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| So does it matter much if your lure has bite marks and scratches or the epoxy is smudged? I have seen some guys using lures that are missing a lot of the nice finish. What do you think? |
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| The more they are chewed....the more they will continue to be CHEWED ON is my idea.
Most of my best baits still have a dental record stuck in the wood from some of the muskies it tried to give an oral exam too. [:bigsmile:]
As long as they work right, keep on using them. I have some older beat up Slammers that have seen much better days thats for sure. Some of lost all the clear coat and have 1/8" hook groves, but even with some paint loss and major chew marks they still keep pounding fish. Why, because some baits sing the right song and thats what catches fish and some baits get better with age when they start showing a little wood. I think they soak up some water and work better after that.
For those folks that send lures back to the manufactuer after you have caught 4 or 5 fish and the finish is coming off...your nuts....send them to me..hahahaha[:bigsmile:] |
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| I agree with Jason. The biggest one I have ever raised in all my years of angling was on a beat up bucktail.I was determined to toss a white one and it was the only white bucktail on the boat. I still get chills when I think about it![:0] |
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| One of my vintage cisco kids has caught about 25 muskies to date. It virtually has little of the original paint left, has about 30 teeth broken off in it, and has been repaired several times due to sidewall punctures from larger fish (25+ lb'ers). I just keep draining the water from it and plugging the new holes. It still performs just fine. |
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| That brings up a good point: when is a lure so damaged that you will retire it?
For some bucktails it is easy to decide that.. but with crank and jerk baits.. when do you put them out to pasture? |
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| I also feel a chewed up lure must be chewed on more! And it does get a lot more fish for me.
I haven't retired a bait yet (unless unvoluntarily by snags or so), not even my best catching swim whizz or the big-s (shakespeare crankbait) which I have been using for the past 16 years (caught over 80 pike on this one). One day I will, and that will be the day these lures are chewed up beyond recognition AND the time when they no longer run the way they should because of the extensive use. |
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| A bait doesn't gain a spot in my confidence box until its been laced with teeth marks. If you look through any fisherman's tackle box you can usually tell his favorite baits by the amount of wear and tear they show. I have one bait that I only use when I think the time is right for a big fish because I know with all the abuse it has taken over the years the next fish may be its last. |
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| Interesting that this came up. Jason "Skunkeraser" Smith and I were just talking about this very same topic last Monday night. I noticed this many years ago while fishing for pike with my braother. He had a chewed up crankbait, and was getting all the action. I fished with the same lure, only new, and didn't get squat. After I finally got one to go, and it dinged up the bait a little, then I started to have more success.
Tight Lines,
Shep[:sun:] |
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| One reason for chewed up lures working is the old confidence factor. Another is that you see very few "perfect" looking creatures in nature. Maybe a chewed up lure with all the white spots etc. on it looks more like a distressed meal to a predetory creature like a Muskie. Just a guess on my part, who can tell for sure. I know I use my lures until they are gone as in see you later, or they no longer run the way I want them to. |
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| confidense goes up with each tooth imbedded in that favorite lure. I paint some of my own lures, but, won't retouch a lure, that gets roughed up from the toothy ones. Maybe its the action is just a little better? I've never had one get waterlogged from a few holes or even bare spots.Remember what it looks like and copy that when you think you need to.[:sun:] |
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| The only baits I touch up are some of the wooden baits (especally top water such as Jackpots and creepers) and that's only to keep them from becomming too waterlogged. I usually use red paint to cover raw wood (makes them look more like an injured fish - to me anyway) and then give the lure a couple coats with a clear poly such as Environtex. Those tested and true baits have a lot of character and I get a kick out of personalizing them. And as already mentioned, you just can't beat that confidence factor...[;)] |
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