Replacement Spinnerbait skirt rubber bands

[BigDK415]

Have some older spinnerbaits where the rubber bands holding the skirts on aren't going to work much longer and need replacement. Anyone know where I can get rubber bands that size or a quick replacement device like on the Terminator baits?

[Angry John]

use wire.  The best jigs are wire tied and the skirt stays in place.  Serbert outdoors uses wire all the time and i love there jigs

[Catt]

Zip ties!

Faster & easier than wire!

[BigDK415]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Zip ties!

Faster & easier than wire!

Don't even the smallest zip ties take up too much room?

[S. Sass]

If Catt says zip ties work I'd be inclined to think they will based on his reputation here. I have some zip ties that are very small I am guessing those are the ones he is using?

[Catt]

10 hours ago, BigDK415 said:

Don't even the smallest zip ties take up too much room?

The zip ties I use are 1/16" & 2" long

Now y'all ain't gonna find these at Lowe's or Home Depot, ya gonna have to visit your local electrical supply store.

Do yourself a favor & buy a zip tie gun!

There's nothing wrong with wire, it's just slow, by the time you get the wire out, cut a length of it, meticulously tie it, I've been done zip tying!

[KDW96]

If you want a real quick fix, just use the wire ties off loaf of bread, or as mentioned zip ties.

[J Francho]

18 hours ago, Catt said:

Zip ties!

Faster & easier than wire!

I learned this from Catt years ago - it works!  Simple on the water fix.  Put a fresh skirt on when you get home.

[Catt]

40 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I learned this from Catt years ago - it works!  Simple on the water fix.  Put a fresh skirt on when you get home.

When I buy a new spinnerbait or jig I zip tie it & cut the rubber band off.

I have spinnerbaits that are several yrs old & the skirts look fine, with jigs if they last a yr without me losing the whole jig it's a miracle!

["hamma"]

The zip ties sound like a great idea, I never though of that. Kudos Catt.,......What I did many years ago when I came to this same situation, was buy a cheap fly tying vise. I use the bread wire ties to hold the skirt stable and carefully "tie" my skirts on.  And it worked so well,...I do this now for every spinnerbait, and bass jig I have. Because once you put some scent on the skirt like real craw, or fish formula. the skirts would slide down on a jig during a hookset with the rubber band, and sometimes just burning a spinnerbait, and seeing as hooksets are free?,... ya know where this is going. My skirts no longer slide, and have yet to have to re-tie a single one as I dab a small amount of "hard as nails" clear nailpolish on the knot. (cheapo flytiers knot cement) 

All these "newer" multi colored skirts you find on spinnerbaits and jigs?,..I was tying back in the early 90's. Which weren't on the shelves back then. If I re-call stanley jigs had offered some colored tip strands, Black strands with a bit of color on the tips, I forget their name, firetip, or something like that. But different colored stranded skirts? just weren't around yet,.. I did this for the extremely clear lakes up here. 2,3 shades of black for the top, and then whatever color it was to be? brown, green, or blue? Id add a few different shades of that color and 3 strands of white on the very bottom. 

 Whats really cool is that I can add, customize, even design my own colors, add in crystal flash. The options are endless, Hair jigs?,... Maribou? even bucktail and bear hair. I now have a complete tacklebox of tying materials.  When I buy a new spinnerbait, if I like that color I just tie the skirt on, if not I take that skirt off, separate the colors, and place them in one of 3 clear planos, and then tie on what I want. Same with jigs.,... Next will be a melting pot and pouring nonlead jigheads, But to find a non lead material I can "homepour" then powdercoat, has proven to be a failed task.

[WIGuide]

Great ideas for fixing the skirts you already have. If you want ones you can change quickly, you can either buy the Terminator quick skirts, or Northland Tackle makes the same thing in their version. If i buy a spinnerbait off the shelf that has a regular skirt, I'll generally use it until the skirt falls apart, and then replace it with the quick change skirts. It cuts down on the number of spinnerbaits I need to carry since I can swap skirts quickly. 

[J Francho]

Strike King also makes nice replacements.  They have the build in trailer for guys like me who don't use a plastic trailer.  The only trailer I use is a trailer hook.

[Choporoz]

I've tried small zip ties - worked, but...I need to get 'better' zips....I had to be really careful when tightening, as I broke as many as I finished.  I still do this during the season for quick repairs.

I got some .24 ga copper wire, and a pair of dykes from Home Depot and over the winter, I wire tie replacements.

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Strike King also makes nice replacements.  They have the build in trailer for guys like me who don't use a plastic trailer.  The only trailer I use is a trailer hook.

I really like that built in trailer...surprised other manufacturers don't do the same, or at least offer it. Maybe a copyright thing. 

 

Mike 

[J Francho]

You can't copyright an object - only text, written works, photos, music, and original art.

You can patent it, though I think it would cost prohibitive.  They might have a patent on the manufacturing process, though.  That's usually how that works.  War Eagle does make a similar skirt, though not exactly the same.

[Mike L]

Didn't know that.

 

 

 

Mike

[J Francho]

Getting a patent is VERY expensive.  Copyright is relatively inexpensive, free if you think the "farmer's copyright" method of mailing something to yourself, and leaving it sealed is good enough.  I used to send media files with digital photos in for like $10 a crack.  That was back when I worried about such things.  Not so much these days, lol.-

[PeterJohn]

Hi...i am a new user here. In my case what I did many years ago when I came to this same situation, was buy a cheap fly tying vise. I use the bread wire ties to hold the skirt stable and carefully "tie" my skirts on.  And it worked so well,...I do this now for every spinnerbait, and bass jig I have. Because once you put some scent on the skirt like real craw, or fish formula. the skirts would slide down on a jig during a hookset with the rubber band, and sometimes just burning a spinnerbait.

[William Rossi]

Go to the auto parts store and buy a couple feet of vacuum tubing. Cut it into 1/8" o-rings. Cheap and works great and dont rot as easy. I forgot what size you need.

[blckshirt98]

The tiny zip ties are the best idea. I saw them for the first time when I got a Reebs' Bolt Thrower spinnerbait because he uses the zip ties to secure skirts in normal production.  I got a pack of the white and black zip ties and started to replace any old/rotting bands on any of my chatterbaits/spinnerbaits/jigs.  Just be sure to get a good quality FLUSH wire cutter so you get a nice flat and smooth finish after you trim off the excess zip tie.