Your post reminded me that I haven't fished pork baits in a long time.  I have several plastic shoe boxes full of old pork baits and I don't think that they have dried out.  I don't think fish in my neighborhood have seen much pork over the past decade or so, might be time to bust some out this spring.

 

As I recall, the downside of using pork baits was that you had to commit to them.  When you junk fish a lot, trying one bait, then another, then maybe a third or fourth option, then the pork will dry out and is ruined AND it is a pain to remove from the hook at that point.

Your post reminded me that I haven't fished pork baits in a long time.  I have several plastic shoe boxes full of old pork baits and I don't think that they have dried out.  I don't think fish in my neighborhood have seen much pork over the past decade or so, might be time to bust some out this spring.

 

As I recall, the downside of using pork baits was that you had to commit to them.  When you junk fish a lot, trying one bait, then another, then maybe a third or fourth option, then the pork will dry out and is ruined AND it is a pain to remove from the hook at that point.

They dry out all right. Ive had to cut them off. Id leave them hanging over the boat in the water and forget about them. Then they would snag on something .

I used to throw the 'No.11 Pork Frog' for largemouth bass and the 'U2 Twin-Tail' (discontinued) for smallmouth bass.

The soft-plastics of yore tended to lose action in cold water, but today's soft-plastic trailers remain supple in cold water.

 

For fly-in trips and remote drive-to fish camps, pork rind is still used, especially for outback pike fishing

where a jig & rind may substitute for a jig & dead minnow.

 

Roger

Elaztech baits work well in cold water.. They are naturally buoyant and they last forever!