Senkosam
Active member
When it's too hot, windy or raining, I'm in my basement workshop (a small table in front of a TV) coming up with new and different plastic lure shapes. I have three local lakes to test them and try to test at least 8 - all rigged on light ball head jigs. Winners catch many fish when fish are found in spots that are high-percentage areas or schools are discovered on the sonar. Here are some recent winners:
This was a curl-tail grub modified by cutting the tail as shown. The tiny flutter on a super-slow retrieve got blasted by over a dozen fish in no time!!
It is one of my most successful modifications!
This was a small swimbait after I dipped it in hot 250-degree clear plastic. I figured the thicker profile would add to the subtle body shimmy of the flat tail. It did great!!! Dipping also did great with a grub body and the cut curl tail as seen above (bottom. crappy shot).
Here, I shortened a swimbait using a candle to melt the parts together. It gave the lure a more chubby appearance same as dipping:
I've been getting into swimbaits and their modification.
Another discovery not having anything to do with soft plastic is the crankbait. A friend suggested I troll them, which is his forte and so tried trolling an Arkie model 220:
First time out, it caught 10 crappie, white perch and a few sunfish. It also did well just casting & retrieving.
But as summer wore on, larger crankbaits didn't cut it, so I went with a smaller Yozuri that had a tighter wiggle.:
Being a slow-sinking crankbait, I could get it down to where the fish were in water 6' or deeper. It caught crappie, sunfish and small bass.
This little guy wouldn't let it pass:
This one trip revealed a lot that I will include as options in future outings. Boys for toys, I call it. The more the better!
This was a curl-tail grub modified by cutting the tail as shown. The tiny flutter on a super-slow retrieve got blasted by over a dozen fish in no time!!
It is one of my most successful modifications!
This was a small swimbait after I dipped it in hot 250-degree clear plastic. I figured the thicker profile would add to the subtle body shimmy of the flat tail. It did great!!! Dipping also did great with a grub body and the cut curl tail as seen above (bottom. crappy shot).
Here, I shortened a swimbait using a candle to melt the parts together. It gave the lure a more chubby appearance same as dipping:
I've been getting into swimbaits and their modification.
Another discovery not having anything to do with soft plastic is the crankbait. A friend suggested I troll them, which is his forte and so tried trolling an Arkie model 220:
First time out, it caught 10 crappie, white perch and a few sunfish. It also did well just casting & retrieving.
But as summer wore on, larger crankbaits didn't cut it, so I went with a smaller Yozuri that had a tighter wiggle.:
Being a slow-sinking crankbait, I could get it down to where the fish were in water 6' or deeper. It caught crappie, sunfish and small bass.
This little guy wouldn't let it pass:
This one trip revealed a lot that I will include as options in future outings. Boys for toys, I call it. The more the better!
