any ideas or experience would be much appreciated 

If the strike missed getting hooked the first time, the fish most times hit it again when cast to the spot the fish came off and then hooked.

Trolling is something I've done verry little of in the past, but will be doing alot more of going forward.... So im gonna take on an interesting project, one i havnt seen here before... trolling divers

For anyone not farmiliar, a diver is basically a crank bait that doesnt swim, its only job is to get your bait, which trails behind it, down to a specified depth.... the most popular commercial diver is probably the 'Jet Diver', which ill attatch a picture of... but there are a few other types on the market.... and via internet search, ive found vague descriptions of a homebrew type of diver made from PVC pipe

I suppose i could just try to copy the jet diver, or pittle around with pipe until i get it right.. but first i thought id tap into the vast knowlege and ambition this site is known for





Subject: Your knot is 💩! Here's the fix.


Use an improved clinch knot but add an overhand knot to the tag end. This is most effective for braids. 

As this guy demonstrates, a knot slips over time. We figured out this simple fix while salmon fishing in lake Michigan back in the 70’s. The knot looked fine but after several salmon the knot would fail. We noticed the tag end was getting shorter over time. We increased the number of twists to nine but over time it still pulled through.

Adding an overhand knot to the tag end fixed the problem. 

Start by tying the improved clinch knot as normal but leave an extra amount on the tag end. After you wet and pull tight, tie an overhand knot in the tag end. Slide it as close to the clinch knot as you pull it tight. Then trim the tag end as normal. Over time you will notice the overhand knot will move and eventually be up against the side of the improved clinch knot but the tag end won’t get any shorter. Problem solved!

https://www.animatedknots.com/overhand-knot

https://youtube.com/shorts/EfotXbbc5G0?si=E_JXAkR4JUjnkLpO

Lure facts:  Fish don't have a clue what lures represent but are hypersensitive when comes to how lures move based on their shape. Lures are strike-triggers as well as being fish finders. We search areas far from where we cast our lure hoping to provoke a fish to hit. The spot the fish hit may lead to more strikes in the area and indicate a pattern. 

We chose lures for certain scenarios: shallow/deep water; surface/ bottom; weeds and pads; steady retrieve and trolling or slow retrieve with pauses; horizontal vs vertical lure movement; noisy flashy lures vs subtle and quiet. When it comes to soft plastics, I find them to be the most versatile and catch the most fish on average as well as fish small to large in size. I am addicted-to-the-strike and will cast anything that gets me more, I don't care what fish strikes. (note: targeting fish such as bass is a fallacy except when only larger lures are cast where, most times, will not cause panfish to react.)

When it comes to soft plastics, there are an unlimited number of shape/size/action combinations that make fish react. Lure shape doesn't have to resemble any prey animal though coincidences happen. Again, lures DO NOT FOOL fish into striking. Fish react to lures - NOT TO EAT THEM, but because fish are bullies that simply react to something that just entered their zone-of-sensitivity. When it comes to live bait, fish senses recognize the moving object as food whether minnow, worm or bug, but the result is the same - the strike. Do fish prefer live bait over lures? You'd have to ask the fish though I doubt you'd get an answer. In general, lure action is key to getting strikes and generally speaking,

Lures are unnatural moving shapes. To say otherwise is the imagination at work pretending fish identify a lure as this or that they bite to consume. Lure sales depend on it.

Lure shapes and action types have made companies bunches of money over many decades - especially soft plastics. I own enough hard and soft lures to last 5 lifetimes - most collecting dust in my basement. But a few years ago, I came up with a way to change plastic shapes in such a way as to get the most strikes on any day. Enter a candle flame and a blade to cut. Soft plastic baits in intrigue us making us wonder if a design could be the next best thing as the barbed hook. The imagination is key (or someone else's...) some days nothing excites/ other days - WELL I'll BE! In fact, here is a design that defies reason as to why it catches so many fish: cut the tail off a curl tail grub and work it. This is the first fish caught on a Mr Twister grub that lost its tail to a fish:

This super-simple shape caught over 15 more fish that day that included crappie, perch, sunfish, a few bass and a pickerel in shallow water. A light jig and slow, horizontal twitch & pause retrieve gave the shape a darting/dying action. After that, the sky was the only limit to capitalize on the design. Here are examples:

Recently I caught the 3.120 lb bass (digital scale) (rt. photo) on the shape in shallow water. It also contributed to large numbers of fish caught in the last month.

Other hybrid shapes: 

Wacky rig:

Hard baits and all of the scientific jargon (way above my head) that relate to hard lure design thankfully don't apply to my creations. Sure, I can attach labels to the actions the lures produce, but fish don't have much of a vocabulary when it comes to labels. The lures either piss them off or don't. Good designs that do get put on the wall for future use are considered for future modification when that part of my brain awakens with, Why the H didn't I think of that sooner!!?  

In any case it's no wonder this site gets few posts when it comes to lure making and innovation. Lazy minds think alike - just like in politics: giving them a line they can easily accept and support blindly, regardling mass produced products/ simple assertions and lies and they will return daily en masse, with nothing new or interesting to offer or object to.

