5 MORE Hacks To Save Money On Soft Plastic Lures
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
After I put out a video showing some of my favorite ways to save money on gear, tons of comments came through sharing MORE hacks to save money on soft plastic lures!
So I decided to put together a short video talking through those comments so everyone can save even MORE money.
Learn all about these hacks down below!!
MORE Hacks To Save Money On Soft Plastic Lures [VIDEO]
Get any of the Soft Plastics or Hooks shown HERE
See MORE Hacks to Save Money on the Gear You Need
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1. SuperGlue Hack
The first bonus tip comes from Insider Bill K and it suggests putting a small drop of superglue on torn up soft plastics to get a few extra trips out of the lure.
We all know that after a few casts or after catching a few fish, soft plastic lures tend to tear.
This has a huge impact on the lure’s action and appeal.
To get more life out of your soft plastics, you can place a small drop of superglue on the jighead or hook itself to prevent the lure from sliding down the hook shank.
If the lure has a tear on its side, then drop a little superglue right into the tear and you can get more life out of the lure that way.
In a pinch, you can even use a lighter to slightly melt the plastic and mend the tear together.
For that, you MUST be careful not to burn the plastic.
If done correctly, that will repair torn soft plastics.
However, be aware of the type of plastic you use the lighter tip with.
It will work with traditional plastisol lures but won’t work as well with stretchy TPE material.
2. Straightening Lures
Oftentimes, lures can get kinked up when they’ve been in the plastic bag for a while.
The tails get bent out of shape and the action is off.
You can straighten these lures out by placing them in hot water.
I boil water and place the soft plastics in a safe dish.
Then, pour the water right over the soft plastics to heat the plastics up.
Before they cool, take them out of the water and lay them down flat.
Once they cool down, they’ll straighten out and swim properly on any rigging hook.
Another way to do this is with a hairdryer, however, it does take a bit longer.
All you need to do is heat them up and lay them flat to cool down in the desired position.
3. Melting Down Lures
First off, this is a bit of an advanced tip.
Soft plastics can be remolded and there are plenty of resources out there for you to learn the process.
Basically, you can melt down your soft plastics and dump them into a mold to create brand-new lures.
That way you create new lures instead of throwing plastic away.
4. Willow Blades & Spinner Baits
After the tails get bitten off of your soft plastic lures, instead of throwing them away, you can add blades or spinners to the back.
Using a screw lock, you can slide a blade on one end and twist the other end into the tail of the soft plastic creating different action and adding flair.
This prevents you from having to toss out plastics that don’t have a tail.
Now you have a lure that was a paddletail behaving like a spinner blade.
5. BONUS – The Nub Rig
This relates to the previous hack above.
Just because your lure doesn’t have a tail (it was bitten off or whatever the case is), doesn’t mean it won’t still catch fish.
Instead of utilizing a straight retrieve like traditional paddletails, you can work the lure like a jerk bait.
Give it twitches and pauses, especially if the fish are actively feeding.
Don’t take the time out to change lures, keep throwing the Nub Rig!
Get any of the Soft Plastics or Hooks shown HERE
FINDING THE FISH HELP
In order to help make sure that you are targeting the right areas based on the latest feeding trends and upcoming weather forecasts, make sure to use the following 3 resources because they will save you a ton of time.
1. WEEKEND GAME PLANS (UPDATED WEEKLY)
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The Insider Community platform is what you can use to see what is biting near you, and you can get to know other members who fish in your area. Plus, you can use it to keep a log of your catches so you can use past trips to help predict future catches.
Related categories:
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Repairing lures is something that has never even entered my mind. Being on a fixed income, this will definitely be a wise thing for me to start doing. Thanks for opening my eyes on this subject. Really great information!
I always appreciate your posts Pat.
Thanks Pat. Those are great tips. Have you every heated a twist lock with a lighter before screwing a Zman lure on? I learned this from a “Zman guide” years ago. I think about 2-3 seconds of to warm the twist lock works.
Thanks Pat! Re #4, adding a spinner to the rear of a bait once the paddletail has been lost – I recently received a gift “mystery” box with inshore saltwater baits inside. An odd collection to be sure, but one was a 3.5″ Dartspin, a plastic fish body with a spinner tail. Used it last weekend and it was the top performer on a slow day! That’s when the idea of adding a spinner blade to the tail of a compromised Slam Shady II or other swim bait hit me, so I ordered a pack of the spinner blades with screw locks ready to go. We often have dingy water in the mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay area so I’m enthused about having this as an option, and not just a backup option either. Can’t wait to try it.
Love it
Thanks Pat Great info Will definitely try these
Great info Pat! I never thought about using a lighter in an emergency situation.