Bull Dawgs/ Plastics in General

[DHanson]

I have been putting my muskie baits in 5 gallon buckets the last 3 years. This year I finally picked up a couple tackle boxes for my baits. My concern is that my bull dawgs or my plastic style baits in general may melt inside my box in the heat of the summer. I have seen guys with the bull dawgs around the boat seat deal, but I don't have a pedestal seat in the front of my boat. I have spent a lot of money on these lures like you guys all know already, and so, I don't want them to melt and get wrecked. I also have a few lures in which the paint has melted off a bit and on to my other lures. What do you guys do about the lures that could potentially melt in the summer? Thanks.

[MUSKYMAN1011]

I have a Lakewood products Musky Monster tackle box and I have had Bull dawgs in there for atleast 4 years through summers worst Heat to the cool mornings of October and I have NEVER had a bull dawg melt on me.

Best of Luck Musky fishing this year!

Brian K

[DHanson]

Good to hear MUSKYMAN! How about other types of lures, especially the painted ones? I have a few that seem to melt very badly. Good luck to you this year as well!

[Schlagel]

DHanson,

Heat isn't what has caused some of your baits to "melt." The melting point of the plastics used in baits today is above any temperature they might exposed to in normal use. Put some in a hot car on a hot, sunny day and you'll see that they don't melt.

What has likely caused your baits to become disfigured is contact with another soft-plastic with an incompatible plasticizer. The hard plastic used in many crankbaits seems especially vulnerable. Keep you cranks and plastics apart. The baits aren't melting, it's more accurate to say they're dissolving.

I know that baits made out of Formula X need to be kept separate from other plastics, it says so on the package. Beyond that, I can't help with a list of all the do's and don'ts. I keep everything separate and never have a problem. I use Lakewood and other hanging-style boxes and keep each lure type separate. Bulldawgs only hang with Bulldawgs, Big Joes only with Big Joes, cranks are separate, etc. Keep the lures separated and you won't have a problem.

[DHanson]

Thanks Schlagel. Welcome to FM!

[cjac]

I keep them separate in a the Plano 3730 boxes.

Couple reasons: The plastics mixing as mentioned.

They don't fit well in the Lakewood.

Don't always use them, so it cuts down on weight.

FYI..... I do the pics every year for insurance purposes. Ya never know......

[BID2]

Speaking of bulldawgs....

I just picked one up and I have never fished with a bulldawg. Could someone please give a good explanation on the proper technique or techniques for fishing bulldawgs. the one I picked up is a 3oz 9" cisco colored.

thanx.

[cjac]

Hey BID2,

Pretty versatile to fish really. One way to look at is to think of it as a really big jig. Majority of the time I'm mainly doing a straight line retrieve, a little rod pump here and there, but often just a nice slow roll. The tail generates some pretty good movement all on it's own.

Get into a good cabbage area and you'll see people really rippin' the mag dawgs thru there. Tourneys have been won on Mille Lacs in Vineland Bay doing that.

They are not the most durable bait, so I keep a little tube of Super Glue and a lighter in the box for on-lake repairs.

[DHanson]

That's a good idea cjac! Thanks for sharing! The only problem with that for me is that I don't have much room in my boat for storage. In fact, really no storage compartments at all. Pretty much everything that goes in my boat is right in the open.

As for how to work a bull dawg: Well, I am no expert at it and I know there are a lot of better muskie fishermen than I am that can add to this, but here is how I work them dawgs: Cast it out and let it sink (they sink about a foot per sec) to the depth you want it to, long hard pull, pausing for a sec, long hard pulls again, and repeat. You can vary the way you retrieve it, but basically the long hard pull, pause, should trigger some fish because it has for me. Good luck!

[JRedig]

Tacklebooty FTW!!

No wrong way to work a bulldawg. I've been having unreal success with spring dawgs this year. Remember, elephants do eat peanuts!

[Rebel9921]

BID CJAC and JRedig pretty much summed it all up... a Bulldawg is basically like a Suick... theres NO WRONG way you can fish with it... Just use your imagination... No harm in doing what you want to do... just vary the retrieve technique and its bound to be slammed sooner or later...

[Capt. Quicksteel]

That's a beautiful picture CJAC. Enough to bring tears to the eyes!!!