Pure Fishing Hit with Class Action Alleging Berkley Gulp! Packets, Containers Easily Leak

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A proposed class action claims Pure Fishing’s Berkley Gulp! scented imitation fishing bait is defectively packaged in that the re-sealable packet and pint-sized tub container that respectively house both sizes of the product can leak, causing the loss of the “expensive liquid” contained therein.

The 29-page complaint alleges that while defendant Pure Fishing, Inc. can easily remedy the problematic packaging for its popular product, which retails for as much as $9.99 for the smaller size and up to $24.99 for the larger, the company has nevertheless continued to sell the Berkley Gulp! bait amid at least a decade’s worth of consumer complaints.

Reasonable consumers who’ve bought the defendant’s Berkley Gulp! bait have been “misled, deceived, and defrauded” by the product, the case argues, claiming that a Ziploc sandwich bag and peeled garlic container, in fact, performed better than the company’s own packaging.

“The consumers are deprived of the full value of the product they have purchased,” the lawsuit, filed in New York’s Eastern District, says. “In addition, Defendant profits from the sales of the product that the reasonable consumer cannot fully use and is unjustly enriched.”

According to the suit, the defendant, one of the largest manufacturers of fishing tackle, makes roughly 30,000 different varieties of bait, fishing lures, rods, reels and lines, including 194 different baitfish replicators under the Gulp! brand. Per the case, bait replicators consist of different combinations of fish bait imitations, colors and sizes floating inside a strong liquid formula, and are meant to attract fish by their scent. 

The case claims, however, that the packages in which the defendant’s Berkley Gulp! artificial bait are sold allow the liquid formula to leak out. For Pure Fishing’s re-sealable packet, the chemical substance “permeates through the seal top,” while the contents of the tub container can dissipate through the lid, causing the majority of the liquid to leak, the plaintiff says.

More specifically, the suit asserts the defendant’s “highly touted” liquid formula dissipates from the re-sealable packet as soon as it’s opened, leaking no matter what position the package is held in or whether the packet is tightly closed. Despite “[s]ome improvements” made to the packaging in the 2020 version of the product, the packet continues to leak, the lawsuit says. 

Further, the tub container for the larger iteration of the imitation bait “only leaks when it is not placed in an upright position,” meaning the liquid can seep out when the tub is placed on an angle or upside down, according to the complaint.

The problem with Pure Fishing’s packaging is so pervasive that “almost all serious fishermen on a party boat utilizes [sic] a safer, non-leaking container” in place of the defendant’s original packaging, the lawsuit says. To address the issue, Pure Fishing’s product engineers, rather than come out with new containers, instead devised a “recharge liquid” to refill the bait packages, the complaint shares. 

“Instead of addressing the problem head on and fixing the leaky container problem, Defendant produced a product that will remedy the problem at the consumers’ expense,” the case reads, adding the liquid retails for between $5 to $7 for an eight-ounce bottle. “Needless to say, the refill sales will make additional income for Defendant.”

According to the case, neither the plaintiff nor other consumers would have bought Pure Fishing’s Berkley Gulp! artificial bait had they known of the faulty product packaging.

The lawsuit looks to cover those who bought one or more Gulp! Bait replicator products in the U.S. and its territories or possessions sold by the defendant. 

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