wvmusky Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I make my own musky baits and was wanting to add a soft plastic tail to one of my glide baits. I have a few other glide baits with plastic tails and they use a pigtail or hitchhiker like screw apparatus installed in the body of the bait. My question is are they simply a hitchhiker that has been drilled and set in the body of the bait in epoxy or is there a special pigtail device that you can buy and screw into the wood to allow the plastic tails to screw on? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I've made a couple of hard baits with a soft plastic tail that was screwed on like your talking about. Instead of buying the hitch hiker pig tails like your talking about I just made my own by wrapping stainless wire around a piece of welding rod and fixed it so it could be anchored into the body of the bait. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapping necks Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 You could also just use a small stainless screw. Drill a hole, then cut the head off and screw it in reverse if you want a sharp end or regular if you want the cut off blunt end out. I would still glue it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemmy Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 You could, like the screw idea above, glue in the shank portion of a couple of cheap baitholder hooks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybait Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I tried the screw, then I bought some ss springs and now I do it same as Ben above. It works great. I wrap the ss wire tightly around a mandrel held in a vise. Then after I slide it off the mandrel, I grab both ends with needle nose pliers and stretch it out until I have the gap I want. Cut off the lengths I need, match the diameter up in your drill stand and drill a hole in end of bait. Epoxy your baitkeeper in place. When you screw the plastic on, crazy glue it to the back of the bait. This method really holds the plastic up against the bait nicely. First time I did it I wound the wire the wrong direction. Now I wrap it so I wind up with a right hand thread. It still works of course but you can't see the thread direction when the tail is on and I am testing the bait before painting so I like to know what direction to screw the plastic off too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapping necks Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Another option is the attachments that the banjo minnow has. I love that bait by the way most successful bait I've had for bass. Plus they come in different sizes. Similar to hitch hikers but better in my opinion. Here's a link https://www.banjominnowstore.com/Store/c-9-cork-screws.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 For some one piece rat wake baits I made, I put a Spro swivel into the tail location, and used a hitch hiker to attach a plastic worm for a tail. That makes it easy to change tails, and the Spro swivels last as long as the bait. Hitch hikers, even the sst ones, have a finite life, and will fail long before the lure dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I tried the screw, then I bought some ss springs and now I do it same as Ben above. It works great. I wrap the ss wire tightly around a mandrel held in a vise. Then after I slide it off the mandrel, I grab both ends with needle nose pliers and stretch it out until I have the gap I want. Cut off the lengths I need, match the diameter up in your drill stand and drill a hole in end of bait. Epoxy your baitkeeper in place. When you screw the plastic on, crazy glue it to the back of the bait. This method really holds the plastic up against the bait nicely. First time I did it I wound the wire the wrong direction. Now I wrap it so I wind up with a right hand thread. It still works of course but you can't see the thread direction when the tail is on and I am testing the bait before painting so I like to know what direction to screw the plastic off too. I did exactly the same thing when I built my first one Barry. It took me a second to figure out why the plastic didn't want to thread onto the wire coil. Then it dawned on me that I had put left hand "threads" on the wire coil. Just one more in a long line of Homer Simpson moments. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I did exactly the same thing when I built my first one Barry. It took me a second to figure out why the plastic didn't want to thread onto the wire coil. Then it dawned on me that I had put left hand "threads" on the wire coil. Just one more in a long line of Homer Simpson moments. Ben Is that like finding that half the nails you bought have the head on the wrong end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Is that like finding that half the nails you bought have the head on the wrong end? The nails didn't have the heads on the wrong end Mark.They were for the other side of the house. I thought all carpenters knew that. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 The nails didn't have the heads on the wrong end Mark.They were for the other side of the house. I thought all carpenters knew that. Ben First liar don't stand a chance! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 First liar don't stand a chance! Hahaha Too funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvmusky Posted February 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thanks guys for some really good ideas! I like the ss wire and banjo minnow idea. Thanks for everyone's input!! I'll show off my results once I get it lined out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
