[senkosam]

I got bored using soft plastic lures right from the bag years ago and by accident I discovered a way to make new shapes from two different lures using a candle flame. Different shapes have different actions and you quickly discover how many different ones work - many much better that the usual lures everyone else uses.

All you have to do is cut off the body from one lure and then cut off the body or tail of another.
Hold the end of one over a candle flame for a second and then the other to be joined. Hold the two together for 3 or 4 seconds while they bond. That's it! (I also use a battery powered soldering gun to smooth and strengthen the seam.)

Here are a few of the hundreds of mix & match lure combinations - ALL of which have caught fish:

A claw tail from a bass crawfish lure was added to a grub body (note the three species caught):

I like Crappie Magnet grub tails but not the bodies which are too small, so I added the tail to a larger grub body:

I've been catching bass on Senkos for years and figured, why not make a mini-stick ?:

The 1/16 oz jig allows that great Senko-like wobble on the way down when wacky rigged (rt.) or the jig can be rigged from either end lt.). It catches some big pan fish!:

I attached the curl tail of a Power Grub to a segment of French Fry worm and it caught fish first time I cast it:

Caught this bass and a sunfish rigging it on a spinner:

Got many more for you to see if interested. But hey, when I can't go fishing due to the cold weather I at least have something to play around with while smoking my pipe and watching the tube (in the basement of course or the wife will kill me. )

 

[srsykes]

Great idea, Thanks!

 

[Neilslure]

I still got a 3/8" scar on my leg from dripping hot plastic on it when I was a kid doing this very thing.

 

[spidey]

how cool, BTW thats a nice yellow perch!

 

[senkosam]

BTW thats a nice yellow perch!

They do have a few in NY along with 14" crappie.

Most anglers use lures right from the package and that's not a bad thing. But over the years I got bored doing that besides the number of lures that wouldn't work much of the time. Again, the ideas pictured anyone can copy as well as come up with some original mix & matches of which are limited only by the imagination - of which there are probably over 1,000.

Some would claim that the smaller the lure, the smaller the fish or fish species. Take this 3 lb catfish:

or this 7 lb. catfish:

or this four lb. common rudd:

Notice how small the lures are - some that weren't or were modified. Lure size, larger or smaller, can matter depending on a fish's activity level and irritability. Sometimes larger fish need larger lures to get them to attack; at other times it's like you or I swatting at an insect buzzing around our faces. Try various shapes and sizes and let the fish tell you what works and where. Smaller lures catch more fish and more fish species on an outing; larger lures may catch less fish but generally do catch larger fish that challenge their space/ territory. (JMO)

The ball head jig is one of the greatest lure presenters ever designed and accounts for most of the 1,000 or more fish I've caught since the mid 80's.