Customizing Baits

[Redtail]

I read an interesting article on this site about modifying your baits.

One example they gave was to take a single Colorado blade Spinnerbait and remove the skirt.  Replace

it with an Ika or Fat Ika and slow roll it for a longer vertical drop with the Ika.

Do you guys do a stuff like that?  I never change a bait around, but I'm also relatively new at this.

[Siebert Outdoors]

all the time.  I just like to tinker.  I will get an idea of what I want to do.  Then look at what I have.  Somehow I alway can muster up a contraption that works.

[CJ]

My name is Chris and I am a lure modifying junkie.

One of the modifications I do isn't a secret but I will share how I do it.I take a DD22 and drill a hole in it right under the lip into the cavity of the crankbait.I add 12 steel BB's to it.Alot of guys will just put silicone over the hole but I have found that my wife's(she is a cosmotologist)fake finger nails,some super glue,a fingernail file and epoxy,make a fine finish.I simply glue the fingernail,after it has been trimmed over the hole.After thirty minutes or so,I use the fingernail file to sand down the edges,then I just epoxy over the whole lure.Then I paint the whole lure.Another thing I am addicted to is custom paint on crankbaits.I love to come up with new colors or finishes that catch fish.

By adding the BB's,I have a deeper running and much longer casting crankbait.I also add rattles to wooden lures using the same patch method.

[Raul]

Most of the baits and rigs you know were invented or designed buy someone with imagination and creativity.

[Munkin]

So far the only baits I do not modify are LC? I just have to change skirts, blades, whatever to get them to do what I want.

Allen

[bow3022]

I caught a 5 lb bass with a spinner with a colorado blade. I took off the skirt and put on a grub.

[Bluecraw]

I mess with my tackle all of the time!!  If I buy a crankbait without red gills, I paint them on myself with red fingernail polish.  I heard that the red gills of a bait fish can trigger the bass....don't know if that's true, but it doesn't hurt.

If my cranks have crappy looking eyes, I glue on the real-looking googly eyes that move....doesn't seem to mess with the action too much.

I'm a Jitterbug freak!  So, one thing I ALWAYS do as soon as I buy a new Jitterbug is put slip rings on and a red treble hook up front.  The factory hooks tend to bind-up and make you lose more fish.  Adding the slip rings, lets the hooks move more freely increasing the hook-up ratio.  I actually took one of the white/red Jitterbugs and glued a white trailer on the rear-end so it would look more like a mouse from the fish's view.

...I could go on, but then you'll see how bad my disease is......

[Chris]

My name is Chris and I am a lure modifying junkie.

Yeah what he said

[Guest whittler]

Being like a few others here who can't leave well enough alone, it would seem that I not only like to alter baits but I' almost compelled to do so. Before modifing most plastic baits I like to know what the inside structure like. In the picture is a $2 Renegade bait cut open so that I can tell on another where to add rattles or weights to make the lure work the way you want. As you can see if you add bb size weights or rattles they would be able to shift from front to rear and upset the balance but if you look at the hook hanger position and drill a small hole directly above it , insert a toothpic and epoxy in place the weights won't shift. Also by adding epoxy for weight to both chambers you can make it sink or suspend any way you like. Gotta tell you with some bb's, lead shot and epoxy you can have a bait nearly the equal of an LC at bargin prices.

[Garnet]

Every bait I throw straight out of the package.

Get the picture.

Garnet

[basspro48]

Here's a few mods I make to 3 of my favorite baits.

Jigs- The first thing I do when I buy or make a jig is trim the weedguard and thin out the skirt. By trimming the weedguard I get better hooksets and a better chance of hooking a fish good, and by thinning out the skirt I can get a quicker fall and a slimmer profile when needed. Also, sometimes I will even add a second skirt when I want a really bulky slow falling jig.

spinnerbaits- I like to alter the baits vibration and action by brnding the wire and the blades, and I wil also add a second skirt when needed.

crankbaits- When I want a crankbait to run extremely shallow I will cut off some of the lip depending on the length and heat up the rest of the lip and bend it straight down at a 90 degree angle. Also, I will sometimes repaint the whole bait by using an airbrush or markers.