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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | OK... so the new Pro Dawgs are supposed to be more durable. But for those with an already healthy inventory of "old" dawgs.... how do we keep them functioning to their fullest life expectancy? Seems most of my Pounders want to split their bellies open on a lob cast and the lead head pops out. Melting the belly back together only seems to hold for an hour or so before busting open again. I even tried reinforcing this area by welding in wire coils perpendicular to the main shaft. This helped prevent splitting for almost a day of use... but it still failed.
Are there any "tricks" to properly repair this injury or are my Dawgs going be forever put on Injured Reserve before then end of every trip? |
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Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | My friend Ben has been known to cut up one Dawg to patch the other. Cut off a piece of your "parts" Dawg, lay it on top of the blemish, then put the torch to it. Little cigar lighter/pocket torches work the best for precision melting. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Heh heh heh.... so you need an Organ Donor?
I just picked up a small butane torch.... so no surgury is too large. Thus, I'm seeking input for how best to repair Dawgs. I'm sure there has to be some good tips & techniques people have discovered over the years. For example, how do you keep from burning the rubber? I'm assuming you just need to be patient and stroke the flame across the area. Some of my white dawgs look like Dalmations now from all the burn marks. 
Edited by jlong 7/15/2009 8:31 AM
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Location: Contrarian Island | the ones that split in the belly are pretty much worthless imo...you can repair them but like you say, at most you get seems to be 2 hours of casting after the repair...one tip is before you even make a cast with the softer plastic ones, melt some plastic on to the head on top of where the weight is/around the line tie.
soldering irons and butane torches are about the best things to use
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Location: Twin Cities | Mend it + battery operated soldering iron. |
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Posts: 222
Location: c.wis | check out thorne bros forum- there is some neat stuff on there- fixing and modifiying- also if you look through the old posts this was a topic a month or so ago- goodluck |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Hand held butane torch with a heat tip [ flameless } works best for me.
First I will use MEND - IT and then after it drys go back over with the mini torch, becarefull not to burn, they will look like new. |
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Posts: 335
Location: Minnesota | My first thought when I read your problem is you might not be melting it back together all the way down to the center. If you are only melting the surface, the cut is not healed all the way in - only on the surface and will rip open again soon. Maybe try heating a knife so it is almost red hot and slide the knife in there to get the heat all the way in and then slowly slide the knife out while applying pressure and it should be melted back together again. Another thing you could try is to add more rubber pieces in there to make it thicker. Just cut a chunk of rubber off of another bait and lay it on top of the cut, melt it, and spread it around with the knife.
Mend-it works too if you start from the inside and apply the mend-it over the entire cut surface and then let it sit for a few hours before you move it. This works best on a work bench and not in the boat IMO.
As far as the lead head poking through the nose - I used some small diameter wire on a couple of older beat up dawgs and inserted it through the body of the bulldawg behind the harness and ran it through the eye of the lure and tied it tight so it would hold the body tighter on the jig head. It looks ugly but I have never had the head pop back out again. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | My limited experience with repairing dawgs has shown a propane torch makes for better welds than butane. So far, the welds hold better(they don't seem to come apart at the actual weld anymore), and I don't get the discoloration that I did with butane. Could it be that the additives in butane adhere to the plastic in some fashion while heating it up...?.. Just happy I started using my little propane camping burner by default one weekend last season.
My friend had a little medical cauterizing tool, which worked nicely, especially for the deep puncture type wounds.
Edited by Reef Hawg 7/15/2009 11:51 AM
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Posts: 1710
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | Soldering iron with the "cutting tip" works the best...heat it up and push it together. You weld the entire cut instead of the outside only.
Or you could always save $5, buy SuperDs (who were the 1st to use the coil harness for big swimbaits BTW) and just use that old Dawg for the tail as a replacement.
Edited by RyanJoz 7/15/2009 11:59 AM
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | Is is mandatory that your repai a Dawg using Dawg rubber material only?
Could you get good or similarly good results melting grubs, tubes or material from the other rubber baits we use as trailers etc etc etc? Has anyone done surgery with some success using rubber that came from another lure style? I always have bags of big Kalins grubs, Reapers etc that we tip spinners with. Thanks. |
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Location: MN | I purchased some replacement tails at Thorne Bros. and have been using that rubber to fill in the holes on some old Dawgs. Melt the area around the rip/hole and melt the tail into it. So far has worked well. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | Is is mandatory that your repai a Dawg using Dawg rubber material only?
Could you get good or similarly good results melting grubs, tubes or material from the other rubber baits we use as trailers etc etc etc? Has anyone done surgery with some success using rubber that came from another lure style? I always have bags of big Kalins grubs, Reapers etc that we tip spinners with. Thanks. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | The key to the splits as others mentioned is to melt the entire split together. I always used a butane torch to heat up a butter knife, insert into rip, squeeze both sides together, and slide butter knife out. Then I would press the knife up against the outside of the slit/rip and move it around to seal up the outside well. Same method I used to add replacement tails.
I know others use mend It with good results.
