Your Favorite Lure Modification

[papajoe222]

I'm a tinkerer (is there such a word?) when it comes to my equipment and lures are no exception.  I've been known to modify some baits to the point that you couldn't guess what it was when I purchased it. Many of my modifications have ruined the lure, or had negative affects on it's performance, but a few have proven themselves and are performed on every lure of that style that I purchase.  Here are a couple of my favs.  What are some of yours?

Spinnerbaits.........I'll shorten the arm on most of my baits and remove the smaller blade from a tandem bait.  I'll also change blades to alter the drop rate and running depth.

Crankbaits............I almost always add a splash of red to the underside.  The exception are craw colored and deep diving baits.

Top-Water............I add split rings to the linetie of all my walking baits and upsize the hooks to get them to sit a little deeper in the water.

Soft Plastics.........Spike-It is my go to when it comes to altering these as it also adds scent to my offering.

[Avalonjohn44]

I experiment with mend-it, cut apart a lot of plastic worms and fuse them into new baits.

I've glued two beavers end to end and then wacky rig them. It works, but gets expensive...
I've cut a senko in half and grafted each side onto another senko to make a big X. Didn't work.

I glued the flat side of two sluggos together. It didn't work either.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is save your baits and mend-it for what they were intended for.

[Teal]

Honestly, my favorite mod is the one I dont have to make. I like trying to find hard baits that i dont have to change hooks or do this or do that. I mean, i love the color selection and price of the KVD squarebills but by time i change out those sorry hooks and bend the line tie a few times to get it to run straight, i start thinking that i could have spent 5-10 more bucks on a Spro,Rapala, or Lucky Craft. I like to buy War Eagle or Stanley spinner baits and rarely have to do anything. I may bend the arm down just a bit, but thats not biggie.

I like to tinker, i just get fruustrated sometimes with some of these lures.

Seriously tho, favorite mod is takingthe beat up old jig skirts and putting them on a finesse round jig head and then trimming and cleanin up and making a finess jig. Keeps me from having to by finesse jigs.

[flipin4bass]

This works on the HooDaddy, and the bass love the craw flavored sauce.

[Bankbeater]

I don't do a lot.  I will trim the skirt, and weed guard on a jig.  That's about it.

[Jig Meister]

I like to fan out my jig weed gaurds and cut them shorter, so they are stiff....and short.....

 

 

thats all I got, but I like the idea of adding a splitring to the line tie of walkers....

[OkobojiEagle]

"Tenderize" grub tails... thin curly grub tails with an emery board until they're "wet noodle limp".  They waggle easier on light jig heads.

 

oe

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Putting gills on my Hudds and other soft baits.

 

Really makes it come alive.

[papajoe222]

This works on the HooDaddy, and the bass love the craw flavored sauce.

Love CB's, especially the gel for jig trailers. works longer than spraying the entire jig combo and my jig skirts last longer

[Felix77]

The best modifications are those made by the lunker bass beating the crap out of my lures.  

 

Seriously ... the most common tweaks I make are to jigs.  Flaring out the weed guard, trimming the weed guard and trimming the skirt to round out the profile.

[DeadEyeDavey]

My favorite mod was done by a sheephead on my favorite Hot n' Tot. The sheephead hit so hard that it put a huge crack in my Tot. The great thing about it is now I can let it sink and fish 20 feet of water from shore.

[Christian M]

I always put feathered trebels on my walk the dogs, jerkbaits, & wide wobble cranks.

 

I put trebel hooks on the EWG hooks when tossing Swimbaits in open water.

 

I let black senkos & creme worms sit in espresso grinds to give them a coffee scent.

[mnbassman23]

Like many I trim the weed guards on my jigs and trim the skirt. I usually cut the end of the skirt with a trimming scissors so it makes it look more irregular. 

 

Trim the legs on my frogs so they aren't so long. 

 

I usually buy straight shank hooks that come without the bait keeper (many of them are to big and bulky) imo. I will take a 1" piece of heat shrink tubing and cut it at a 45 degree angle. Slide it onto the hook, heat it up, and I got myself a bait keeper. 

[cadman]

I put suspend dots on my crank baits or jerk baits to get them down deeper. Does not affect lure action at all if centered properly.

[Jigfishn10]

I always put feathered trebels on my walk the dogs, jerkbaits, & wide wobble cranks.

 

I put trebel hooks on the EWG hooks when tossing Swimbaits in open water.

 

I let black senkos & creme worms sit in espresso grinds to give them a coffee scent.

X2! Changes the whole profile of the bait.

[J Francho]

For the most part, I'd rather just pull the thing out of the package and fish it. That's why I fish baits that run true, have good hooks, and don't need any mods to catch.

 

That said, there are many things I do to mod my baits.  Most have been mentioned above, LOL.

[Maico1]

For the most part, I'd rather just pull the thing out of the package and fish it. That's why I fish baits that run true, have good hooks, and don't need any mods to catch.

 

That said, there are many things I do to mod my baits.  Most have been mentioned above, LOL.

Come on....you the mutant master with the pastics.

[Jake P]

Honestly, my favorite mod is the one I dont have to make. I like trying to find hard baits that i dont have to change hooks or do this or do that. I mean, i love the color selection and price of the KVD squarebills but by time i change out those sorry hooks and bend the line tie a few times to get it to run straight, i start thinking that i could have spent 5-10 more bucks on a Spro,Rapala, or Lucky Craft. I like to buy War Eagle or Stanley spinner baits and rarely have to do anything. I may bend the arm down just a bit, but thats not biggie.

I like to tinker, i just get fruustrated sometimes with some of these lures.

Seriously tho, favorite mod is takingthe beat up old jig skirts and putting them on a finesse round jig head and then trimming and cleanin up and making a finess jig. Keeps me from having to by finesse jigs.

Kvd designed them to not run straight. The main reason he designed them the way he did was to make them very erratic with little action on your part. Unless you mean run straight in some other way?.......

[Teal]

II meant that 4 of 5 out of every one ive used doesnt run true..or straight.. they got good action,, but i can see what you mean. Once i change out the hooks, the 2.5 in perch is a killer.

I dont mind if it runs left/right when im in open water, but i want more control when im casting around the stuff thats gonna gett them hung up. Having a lure that runs true helps /maintain that control.

[J Francho]

Kvd designed them to not run straight. The main reason he designed them the way he did was to make them very erratic with little action on your part. Unless you mean run straight in some other way?.......

 

No, they're designed to hunt while heading on a bearing back to the boat, not run to the right or left.  Big difference.

[deep]

A couple I'll let out of the bag:

First: Changing split rings and hooks and/or adding lead tapes to get custom sink rates and "attitude".

Second:

[Jake P]

No, they're designed to hunt while heading on a bearing back to the boat, not run to the right or left. Big difference.

I understand that. Just wasn't sure if he was aware they do not run in a straight line upon retrieval.

Totally understand your problem now though Teal. I sent 2 back to SK a few months ago because of that and they made it right.