Tackle Box Mysteries

[The Sogster]

As recently posted on the HDYGO thread I've recently doing a bit of lure fishing.
As part of this I have been replacing my treble hooks on lures with inline single hooks.

Anyway as part of the process I turned to this lure and thought at first that the plastic vane at the front had been melted somehow. See below.

But it has been stored alone in a compartmentalised box in the dark since I returned from Chennai in December 2019.
However the weirdest thing about it is that the plastic in the affected area is completely soft and pliable with the consistency of putty.

Any thoughts on what this could be? It's got me baffled.

What are your own tackle box mysteries?

 

[Philip]

Something like insect repellant would cause plastic to become like that.It would only need a small amount in a closed box.

 

[The Sogster]

Good call, I'd not considered that. But the only repellant I usually use is odomos which comes as a cream and I always wash my hands after applying.

 

[Philip]

Even if you wash your hands it only needs you to touch your face...touch the lure...back in box. My moneys on that..

 

[Ray Roberts]

Some rubber lures particularly those made by Z-man dissolve other jelly lures and some plastics. The strange thing is you can store them with lures of the same make but other lures end up as a disgusting misshapen blob.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Sogster]

Very interesting Ray, I wasn't aware of that. Not that I have any of those lures.

Philip, I'm not quite convinced I don't use the repellant on my face. The active ingredient is N-diethyl benzamide which from my limited chemistry knowledge seems to imply some form of hydrocarbon (Kekules ring?).
But I'll happily stand corrected.

 

[The Sogster]

I have applied some odomos to the other side of the plastic vane.
Will see what happens.

 

[mikench]

I see a bit of science going on. Now I know why many of my soft plastic lures are dissolving into a gooey mess. I have thrown quite a few away.

 

[The Sogster]

Well after 48 hours or so the odomos has not softened the plastic.
Glad to see it in a way, didn't want to continue using it on my skin if it melts plastic.

 

[Philip]

Reassuring to hear.

Jungle formulae used to melt my sunglasses.?

 

[steve2]

Some plastic lures do melt when stored in plastic boxes which why some american boxes are sold as worm proof. You can also find that different paints on lures react in the same way if left touching.