Plastic Bait Body Construction

[RayburnGuy]

Since I started refinishing baits several months ago I've noticed how poorly some of them are put together. One of the biggest pet peeves I have is the joint where the baits are fused (glued) together. On some baits I spend more time smoothing that joint out with sandpaper than I do sanding the rest of the bait. Have also noticed a lot of paint jobs that seem a little sloppy. Such as overspray on the diving lip and so forth. From my limited experience it seems the old Bomber Model A's were put together better than anything I've painted so far. And when I say "old Bombers" I'm talking about baits I bought 20 or more years ago. Now I haven't repainted any of the high dollar lures like Lucky Craft so I can't speak about them. I'd just like to know what you guys think and what your opinions are on this subject.

thanks,

RG

[diemai]

@ RayburnGuy

Don't know much about the subject , but more than one year ago I've pulled out a crankbait from under a bridge in Hamburg , the paint design had become very messy and dirty , also the lure was full of water , as it seemingly had been stuck there for a couple of months or even a year .

It was obvious , that the lure wasn't glued together well , and in fact , after having it cleaned up a bit and put it on a radiator I 've found , that water sweated out at alltogether three locations along the seam between the two halves .

OK , it was not a brand lure , but made for one of the bigger tackle companies over here and sold under their name(saw that model in a tackleshop a while afterwards) , but for a shop price of 7€(about 8,50$ presently)I'd expect something better , as sucha lure soaking up water is pretty useless .

Plated it with aluminium tape and several clearcoats by now , guess that this would overcome these flaws !

Surely I also agree with you , that older lures are more well made than present ones , it's more and more about a cheap and fast production nowadays(not only on lures) , so any flaws or failures are even programmed .

greetz , Dieter

[BobP]

I'm almost always disappointed by the quality of unpainted bait bodies from internet sources. They are cheaply made in China by folks who know zero about crankbaits. It's just something for the factory to mold after they stop the current run of McDonalds Happy Meal toys. They copy the EXTERNAL shape of a popular high quality Japanese or American bait. They do not copy the internals. They randomly throw in a few stainless steel balls for ballast. The seams are often misaligned. If you're lucky, they sand out the goofs and the baits don't leak. Very rarely, you find a decently performing bait - but when it does, it's just plain dumb luck. I've bought probably 20+ different unpainted models through the years and I've only found ONE that I would buy again. And that one is not a knockoff of a popular commercial bait. In my experience, it has also not helped to buy from well regarded (and I'm sure, well meaning) individuals who custom order blanks from Chinese sources and resell them. I get the same crap from them. In spite of experience, I'm still occasionally charmed into trying another one. Mental illness = doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.

I started out with crankbaits buying package damaged, unpopular color (but otherwise good) commercial baits from the "$2 bin" and repainting them. If I could pick and choose which models were in the bargain bin, I'd still be doing that.

[RayburnGuy]

I've also been a bit disappointed in the fit and finish of quite a few name brand baits. Several of the highly popular name brand baits I've refinished aren't any better, and in some cases worse, than the so called "knock-offs". Like I said earlier, the baits that seemed to be put together the best were the old Bombers. The seams were smooth and have yet to find any overspray on the diving lips. Just wondering if anyone else that refinishes name brand baits has found the same thing and what brand of baits they find to be the least trouble to refinish?

[BobP]

RG, the ones that I've had fewest problems with are Netcraft. I haven't tried a wide variety of their baits but I do like their little 1/4 oz fat shallow runner, which swims well and catches fish. The only negative is 1/4 oz is pretty light bait to fish on a baitcaster. On bodies that have the joint sanded smooth, a dip in DN makes the sanding marks disappear. I don't sell baits so my disappointment in most unpainted plastic bodies is not a big deal - I'll just build wood baits that I know will work. On plastic baits, I've decided to heck with the cheapo bodies. Life (and fishing time) is too short to be throwing junk baits. There are plenty of baits in the $6-15 range that work great.

[spoonbender]

Similar experiences with crankbait quality, good and bad. I use mainly stickbaits for salmon and walleye trolling so bought plenty of 'em over the last 30 years. The only decent quality lures available today are the original Rapala's, Bombers, Lucky Crafts, and Reef Runners. Rapala plastic bodied sticks, Storm Thunderstick jr's and Smithwick Rogues are questionable at best. As far as DIY unpainted lures, I purchased a few LuckyCraft knockoffs from Jim at PredatorBass and was surprised at the quality for an offshore offering. Similar knockoffs I bought on E-bay were not completely glued and leaked, had to seal before finishing. Guess the rules still apply when buying tackle....Caveat Emptor.