The Bait Pump

Adding scent to crappie jigs has always made sense, but problems are often encountered by the methods of application.

Some scent is sprayed on, others are baked into the bait and still others hook onto the back of the bait. All of these work to a degree, but nothing in comparison to a bait injection system — the Bait Pump — designed by Randy Hulin, a manufacturing engineer and crappie fisherman from Tioga, La.

“It’s the best way to put scent in a tube without all the mess,” said pro crappie angler Hugh Krutz. “I like to use Berkley Crappie Nibbles in the Bait Pump. These have a tougher consistency but will still mush up in the Bait Pump and easily inject and stay inside the tube.”

To use the product, Krutz employs a small drop of SuperGlue on the head of the jighead before impaling the tube on the hook. This allows the tube to be used longer, as he finds that crappie literally try to tear the skirt off the hook when it’s loaded up with attractant.

Next, he fills the screw-driven pump with Crappie Nibbles, then inserts the nozzle into the hollow end of the tube and twists the base of the pump, forcing the Nibbles into the jig.

“The attractant causes the tube to swell up a little, and that slows the fall of the jig down, which is often what you want when crappie fishing,” said Krutz. “Unlike the plain Nibble hooked on the jig, the attractant doesn’t come off and there’s no mess from the Nibbles stored in the Pump. Plus it’s small enough to store in your jig box, so if things get tough and you need to add some scent, it’s right there.”