite impressed with the range, price and action.
You can purchase Bite Science soft plastics from most fishing tackle stores and online retailers. You can see more about Jarvis Walker Bite Science here
Thanks for reading the BITE SCIENCE Soft Plastics Review. Feel free to check out our other Fishing Product reviews. if you have any questions or concerns then please let us know by contacting our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au cheers