lexan lips with line tie

[MuskyGary]

When miking a deep diving plug with the line tie on the lexin lip, how do you fasten it? Just with glue and Two tTon expsey? or do you lock it in some other way. Seems like a lot of pressure on the lip when your fighting a fish. I'm wondering if it will pull out in time?

[fatfingers]

A properly installed Lexan lip will not come out.

First slip the lip in place without glue and get it lined up the way you're going to want it installed.

Next scribe a line around the area where the body of the bait touches the lip. In other words, scratch a line with a knife blade or a nail head around that area where the glue will be inside the lip slot.

Then remove the lip and scratch up the area of the lip that will be inside the lip slot (your scribed line will be your guide). A rotary tool with a sanding drum works nicely, but a carefully applied file blade could do the same job. Just rough up the lip so the Devcon has something to stick to.

Finally apply Devcon 2 ton epoxy to the lip with the area you roughed up on the lip and inside the lip slot. I use a popsicle stick for this.

I also like to drill a couple of holes in the lip within that portion of the lip that will be inside the bait. The holes allow some of the Devcon 2 ton epoxy to form sort of a "post" within the lip slot for extra added strength.

Slip the lip in and carefully wipe off any dripping excess glue.

Lastly, I like to hit the perimeter of the lip slot with a heat gun to remove any bubbles from what little exposed glue remains.

Edited July 8, 2008 by fatfingers

[MuskyGary]

Thanks for the information. I didn't know if the epoxy would be strong enough to hold the lip in; since the line tie will be on the lexan lip. Will give it a try!

[mark poulson]

If you're worried about the line tie pulling the lip out, I've seen lures whose line tie passes through the lip, and back into the lure, so it's glued separately from the lip itself.

I don't make lipped cranks, but I'd think how you attach your line tie would depend on how strong your wood is, and what kind of fish you expect to catch.

Muskies are some pretty big, strong fish. I'd assume you're not using a soft wood, and you're not making small baits, so there would probably be enough lip glued into the wood, if you follow FF's method, to make for a strong attachment.

But you could search the gallery for muskie lures, and see how the guys who do it all the time are handling this area, and you'd probably get a much better idea of the choices that are out there, and that work.

[benton B]

Just drill 3-6 holes (1/8 bit size) in the back of the lip and epoxy in place. I've never been able to pull a lip out of a bait.