BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 8, 2024
One type of artificial lure — soft plastic ones referred to as rubber worms — is provoking a heated debate among fishermen. The rubber worms build up in the stomachs of salmon and trout, but bass expel the soft plastic after a few days. Even the soft plastics labeled as biodegradable do not biodegrade in a fish’s lifetime. Although the state adjusts size and bag limits and other fishing regulations, it hasn’t looked at its definition of artificial lures in decades. It’s clearly time for the definition to change.