I can't think of a more satisfying breakfast than some slices of deliciously smoked to perfection Indiana Kitchen brand bacon, complimented with some eggs over easy, and a piping hot cup of coffee to start off the morning before a day on the water bass fishing. Even if you have a "bad day" on the water you've certainly started off in the right direction. For many years anglers have been employing pork in their angling arsenal. However, in the last few years anglers have been on the trend of using soft plastic frog trailers on their jigs. Primarily for three reasons: the vast array of molded colors available, the easy on and off use of plastic, and the fact plastic doesn't dry out during long boat rides. The Pork Advantage I must admit, I tried using the plastic frogs a couple times, but I always went back to pork. In my opinion, I always felt like pork was more fluid and lifelike in the water, had better texture, seemed to be more buoyant, and it certainly wouldn't pull off the hook easily. I would compensate for the drying out by using the Save-A-Pig holders or by putting the jig in a wet sponge with a clip or rubber band around it for long boat rides. Over the past few years though, pork has come into it's own with the shapes, sizes, and vast array of colors available. Pork applications are no longer for dead of winter baits like jigs. What's the raw material for the pork baits? It's simply pork back fat with the rind on it. Scent Perforations I always try to use pork baits to my advantage because I can do more with them. Take a table fork and punch some holes in the back fat side, and the pork will hold fishing scents longer and will give the fish a blast of scent when it engulfs your lure. Trim the back fat portion of the pork chunk a little and your bait will fall faster and will has even more action in the water. Shelf Life Check the age of the pork product. Pork fishing baits don't have a shelf life time limit, so you're at the mercy of the inventory movements of the store. Check for dust on the cap first. Pork baits don't get rotated in stores very often. Next, visual inspection, out of the jar is best. If the store discourages this, then hold the jar of pork chunks up to the light and look in the bottom at the form of the legs, if the legs are collapsed or wilted in form this is usually and indication of old product. If the brine water is abnormally cloudy with colored fat globs in it you'll have to do visual inspection this is likely old inventory too. If you're a mail order person, then buy from catalogs that sell a lot of product and replace inventories annually. The same applies for mail order fishing line as well while were on the subject. Easy Hook Removal There's also a really easy way to remove any pork bait from the hook to reuse it, if you used the pre-punched hole. Face the hook point toward you, pull the pork to the barb, now simply pull straight on the hook and pork frog with equal amounts of pressure and turn the pork counter clockwise at the same time. Eliminate Rollover Sometimes out of the blue, a pork chunk might rollover the hook point on your jig during the hookset. Simply take a piece of plastic worm and run onto the hook shank, up approximately one third of the distance up into the bend of the hook. More Pork Fishing Applications Try pork in applications where you might throw a plastic worm, for a different look, or going behind someone in a tournament. You can take a small standard screwdriver and a hammer and make your own pre-punched hole. This will give the bait a different action. For example, take a pork eel and punch a hole near the center. Now fish it wacky style, exactly like a wacky worm. When bass want something really compact, throw a small jig without the skirt and just put a pork chunk on it, it's great for early spring cold fronts. You can take a bubblegum colored pork eel and hook it through the pre-punched hole and fish it during the pre-spawn like a jerkbait, or skip it under docks. Plus the color makes it great for sight fishing like a swimming worm. In muddy conditions go to larger pork frog styles this creates a larger profile and water displacement and creates a slower fall. You can do the same thing for spinnerbaits at night for a larger profile and silhouette in the water. A new product this year is the Drop Shot Pork Worm from the Uncle Josh Company it measures only is 3-1/2" in length and is available in many new colors. A small minority of anglers I know down south like to cut off a chunk of sugar cured ham and put it in their plastic worms to give a new scent and slightly soften their plastic worms at the same time. Last but not least, lets look at an old traditional stand by in my family. The in-line Mepps spinnerbait with piece of white bass strip on it. Simply cut the bass strip down to size for the spinner or your own personal liking, and catch all kinds of fish on this combination. This is great for getting kids started fishing. In closing, I've just scratched the surface on the subject of the advantages to using pork baits in fishing. Let me pass on one more tip about pork. This one is for your health from the National Pork Board. Did you know that today some cuts of pork are as lean as skinless chicken due to revolutionary new changes in feeding and breeding. Try these cuts at your dinner table this week: Tenderloin, Boneless Loin Roast, and the Boneless Sirloin Chop. To learn more check them out on the web at: www.otherwhitemeat.com Pork definitely has its advantages. So the next time you're on the water and facing the decision of: pork or plastic give pork a try. You'll be glad you did.