The power handle is slightly longer than the standard handle, which allows for greater control and increased winding power. It is easy to install and can be quickly attached to the reel for added convenience and efficiency during fishing expeditions.

Wondering if anyone knows of any mfg that could help with a custom foam float idea I've been "floating" around with? 

It would be a unique, non traditional design and I've been researching how to DIY a mold, but since this would be most likely be using foam, it's a bit complicated to find info.  An alternative would be using some other type of hard plastic, but it would need to be something that would float and would be able to have metal adhere to it.

Thanks in advance!!  

The process is simple.

1. cut off the parts to be joined with a sharp razor edge. It can be scissors or a box cutter blade.

2. light a candle and hold the ends briefly over the flame until they catch fire or start to soften, If a flame is produced, flip the lure away and it goes out.

3. hold the part together for 4-5 seconds until they fuse

4. I have a battery powered soldering gun to smooth and strengthen the seam

Here are a few - most of which you have seen the parts from other lures:

Top lure is a Sweet Beaver body with a curl tail attached on its curve.

2nd lure down is a grub body attached to a Flip Worm tail

3rd down are the joining of two equal sized grub bodies

2 bottom sticks are from the parts of two plastic worms.

The two on the right are the tails of two GY Kut Tail Worms attached to thicker grub bodies (on of my best producing hybrid)

I added the claws from bass crawdad lures to grub bodies and caught many species of fish:

.#4 caught fish first time it was cast (part of a Sweet Beaver added to a grub body)

Two grub bodies fused together after the curl tails were cut off. Wacky rigged with a light jig head catches everything !

Also catches fish rigged from the end:

As most of us have discovered, lure shape along with size dictates lure action and all three together are solely responsible for provoking fish to attack. Just as there are an infinite amount of the three in combination that do well, there are many lures sold that will never cut it by comparison. Every hybrid I show has proven itself by catching fish on many outings. One design has caught catfish from 2 - 7.5 lbs. If interested I could post more ideas you can try.

This reminds me of a tadpole:

The bulb tail lures shown above the curl tails were also made thicker and did well catching fish with an action that was completely different.

The Kut Tail Worm:

Sometimes a lure's fish-catching action is not obvious but still catches fish via it's shape/ size/ speed and type of retrieve (presentation). It doesn't take much for a lure to affect a fish's senses - especially fish that are irritable to begin with, but isn't that what makes fish strike - stimuli sensed by the lateral line, confirmed by sight and the ear as to a lure's vulnerability coupled with an annoying confusion (?) what that weird object is doing trespassing in its space? Better yet is when the lure turns on the school resulting in one fish after another.

Modified lures that catch fish are proof that fish don't and can't think about what a lure might represent. Most important is that the lure evokes a temper tantrum resulting in an attack of the mysterious object - sometimes multiple attacks by the same fish.

The nice thing about soft plastics is the infinite lure designs you and I can discover that catch fish - many that are far better than those sold. Here some that have done well since I posted last:

The French Fry stick that hasn't been to successful (at least not for me), turned out to be valuable when cut into segments and attached to various tail shapes. The original:

The Claw:

Note: crappie, bass and perch 

Straight flat tail:

Curl tail added:

Joker tail with Fr Fry:

So why the all-flat sided body? I've used Mr Twister Grubs for decades never once wondering why curl tail grub bodies were always round. Granted they caught fish, but since when were they the only shape? Course when you thing about it, many fish have flat sides and present larger profiles when seen laterally in the water. In any case, no more round grub shapes for me! (unless tail shape calls for it)

Another hybrid design I call the Club Tail :

Notice the almost clear tail and species : white perch, crappie and sunfish.

You might wonder what kind of action from nothing more than a chubby mini-stick-no-tail. It waddles with rod tip twitches and catches everything! Reminds me of the waddle of the Zara Spook waddling back and forth on the surface except now subsurface.

Remember one thing: the above lures each have unique actions and all catch fish in all likelihood due to action and shape. All are rigged on light ball head jigs 1/32, 1/24, 1/16 oz. and hook sizes to match lure body length such that the hook comes out half way or a bit less. 8# test braid line and light action - medium action rods are used.

Can't delete these two photos from this spot.

Has anyone come up with an underspin that's as weedless as a Zoom fluke rigged on a weighted swimbait hook?  In fact, that's what I'm really looking for - add an underspin on a swimbait hook near the "Z" bend.

I've seen some homebuilt underspins with a jig weedguard, but it won't work well for me unless it's rigged with the hook point skinned just below the plastic surface.  The lakes I fish in Oklahoma have numerous Christmas trees that weren't thinned out before sinking them.  Even the new Do-It Brush jigs get hung bad enough that I can't pop 'em loose with the bow trick.   

Just thinking out loud.  It's going to require a pretty significant hook modification with resources I don't have.  Thanks for reading this.  

