dont be worried man,
i have 2 of the hardgills, and trust me their gonna get beat up over time anyways....
there are layers of paint on them, so unless its a massive chunk out of the bait, then it should still have some color...
in fact, the more mine take a beating... the more attention they have seemingly got!
it makes them looks as if they really were wounded, or not in prime health...
have fun with it man, its a great bait!
(if your worried about losing it, do what i did......
make the switch to 30lb braid...... that'll keep it on the line )