Here's a $ saver, How about your idea.

[flippin and pitchin]

I fish Big Bite YoMamma beaver style baits.  They, like most baits tear, right down the middle.  I learned you can take scissors and cut them down the middle, and use the half as a drop shot bait.  Nose hook the half bait with the flat cut side up with a wide gap finesse hook and go to work. It works.  Torn Brush Hogs are cut down and applied as a finesse jig trailer and so on. I'd love to read your "recycle " tips.

[SeanW]

I use Mend It.

[Jig Man]

I fix them as long as I can with my Power Zap then I melt them down and make something else.

[bilgerat]

I save torn up stick baits and cut the last 2" of the tail section and rig them on ball jigheads.

I've caught many fish on this and I have no explanation why. There is zero action to it, but then again the Slider Worm's claim to fame is no action and there's no arguing with the success of that one.

I seem to do the best with the dark color with the chartreuse dipped tail.

[Goose52]

I fish 5" grubs (a lot). The Gander Mountain brand have a good action on the tail, but the bodies are tough. I'll fish that GM grub on a 2/0 EWG and when the nose gets too torn up I'll cut it off, forming a "popper" face, then fish it on a 1/0 as a topwater.

10" worms - I'll fish these down to 7" or so - as the nose gets torn up, I'll trim the nose back and rehook. Eventually, it will tear in half and you're done.

Ribbon-tail worms - when the worm is done, save the back part and use like a grub or as a jig or chatterbait trailer.

Notecards - ever take notes while fishing? Since my hands are often wet, especially after handling a fish, you quickly water-log a notepad. I take our cardboard cereal boxes, cut them into pocket-size cards, and write on the inside surface - since they're stiff, you don't need a backing and it's a renewal resource (if you eat breakfast that is!).

Light-duty lanyards - ever visit a casino and have a player's club card? They give you a coiled lanyard with the card. When I think of it, every time I go back to the casino I get another lanyard - good for keeping lighter things in place and prevents dropping them overboard or leaving them on the bank.

I'm pretty frugal, I probably do other stuff too that I'm not thinking of right now... ;D

[roadwarrior]

My fishing hours are precious.

Throw the junk away and fish a fresh bait.

8-)

[Goose52]

My fishing hours are precious.

Throw the junk away and fish a fresh bait.

8-)

Good idea for some - but I'm retired, on a fixed income, and I can fish everyday if I want...recycled baits for me...

[bilgerat]

It aint junk if it catches fish.

[fourbizz]

Fish big swimbaits. When I did that I spent less money on replacing gear. Well, on most trips anyway. I did break off 4 Huddlestons one day, and that was when they were still 39.99, lol

[philsoreel]

My fishing hours are precious.

Throw the junk away and fish a fresh bait.

8-)

RW you ole fishing snob ;D j/k I feel the same way but I will throw all of my used plastics in a pile on the deck and go through them later and salvage what I can with super-glue.

Taking the the old grubs and turning them into make-shift poppers is an interesting idea.

[Goose52]

[Taking the the old grubs and turning them into make-shift poppers is an interesting idea.

It works. Rig-em weedless and you can use them in open water or drag them through the junk. Pop, pop, swim a little, pop, sink a little, pop..................BAM.... :

[WanderLust]

I find most of my saving involves staying on the water and away from my local tackle depot.

But still I need to support local business so I only buy one instead of the all available stock.

I tend to buy my plastics in bulk as well. Going in with a few freinds and getting a ton of stuff is a great way to lower the price point.

[Mattlures]

Make all your own baits.......Oh wait, I realy doubt I am saving any money

[SirSnookalot]

If I were fishing a Stella or Steez( I might have more fun ;D ) I'd be embarrassed to use an old beat bait. I have an unlimited fishing budget, I use soft baits till I can't use them anymore, I don't repair them but get a lot of mileage. My hard baits are beat up, paint gone, takes a long time for me to get around to replace hooks, many of my lure only have 1 or 2 hooks on the treble, they still work great. I just hate taking time to go to the store or ordering on line, 75% of my fish are caught on spoons anyway.

[Bass_Fanatic]

Find a new hobby... :-/

[Lund Explorer]

One of the few things I'll recycle are the wife's 4" power worms.  The darn things catch a lot of dinks, but the surviving tail sections are also great for bluegills.  The firetail and chart. tail worms seem to produce most of the action when I stick them on a 1/64oz jighead.

[MaxumBass]

I started saving my old plastics with the intent of melting them down and making new ones. Not so much to save money, put for the fun of making my own designed bait.