This topic has been covered before, many times, all over the place, new ideas, patents and prototypes etc.. I'm going to post a whole bunch of links from great members on this site, and other Interesting sites I've found. Then I want to explain what I would do, and take any advice/ suggestions anyone might have thanks.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US2817921A/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4671007A/en

https://m.bassmaster.com/tips/how-invent-bass-lure

https://www.sportfishingmag.com/fishing-lure-designers-who-have-changed-tackle-industry/

https://www.ryanmoodyfishing.com/fishing-lure-design-with-dave-killalea/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/wierd-and-funny-fish-hook-patents.3581/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/patent-attorney-invention-advice.1580257/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/patents.376874/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/patent-info.87214/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/how-to-patent-a-new-hunting-gear-idea.422008/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/protecting-ideas.70530/

https://www.ifish.net/threads/selling-an-idea.163059/

http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/profile/49034-spins/

https://www.aquascapeaddiction.com/articles/how-many-senses-do-fish-have

https://homeluremaking.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-make-balsa-fishing-lure-looking.html

https://www.ifish.net/threads/anyone-need-5000-00.77480/

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/i-will-pay-for-help-on-designing-prototypes/td-p/6230676

I've created what I think is a new lure design.

Members here could tell me quick if it's new, and if it'll work. But my idea beforehand is to send it to a dozen people, who would want to have them, maybe test them, and be the proff that this is my idea. When the lures start to arrive I would post all the pictures and details on how to build the lures. If someone wants to buy the components and bend up the wire then great. Maybe I'll trade a few here in the classifieds. If a company is lurking and they see a possibility to make money, maybe they'll negotiate a deal for the idea, and have their lawyers file for patents and fight with whomever.

I'm a simple man, I would be happy with anything really, maybe your the same. If I'm unsuccessful and you never see my lure at bass pro, which most likely, then oh well. Hopefully someone really enjoys my lure and builds some for friends.

But I hope maybe we could have a way here, where this could work out for someone from this site. One day you'd know the guy or girl, who invented that lure, that won that tournament somewhere, or is sold a bass pro. Maybe someone here will have a original prototype.

I don't know, what do you think? what would you do?. Is this already being done or has been tried ? Does the lure contest preform this already? Did anyone ever try the spins electroreceptor attactor?

Thanks in advance to anyone taking the time to respond here.

   
   I now have at least 30 molds and a couple thousand dollars worth of jig hooks, mold inserts etc on hand and probably pour at least 1000 jify igs/heads per year these days as I "supply" many of my friends as well as bass club members I've come to know through the years...I still hand tie at least 100 jigs per year, sell skirted jigs, dressed treble hooks etc etc as they're always in demand! 

    There is one item I can't understand WHY it isn't available and that is a light wire, double wire weed guard such as those found on many commercial jig heads! This brings me to my question....does ANYONE know where I could source these weed guards by the hundreds or thousands??? I know there aren't any available molds for these to fit into, but I know I can easily modify a number of molds to make them accept a wire weed guard. I've already "customized" a few molds with my most in demand "custom" being ultra light tube jig heads (1/32, 1/16 ounce) utilizing hooks as large as 4/0 for bass sized tubes as a slower, erratic fall is often a game changer on heavily pressured waters! I must pour a couple hundred of these heads every year since i modified a mold to accept the larger hooks close to 20 years ago! I must have sold/given away/used several thousand of these heads alone since I devised this idea.

   I HOPE someone has some insight into these light wire (or even stranded wire) double wire weed guards. I greatly appreciate any and all information on this subject!

   Kirk Bonanny

   kbonanny@gmail.com

On another topic. These Carolina rigs: I see these rigs setup for "clackers"- noise making pieces of brass, tungsten etc. When I was a kid I found out how noisy rocks could be when clicked together underwater. My wife has given me colorful jewelry stones that are polished and have smooth holes drilled in them. Rather than having a lead weight sliding up and own the line along with beads and "clackers", why not some of these stones which are colorful and whose weight will accomplish the same thing as the lead?

Retired to northern New Mexico, and introduced to fishing here basically for stocked trout in lakes, after two seasons of fishing with a 92 year old active outdoorsman, and mediocre results, I am switching to live bait, which I know works. When I was young and I  fished for panfish with my father in the Midwest. After attempting to use bass rings with artificial worms here, it was obvious trout aren't dumb! So, with 4 lb Vanish line, and hooks as small as a 1/2" I have created worm rigs which I believe will work on these trout. This was a major challenge requiring a magnifying glass, repurposing tools, etc.

While New Mexico is huge, its population is sparse, less than Minneapolis and Seattle, where I have lived. So, I believe with some extra effort, results here may be well worth the time invested. So, while I am way out of touch as to what modern tackle and techniques may consist of, I note when we were out fishing last Memorial day, we were on the lake at 6 am and the whole lake was full of campers and nobody else was up, so I feel these fish in our northern area might now be too sophisticated. 

I note the idea of a bent hook ring ( slo death) in introducing action to a worm rig for walleyes. Has anyone done anything like that for a trout rig? I have never before taken the time to create tackle, but if it can produce superior results, I am interested. I am recovering from shoulder surgery and this type of  exercise should not harm its recovery. I am not interested in creating tons of lures etc., only in creating fish producing tackle not commonly found, made from superior products.

Geneso

Thanks