Modifying baits on the water

[Mobasser]

I carry a small scissor and a sharp pocket knife when I go fishing. Sometimes, trimming a jig skirt, or thinning a jig weedgaurds has made them better. With soft plastic baits, there are lots of small modifications that can be done. I was wondering if anyone still does this, or do you just fish them as is. Sometimes a little " doctoring" them up can make them perform better. One mod that I've thought improved some plastic craw baits in super thick weeds, was to remove all legs from the bait, only leaving the pinches. We did that this summer to help them come through thick weed areas a little better.I used to fish with a guy years ago, who slit each straight tail worm about 2 inches on the tail. He swore it caught more fish for him. Anyone one modify baits this way. Do you think it's made a difference?

 

[KDW96]

I do most of it over the winter months. I have a box of DAMIKI HYDRAS, that get the mop section cut off and replace with a different color of mop section. Blk/grn pumpkin, etc. Color combinations are endless,but i primarily only make about 6 different ones for various types of water. Small sharp scissors, and mend-it are my tools.

[scaleface]

 I dont do this on the water but ahead of time .  When  fishing for river smallmouths I  run three or four strands skirt material through half a Senko or other stick bait  so it appears to have appendages . Fished on   a jig head , smallies gobble  them down . Never use red or white though because little fish will peck at those strands .

[Mobasser]

17 minutes ago, scaleface said:

 I dont do this on the water but ahead of time .  When  fishing for river smallmouths I  run three or four strands skirt material through half a Senko or other stick bait  so it appears to have appendages . Fished on   a jig head , smallies gobble  them down . Never use red or white though because little fish will peck at those strands .

That sounds like great idea.

[EGbassing]

I mostly just leave lures how they are, but the exception to that is spinnerbaits. I prefer to just take apart spinnerbaits I don't like, then eventually use all those pieces to make a new one.

[Deleted account]

Yes.

[scaleface]

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

 

[Mobasser]

23 minutes ago, scaleface said:

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

 

 

That looks good. I can see the potential for a slightly bigger version for largemouths.I don't get to fish for smallmouth bass at all. Only largemouth in my area. Wish I had smallmouth bass around here

[Deleted account]

35 minutes ago, scaleface said:

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

 

I do something like that with a 2" piece of floating worm when the dragon flies show up in the spring. brown or purple to match what's around. If you skip them in open water they almost can't resist. They get on tiny bait and it's an alternative to the fly rod, which also works well for that.

[snake95]

45 minutes ago, scaleface said:

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

That looks awesome.  Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee yet to see the obvious, but what method do you use to get the strands through the worm piece?  

[Mobasser]

53 minutes ago, scaleface said:

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

 

Scaleface, do you use a needle to thread them through?Now you've gotten me wanting to try this too.

[scaleface]

5 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Scaleface, do you use a needle to thread them through?Now you've gotten me wanting to try this too.

Yes , a big sewing needle .

[WRB]

Tinkering with bass lures should be part of every bass anglers bag of tricks. Soft plastics allow for lots of modifications from dyes, adding appendages using a Pro Weld Wormizer, splitting tails using a safety razer, adding legs strands with a needle, etc.

Hard lures changing hooks, adding feathered tail hooks, adding weight or small tail spinners, use your imagination.

Tom

[KDW96]

Ive done the same as scaleface. But i was wondering if the silicone strands will work with elaztec?

 

Ive just never used the 2 together to know, thanks

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, KDW96 said:

Ive done the same as scaleface. But i was wondering if the silicone strands will work with elaztec?

 

Ive just never used the 2 together to know, thanks

Not sure about elastic either. Good question. Maybe someone will chime in

[Paul Roberts]

Yes, I've had silicone strands in ElazTech, just like scaleface's creations, and they are still aok -after a year.

[MIbassyaker]

On 10/21/2018 at 10:27 AM, scaleface said:

This is what it looks like .I fish it with an exposed hook most of the time then bury it when I encounter lay-downs .

 

 

I really dig this.

[Smalls]

I had a broken buzz bait and a spinner bait that I hated, so I took a pair of needle nose and made something similar to this the other day-

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-VMFISHING.html?from=basres

 

Even on the water, took me less than 10 minutes. Got a few blow ups on it, too!