Upgrading and tuning baits, or what to do during the prohibition period

Long warm days of the spring spawning ban are ahead. Somewhere you can catch fish, somewhere not, somewhere you can, but carefully, there is time to shake up your spinning arsenal, to tidy up your gear and reject some baits. I would like to talk about these very lures that have not passed, so to speak, the next “recertification” on the eve of the new season.

Every spinningist from time to time accumulate in the far corner of the cherished box or closet with baits those of them, which either poorly showed themselves on fishing, or came into disrepair, having received some damage in the process of fishing. Here is about how best to solve the fate of these unfortunate, we will try to understand with you. You can simply sell or give away the outsiders, you can take off their hooks and send them to the box of Christmas decorations. But you can try, as they say, to pump these lures, giving them a second chance. Why, what if? While all fishing with these baits are still fresh in our memory, while we remember for what reasons we put them on the “bench”, it’s time to try to turn their probable disadvantages into obvious advantages.

Changing hooks

You can try giving baits a second chance

The simplest thing that often has to be changed in various lures is their not always and not for all fisheries suitable hooks. Sometimes manufacturers just save on hooks and fittings, equipping lures frankly not the best of them. Sometimes even good hooks do not suit us with any parameters – size, wire thickness, wrong color coating, etc. In this case, nothing fancy is required, you just need to allocate some money to buy new hooks. The main thing that their weight is not very much change the loading of the wobbler and did not affect its game, especially it will be noticeable in light ultralight lures, with their upgrade should be especially careful!

It is possible to change the wobbler ‘ s loading by using hooks of a different weight, without resorting to sticking special weights on the body of the wobbler. Heavier hooks can make a floating wobbler suspender, and suspender sinking. Sometimes wobbler manufacturers themselves use such a tricky trick, equipping their wobblers with different tees and offering us the same lures with different degrees of buoyancy solely because of the different weights of hooks.

Returning to ultralight lures, it is worth mentioning hooks that do not require the use of crown rings, thus reducing not only the process of their installation, but also the number of intermediate links, which in micro baits can be important. Such hooks are most often found in the form of doubles, but there are also single hooks and even trebles of this type.

It is worth mentioning hooks that do not require the use of crown rings

Tuning tins

Next, let’s move on to a more serious modernization of baits. Let’s start with something simpler – with “iron”. With blades and other metal baits – Devon, spinnerbaits, teil-spinners, chatterbait – to handle a little easier than with wobblers, due to the fact that the metal is always stronger and “foolproof” plastic. That’s why the longevity of some blades is amazing, I have quite a few of them from the last century, and they regularly catch fish to this day. Break in them almost nothing, especially in oscillating, except that once in five years worn out hook to replace or rings winding. But in rotating trollers replacement of the hook most often occurs by cutting the hook with the help of wire cutters, most models are so arranged. New hooks are installed with the help of crown rings. The most convenient for changing hooks are arranged some models of reels, which have devices that allow you to quickly change the hook at any time, even while fishing, for example, there are such companies Mepps and Balzer.

The longevity of some trollers is amazing

It is more convenient to experiment with such trollers, changing a simple hook to a treble hook equipped with a fly made of feathers or lurex, or at all on a treble hook with a twister. Such experiments allow you to find the optimal, the most catching variant of equipment for each troller, even on a separate fishing trip.

If desired, you can try to put a new pattern on the trollers

It is useful to clean, even a little polish faded oscillators and tarnished petals of spinners, teilspinners and spinnerbaits. If desired, you can try to put a new or try to update the old drawing on the trollers, using paint or just nail polish. Very useful can be the presence of permanent markers of black and red colors, which can be quickly and easily put on any lure simple and very durable drawing of dots, stripes or some squiggles to your taste, giving the lure a fresh look and sometimes add it to this catching. And here is a marker of brown color I generally carry with me on fishing, especially when I catch on the trollers. The thing is that with the help of it you can in a minute right in the field from the silver or golden blades to make copper, and this darkening of the petal very often brings success. And if you do not like it, it is always easy to remove the marker pattern with an alcohol solution or just cologne.

Petals and other propellers can also be painted and tinted with paints or markers

As for spinnerbaits, teilspinners, chatterbaits and bazzbait, their petals and other propellers can also be painted and colored with paints or markers. In addition, it is always useful to experiment with the down of their hooks. They can be decorated with flies and twisters. On spinnerbaits I generally immediately after purchase change their shaggy silicone bass “skirts” on twisters or vibro-tails, which and catchability of these baits increases, and range due to the elimination of sailing firm “skirt”.

On spinnerbaits I immediately after purchase change their shaggy silicone “skirts” on twisters

Do not be afraid and experiments with the change of petals on spinnerbaits. These lures are very catching, but changing the petal to a more interesting, you can sometimes this very catchability and increase.

Do not be afraid and experiments with the change of petals

Podvervornu upgrade can be and rotating blades, which something you do not suit you. But for this you will have to stock up on good stainless steel wire of suitable diameter and core parts. For example, you can replace the standard for most trolling rods core of brass on lead or even tungsten, which will make the trolling rod with the same dimensions heavier and longer range. Sometimes you can even encroach on the integrity of the branded petal, changing its shape and achieving from the troller again any better results. I, for example, in this way cut the wide petals on MEPPS BUG spinners, narrowing them down to the size of a “willow leaf”, and the trollers worked quite differently on grayling and chub, much more actively bringing success than with native petals.

Bliselki in a completely different way earned grayling and chub

Any oscillating troll can be made unhooked if desired, replacing its standard tee with a double or even a single hook equipped with protective tendrils. For example, the company Kuusamo has such doubles, and, for example, Saikyo single hooks.

Any oscillating troll can be made unhooked, if desired

Modernization of wobblers

To upgrade wobblers should be cautious, they are more delicate lures than blades. But you should not be afraid, you should try. The easiest thing to do is to change or update the coloring on worn veterans. Although I have long stopped completely recoloring wobblers, more often I just use the same alcohol-based markers. Enough dark stripes, spots or both together to make the wobbler became more noticeable flicker in the stream when wiring all these dots and stripes. Sometimes in the sale find some scarce wobbler, and even at a good price, but in some unsightly coloring. So, after a light tuning with markers, it becomes as irresistible to predators as its ancestor with the correct pattern on the body, which has rested on some snags.

Sometimes in the sale find some scarce wobblerock

To tell about folk ways to change the weight and degree of buoyancy of wobblers today is hardly interesting, the sale is full of ready-made solutions in the form of so-called suspendots of different weight stickers in the form of lead circles and strips. With their help, you can in a matter of minutes right on the fishing to load the wobbler to the required weight.

The sale is full of ready-made solutions in the form of so-called suspendots of different weight stickers

But if the wobbler was seriously damaged during fishing, it is already more complex repair and modernization. I had a couple of cases of damage to long blades on the rocks, which I just carefully shortened, resulting in less deep-water wobblers, but also working. That is, the lures did not have to be thrown away, but managed to stay in the line, albeit with a change in the depth of wiring, but without changing the catchability.

If the wobbler was seriously damaged during fishing, it is already more complex repair and modernization

I probably not all ways to modernize baits here described, they are each experienced spinningist own stock, but the main points will certainly be useful for those making the first steps on the path of spinningist. A little imagination and time, and here is already not working or damaged bait becomes quite catching, and perhaps your favorite.

Author: Bob Nudd is an expert fisherman with over 20 years experience and winner of many competitions.