Biodegradable bait 'first' by Enterprise
FAKE-BAIT kings Enterprise Tackle are set to shake-up the angling market with a ground-breaking move to make all of their products fully biodegradable.
Starting this coming spring, the company’s huge range of imitation hookbaits and plastic terminal tackle items will contain an additive that helps them to break down fully within just a couple of years, compared to the 200 to 300 years it currently takes with plastics.
Enterprise, which has sold around 25 million units of its imitation corn hookbaits alone since launching them as a market-first back in 1999, has been working on the new products for a number of years, as the company’s Chris Hornsby revealed.
“As the market leader in imitation carp and coarse baits, we felt that it was a no-brainer for us to make our baits biodegradable.”
“We began looking into it five years ago, but the additives available back then adversely affected the products. For example, we ended up with rock-hard plastic maggots, which were far from ideal. But extensive trials of the new additive has shown that the baits looked and felt exactly as they should, and catch reports confirmed their effectiveness had not been compromised.”
Although Enterprise has made a big investment in the new process, anglers will welcome the news that the price of the new offerings will mirror that of the old.
“We’re absorbing the cost because we feel that the benefits to the environment, and the positive message we will be sending out, far outweigh any financial gain.
“From early spring 2020 we will be running out some of our most popular items, such as pop-up sweetcorn, containing the biodegradable additive. These items will be identified by a round sticker on the front of the packaging. Eventually all of our products will have it.
Until now the angling industry has been slow to embrace environmental issues, so we’re proud to set the ball rolling.”
Indeed, the forward-thinking move by Enterprise will not only be welcomed by environmentally-aware anglers, but also fishery owners, some of whom have banned plastic baits.
Richard Wilby, who runs Airfield Lakes in Norfolk and several other waters said:
“This is a great development. Currently I don’t allow plastic baits on any of my venues because they’re always ‘fishing’, which can be a problem if a rig is left out due to a crack-off or bite-off from a pike. I look forward to seeing these new baits and hopefully being able to allow them again in my lakes. It’s an excellent move by Enterprise, and good luck to them.”
