Opened your tackle box and found a tie-dye surprise? You’re not alone. Soft plastic bait colors can transfer to other baits stored beside them. It’s called color bleed, and it doesn’t mean your baits have gone bad.
Color transfer alone doesn’t change the integrity of the bait doing the bleeding or the bait picking up the color. The result might not be the look you planned, but who knows? That unexpected combination could become your next favorite fish-catching color.
What is color bleed?
Color bleed happens when colorant moves from one soft plastic bait into another bait or a surface it touches. A white, clear, or lightly colored bait might pick up a tint from its colorful neighbor. Some bleeding colors can also stain plastic tackle-box compartments.
Think of it as an unplanned makeover, not a broken bait. Nature isn’t perfectly color-matched either.
Which colors should you watch?
Color bleed is a common experience with retail soft plastics. Reds, oranges, yellows, and purples are colors worth watching, although the specific colorant matters more than the color name alone. Not every red or purple bait will bleed.
Bleeding colors aren’t always labeled on retail packaging, which is why a neatly organized tackle box can sometimes turn into a tie-dye surprise.
How does Fintastic Plastics handle bleeding colors?
We do our best to use non-bleeding colors to keep each bait’s color where it belongs. If we use a color known to transfer to other baits or potentially stain your tackle box, we put BLEEDING COLOR in the product title and include care information in the description. No guessing games required.
Our Purple Wine (BLEEDING COLOR) is one example. Give it its own bag if you want to keep neighboring bait colors unchanged.
Why can our PRIDE baits be packaged together?
We use non-bleeding colors for our PRIDE baits, so we can package those colorful creations together without their colors transferring to one another. That’s an intentional part of how we make them: plenty of Pride, with the colors staying where we put them.
How should you store soft plastic baits?
You don’t need a complicated system. A few easy habits help keep your colors looking the way you picked them:
- Keep the original bags. They’re a convenient home for your baits and keep product names and any color notes close by.
- Give known bleeding colors their own bag. This is especially helpful around clear, white, or lightly colored baits.
- Use bags inside your tackle box. Keeping bleeding colors bagged helps avoid an unexpected tint in your plastic compartments.
- Keep things cool. Store your baits out of direct sunlight and avoid leaving them in a hot vehicle or on a sun-baked boat deck.
- Let wet baits dry before putting them away. Keep used baits separate from your fresh supply until they’re ready for storage.
Already have a tie-dye surprise?
If a bait from Fintastic Plastics or another brand has picked up some color, enjoy it! Color bleed alone doesn’t damage either bait or stop you from fishing it.
Separate the colors if you want to prevent more transfer, or embrace the new look. It might be a little unexpected, a little imperfect, and just the thing a fish decides to bite.
Color bleed is different from plastic melting, becoming sticky, or deforming. Those are separate storage or material-compatibility issues, not simply a change in color.
More fishing, less worrying
We choose non-bleeding colors whenever possible and clearly label the ones that need their own space. But if a little color mixing happens, there’s no need to retire a perfectly usable bait.
Keep it organized if you like. Enjoy the surprise if you don’t mind. Either way, go make a few casts.
Fishing Is For Everyone. Even the unexpectedly tie-dyed baits get to come along.
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