Brad brought up a good tip on melting extra rubber onto the head from the start, and something I did on occasion. Mostly did it after the head pulled through.
Using lots of other baits to melt onto a good dawg is fine. I always used junk dawgs as I had a ton of them, and you will end up with a ton as well if you fish them enough. If needed I would take a dawg in good running condition, but for some reason just didn’t catch fish, and ruin it just so I could repair a dawg that was catching fish. Often times it was to replace a tail. You will get to a point that you just can’t repair them, and now you have one more to use for skin graphs!
Another good tip is if the belly is split where the back harness comes through is to try and melt it back together with soldering iron or knife method, and then use a zip tie around the body to keep the hanger in place. That back hook hanger coming through is what caused me to junk most of my dawgs as it is tough to keep it repaired once that thing comes through.
You could also always look into a bait that is half hard that you won’t have to worry about the belly splitting, or the head pulling through! 
My guess on the butane torch vs the propane torch is the butane probably gets hotter. I wish I would have known that before Jason as I have torched my fingers many times with that darn little butane torch as it gets very hot a good distance from where you can’t see the flame anymore. If I had minor cuts on the dawg I actually preferred to use a lighter than my torch as I could have better control over the melt, and didn’t end up scorching it like J-Lo mentioned he does with some of his.
Edited by CiscoKid 7/15/2009 1:50 PM
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Location: Contrarian Island | this is the small torch I carry in my boat and is well worth the money...get a canister of butane and this should last you years..it uses very little butane per dawg repair
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_1... |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | Get yourself an Weller Butane or Battery soldering iron. Works just great. Will save you hundreds of $$$ in the long run.
http://www.action-electronics.com/solderingirons.htm#Butane |
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Posts: 806
| A few things I've learned over the years...
First, for the "deep cuts" I like to glue the plastic back together with your standard super glue. Now, of course the bad thing about super glue is that it leaves that hard finish which will ruin the lure's action. To fix this problem (and this can be a little time-consuming, especially on the water so you may want to stick with the glue!) take a soldering iron and "burn" away the excess super glue on the outside of the lure. Sounds crazy, but it works and won't effect the action of your lure. It stinks pretty bad though, so caution doing this in confined places!
Secondly, as far as taking junk dawgs and using just the plastic off them, this isn't necessary if you don't want to do it. Most types of plastic will work for re-molding and re-making your fish-catching lures. If you used a lure like a Squirko or Super Stalker and don't buy the pre-cut replacement tails and instead buy the full size 8" Action Plastic Super Grubs, you can use the plastic that you had to cut off to fit the tail onto the lure. You can always find some small grubs to use too, but this can be time-consuming and the smaller grubs usually only work for tail repairs
Lastly, as far as the head coming out on dawgs and other lures, you may want to try gluing the head in before you use it. Not sure if they sell them with split rings on the front or not, but make sure it's off there. Just glue around the eyelet (only takes a few drops) and put a little glue around the single top-hook which will help keep your jig in place. This tip also works for the bottom harness too! Should keep the head in there a lot better and keep them holding up a little better. |
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Posts: 2024
| I'm not sure about reinforcing baits, but can tell you that for repairing SHREDDED Dawgs I will now use nothing but Mend-It (maybe an occasional hit with the pocket torch). I had a fish rip a 'Dawg in half (three parts actually): plastic from head down to rear hook hanger + tail (+ small tip of tail). I was back using the entire bait in 20 mins after applying Mend-It. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | Great tips guys, thanks. I grabbed a little Piezo (sp??) torch and have it in a little kit with some glue, a sharp knife and a butter knife. Fragile by muskie standards (light thru wire, nail polish for clear coat, soft balsa) the Super Shad Rap's a bait that fish tear up badly but I will never stop using them. Some guys feel the same about Cranes, Slammers and Big Games. One big rainbow or laker will trash a little AC Shiner but they are pure magic. I have no problem with a big fish or a lot of fish wrecking a lure if that lure stands out that much. I don't mind baits that get wrecked catching fish. Ones that bite the dust before they ever see any action are the ones that bug me. |
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| Here's another two cents for Mend-It. This season I started using Mend-It more and the torch lighter less and I think my repairs are better. The torch lighter is great for quick, minor repairs to keep a bait in use on the water. Back on shore it's Mend-it time. |
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Posts: 1057
Location: Medford, WI | I've had lots of experience repairing dawgs, and I've found the best way to do so is like Travis mentioned above...heating up a butterknife or pocket-tool with a knife on it. You can get the deep ones good and smooth over the surface.
With that being said, I would look into other company's products for future purchases. I started using Shack Attack's Curly Sues last year and had great success with them and it's usually 4-5 fish before you even have to touch them up/repair them. Another great thing is I've never once had the harness rip out of the bait or through the nose of the bait...that was the most annoying thing with dawgs as it could happen before you even caught a fish.
Also, all other plastics I've used to melt plastics back together have worked well so I always kept any type of soft plastic to use for repairs. I never tried Mend-It, but from what I've been told, that's the way to go.
-Jake Bucki
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Veterinarian for my Dawgs?