reinforcing lips on wood lures?

[fishcast]

Just wondering if anyone puts anything on the lips of wood lures when working around rock and wood a lot. I've been fishing a suick around rock and wood almost all the time and am afraid I'll break the lip or just mess up the action sooner than later from hitting stuff so much. thanks

[Rebel9921]

I've destroyed the lip on a hawg teaser fishing in an area full of gravels and rocks... i dont know how you could reinforce it without changing the action... maybe B1gf1sh could chime in here and give us his views...

[Croix]

email b1gf1sh, sounds like he can repair them?

[-ebby-]

might be able to reinforce them with some epoxy

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

Just wondering if anyone puts anything on the lips of wood lures when working around rock and wood a lot. I've been fishing a suick around rock and wood almost all the time and am afraid I'll break the lip or just mess up the action sooner than later from hitting stuff so much. thanks

no. IMO. if i knew a way i'd be rich. rebels on the nose about action change. almost all lures are specificly weighted and/or have specific shapes to make them do what they do. the best and only way i know to avoid this is to fish with lures that are made for fishing around that type of structure. i.e. metal lips, thick epoxy coatings, spinnerbaits, inlines, etc. no lure is going to continuously take a pounding from rocks. at least none i know of. even metal lips get ripped out and need repair.

''but''... a person can fish lures differently to avoid it ''better'' but not completely. when a lure hits a rock it can be a trigger if it is stopped and let to rise or suspend. same with wood, weeds, whatever. also i've had better luck not breaking lures by slowing down my retrieve around dangerous areas. the impact created on a retrieve is more than you might think. the faster the retrieve the greater the impact. without explaining Einstiens theories on mass and speed and blah blah blah. basicly just the faster something goes the heavier it is, and the greater the impact. crude, but basicly what it says. ever have a two pounder hit your lure and feel like a twenty pounder? hit it full speed going the other way probly. anyway i don't think a suick can be reinforced. i suggest the jerking motions be very short and sweet. and have several of them in the box. good luck

[Rebel9921]

B1g nailed it on slowing and easing up on the retrieve... I totally ripped my Hawg Teaser through that area and in no time it was continuously veering to its right... I did try to repair it with some epoxy putty... it worked for a while til I did the same retrieve action on WBL and it got ripped off...

Thats the price of muskie fishing... everything gets destroyed one way or other... bucktails bend, some can be repaired, some needs replacing... crankbaits, glidebaits, etc etc all get destroyed eventually...

[cjac]

Sometimes this isn't all a bad thing, the imprefections can be a good thing or a "trigger".

I have a couple Suicks that look like they've been run over with a truck, but they're still the ones I'll reach for first. Not everything in nature runs true. A dying baitfish is all over the place, on it's side, dipping down or up, etc.

Take a Mojo Wabull that rolls a bit and it's ideal. RK loves a Mouldy's Topper Stopper that squeaks. The old joke about Phantoms is they swing too well, and they are almost hypnotic to a fish, like a pendulum used by a hypnotist, swinging in perfection...side to side.

Granted, if your bait is pounding hard into structure, enough to break down the lure, it's likely not the best presentation, but a little off-canter retrieve from a lure's imperfection can be in your favor.

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

Sometimes this isn't all a bad thing, the imprefections can be a good thing or a "trigger".

agreed. i had a friend named dave anderson, he's deceased now god rest his soul, that was a modification nut case. he'd drill holes three quarters back in the left side of suicks and add a split shot. claimed it worked better. he'd add a split ring on a spinner blade through a hole he drilled on the left side just above center, claimed it worked better. nothing he did ever worked for me, lol. confidence again i guess. great observation cjac. your the best that's ever been. round the mount...