How quickly do you go through plastics?

[Cgolf]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have 2 5 gallon buckets of used plastics that are both about half full, one is natural colors, the other is dark colors like black and blue and junebug. I melt them down and repour during the winter.

Does the brand matter or just whatever you are using at the time? Only downside is you won’t be able to match the salt content batch to batch. Wonder if Elaztech can be remolded?

[Cgolf]

On 9/28/2018 at 7:11 AM, PAbasser927 said:

I read an article that someone posted here about research that Berkley had done in regards to bass feeding on craws.  The bass turned out to be FAR more likely to feed on craws with missing pinchers.  They said the bait resembled more of a shrimp than a craw.  They never produced a bait to look like this because their marketing research showed nobody would ever buy it.

 

Interesting your results seem to back that up!

I have had the opposite results fishing for smallies on a river system. Crawbugs only have produced for me with both pinchers on them. Could be with the 2.5” bait I use the hook comes out of the end of the head so I may be hooking up when the smallies are picking it up to try and tear a pincher off. 

On 9/28/2018 at 7:56 PM, Mike F said:

 

Does anyone one know if superglue has any noticibale scent to fish? I’ve always been paranoid it smells and am hesitant to use it for anything fishing related.

I have been using loctite gel ca glue on my Ned rig baits for the last couple of years without any issues. 

 

[Munkin]

10 minutes ago, cgolf said:

Does the brand matter or just whatever you are using at the time? Only downside is you won’t be able to match the salt content batch to batch. Wonder if Elaztech can be remolded?

Two baits I don't melt down are anything elaztech and Berkley power bait. The elaztech is made of who knows what and the Berkley stuff seems to scorch too easily. Besides those I do not care about the percentage of salt content for regular jig trailers as it is immaterial.

 

Allen 

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

Does the brand matter or just whatever you are using at the time? Only downside is you won’t be able to match the salt content batch to batch. Wonder if Elaztech can be remolded?

 

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

Two baits I don't melt down are anything elaztech and Berkley power bait. The elaztech is made of who knows what and the Berkley stuff seems to scorch too easily. Besides those I do not care about the percentage of salt content for regular jig trailers as it is immaterial.

 

Allen 

^This is the exact same rule I follow. Elaztech doesn't work and Berkley is a pain to try to melt. I'm just trying to get a few extra miles out of my baits so salt content and such isn't a big issue. A lot of my repours are baits I use at ponds and dink factory lakes that they'll eat whatever you throw at them. I do have a separate bin of just Rage baits that I use to make some of my nicer repours.

[Jaderose]

After a day of fishing, the bottom of my boat is covered in Senko tips I bite off.  I'll use em until I can't use them anymore.  Not really cheap, they just continue to work, so why not?

[Maggiesmaster]

Netbaits are by far the most durable worm. Next are Culprits; Zoom works catch fish, but are too soft for me. Bream will bite off their tails quickly. 

[ratherbfishin1]

5 minutes ago, Maggiesmaster said:

Netbaits are by far the most durable worm. Next are Culprits; Zoom works catch fish, but are too soft for me. Bream will bite off their tails quickly. 

Careful, your gonna get in trouble with all the Zman fans on here

[snake95]

On 9/27/2018 at 7:10 PM, cgolf said:

I do rig my plastics on a slider heads or swim jigs and I have bins of rigged plastics that I have used off and on with some being rigged up for over 3 years. I also don’t texapose the hook, because I haven’t seen it make a huge difference in the amount of weeds I pull up on the bait. 

I thought I saw some guys responding to a recent post that they never left plastics rigged, because it caused rust.

 

I don't have enough experience to have really tested this out, but because of that, I took a whole pile of plastics off of hooks last weekend, thereby adding a bit of wear to each bait.

 

@cgolf are you saying your experience is that there is no issue?  Very interesting.

 

FWIW I am honestly amazed by how long my plastics seem to last, and I'm changing them out constantly.  I'm just a small-time weekend warrior, so maybe that is the reason.

 

To each their own, but I keep used baits sorted in planos and/or buckets like you do by color, and periodically grab the plastics, a beer, and some mend it and have a repair session.  Partly because I'm cheap, mostly because I hate to waste plastics, and above all else I have little kids and really enjoy the break.

[Cgolf]

2 hours ago, snake95 said:

I thought I saw some guys responding to a recent post that they never left plastics rigged, because it caused rust.

 

I don't have enough experience to have really tested this out, but because of that, I took a whole pile of plastics off of hooks last weekend, thereby adding a bit of wear to each bait.

 

@cgolf are you saying your experience is that there is no issue?  Very interesting.

 

FWIW I am honestly amazed by how long my plastics seem to last, and I'm changing them out constantly.  I'm just a small-time weekend warrior, so maybe that is the reason.

 

To each their own, but I keep used baits sorted in planos and/or buckets like you do by color, and periodically grab the plastics, a beer, and some mend it and have a repair session.  Partly because I'm cheap, mostly because I hate to waste plastics, and above all else I have little kids and really enjoy the break.

Depends on the type of hook and amount of salt in the bait. Generally the rust isn’t on the hook point so I still fish them, long as it is only a little surface rust, and don’t feel I miss any fish because of it. A lot of my sliders are the pro slider with the upgraded hook which don’t seem to rust, same with swim jigs. I have never seen a seen a hook fail because it was a little rusty. I fish for fun and not money so I can afford to take a chance too. 

