Rebel Big Ant Restoration Project

[FrogTastic]

Hey all, 

 

So about 2 years ago, I hooked some sort of large fish on my one and only Rebel Big Ant. I had fished that lure for a good 5 years, and boy was I upset when I lost that thing. I searched and searched but to no avail. Well, fast forward to 3 days ago. I spotted a strange small shape floating about 6 feet out - in the exact same pond I lost my favorite lucky lure. So I waded out and grabbed the object. Normally, I would get angry if I was hooked. But this time, it meant I had reunited with my old favorite lure. I was ecstatic. Here is a picture of it when I found it. It's not too high quality, but it's something (actually I need someone to tell me how to upload pictures but I will do it when someone tells me how to ). This thing was dusty, rusty, one hook had 2 points, one was completely rusted off, a split ring was missing, and nearly every part was coated in rust. Plus the paint was nicked in a bunch of spots, and there was gunk on it everywhere. 

 

So today, I started off by taking a small bowl of lukewarm water with a bit of dish soap in it, and just taking a small cloth and wiping it down. After 5 minutes of that it already looked like a brand new lure. There was still gunk buildup in some spots, so I kept going at it. This time, I used my grandma's nail brush to get most of the buildup off of it. That took care of almost everything, but I wanted this thing to look better. So I got at it with some tough Lysol wipes (the purple kinds with the double sided thing). That was as good as I was going to get with the body. From there, I had to do something about that rust. I started by just taking some small wire cutters and removing the split rings and the hooks. The rest of the metal parts had some rust, but there was no way I could replace them. So I took some stainless steel wipes, and those did the trick for the most part. They also helped to clean the bill a lot. After that, I took some good old WD-40 and sprayed off the parts, and then soaked it in that soap water. Well, now this thing is looking like a million bucks. Oh yeah, and I replaced the hooks and split rings, as well as took a nail file and sanded down the rough edges of the bill. The only things I have left to do with this thing is to take a sharpie to where the paint is nicked (in like 3 tiny spots), and take something to the eyes, because they are chipped. Anyone got any feedback? 

[OntarioFishingGuy]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/143924-how-to-post-a-picture-pics/

 

See if this helps.

[jtharris3]

Pretty cool that you found that lure. I had to Google it as I have never seen one. Weird looking little lure!