[Bankbeater]

It depends on the plastics.  I can use up a bag of plastic worms in one season, but I have bags of creature baits, and beaver type baits that are 10+ year old.

[Cgolf]

On 9/29/2018 at 10:24 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

 

^This is the exact same rule I follow. Elaztech doesn't work and Berkley is a pain to try to melt. I'm just trying to get a few extra miles out of my baits so salt content and such isn't a big issue. A lot of my repours are baits I use at ponds and dink factory lakes that they'll eat whatever you throw at them. I do have a separate bin of just Rage baits that I use to make some of my nicer repours.

Where do you get your molds from? Do it has a couple I am interested in,  but to start open pour would be cheaper and Do its selection of open pour isn’t great. I want to limit the cash I spend to recycle baits, don’t want to start up another hobby;)

[Bluebasser86]

49 minutes ago, cgolf said:

Where do you get your molds from? Do it has a couple I am interested in,  but to start open pour would be cheaper and Do its selection of open pour isn’t great. I want to limit the cash I spend to recycle baits, don’t want to start up another hobby;)

Bugmolds

[Cgolf]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Bugmolds

There are some cool molds on there, assume they aren’t from in the US based on the fact that they look like copies of some of the site sponsors baits. I will have to scroll through and see if they have hand pour molds. I am not ready to get an injection setup yet. 

 

I did see a 4.85” freedom fry on the do it site, I could use for Ned baits cutting them in half. 

[Cgolf]

Anyone know anything about lurecraft? Looking at the website I just can’t get a feel if it is somewhere I would want to order from. 

[bholtzinger14]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

Anyone know anything about lurecraft? Looking at the website I just can’t get a feel if it is somewhere I would want to order from. 

Yes. Good stuff from them. What are you looking at?

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, bholtzinger14 said:

Yes. Good stuff from them. What are you looking at?

Was looking at their hand pour molds, better selection and cheaper than the limited do it options. Also since this would just be for recycling baits, this makes more sense than going all in and getting the injection molds. Just not sure what the difference between a silicone mold and a composite mold is. 

[Bluebasser86]

5 hours ago, cgolf said:

Anyone know anything about lurecraft? Looking at the website I just can’t get a feel if it is somewhere I would want to order from. 

I have several open pour molds from them. Their molds are difficult to really get a feel for the dimensions of the bait that it produces I feel like, but if you get the right ones they make a nice bait for cheap. 

[Hawkeye21]

When I was using the Yamamoto swimbaits for my chatterbait trailers I was going through a bag almost every outing.  This year I switched to Z-Man and I don't think I went through a bad the entire summer.  Elaztec is amazing.

[bholtzinger14]

15 hours ago, cgolf said:

Was looking at their hand pour molds, better selection and cheaper than the limited do it options. Also since this would just be for recycling baits, this makes more sense than going all in and getting the injection molds. Just not sure what the difference between a silicone mold and a composite mold is. 

I have never ordered any of their hand pour molds, but I am sure @Bluebasser86 is correct.

[Boomstick]

I can usually get 4 or 5 fish on a soft plastic, sometimes more or less depending on the side of the fish and how they hit it. Often I don't catch enough fish during the course of the day to wreck the plastic, so it's not that bad.

 

Often a single plastic is good for a day. I always carry a few bags and when one gets low, I will buy another bag and once it runs out, I'll replace it with the new bag.

[Cgolf]

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have several open pour molds from them. Their molds are difficult to really get a feel for the dimensions of the bait that it produces I feel like, but if you get the right ones they make a nice bait for cheap. 

 

Not sure I get what you mean. I am looking at the 4.25” Erie darter and a 4” curl tail worm in particular, plus a couple others since we are ordering. What is maddening to me is their website and having to open every one it seems to find the size you want. 

[Munkin]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

 

Not sure I get what you mean. I am looking at the 4.25” Erie darter and a 4” curl tail worm in particular, plus a couple others since we are ordering. What is maddening to me is their website and having to open every one it seems to find the size you want. 

I thought they had a catalog you could get? 

 

The Erie Carter would be the one to start with. Anything with a curled tail just doesn't seem to work right for me.

 

Allen

[Munkin]

On 10/2/2018 at 10:25 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Bugmolds

Are you using the resin or aluminum ones? I have bought both but have not used them yet (Wife banned me from heating up plastic in the basement because of the smell).

 

Allen

[Bluebasser86]

45 minutes ago, Munkin said:

Are you using the resin or aluminum ones? I have bought both but have not used them yet (Wife banned me from heating up plastic in the basement because of the smell).

 

Allen

Both, they both make nice baits.

[WRB]

Looking at the op's 2 containers of used soft plastics with hooks in them gathered over a 3 year period clearly indicates he is catching very few bass. Leaving hooks in soft plastics is a poor habit, the hooks rust and they are not being kept sharp.

There are only a few reasons to keep a torn soft plastic would be to mend it because you can't get it anymore or need that day because you ran of that particular soft plastic or want it for a jig trailer.

I like to catch more the 1 bass per soft plastic and sometimes can turn it over and reuse it, sometimes I go through several without catching a bass. I have unused soft plastics decades old and keep hundreds if not thousands in my boat year around. Used soft plastic are discarded in my trash can when I get home and never leave a hook in them.

Tom