Tricks to extending the life of plastics?

Post by **Canmoore** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:12 pm

Hello, I am having a bit of trouble. I love to use imitation leach plastics, I recently got hooked on the Gulp 5' leaches.

the problem I am having however, is that the leaches are very thin, and a fish can easily throw it off the hook, or tear it in half on my hook. Or worse, the nose is torn and shreaded to the point, that a hook will no longer properly stay in place.

I am thinking that dousing the head of the leach with water-proof super glue, will keep them on my hook. These plastics are not cheap, and I hate how delicate they are.

Yet at the same time, they are so effective, that I do not want to to stop using them.

Your tips would be appreciated. And do not stop at leaches, any tips on extending the life of your plastics would be appreciated.

On a humerous note, while fishing for pike/walleye, I caught a small OOS bass, that flew my leach off my hook while head shaking. Then when I tried to find my lost leach, I saw a bunch of perch and rock bass trying to eat the leach!!

Post by **Joey Rat** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:00 am

There are glues that you can buy that actually react with the plastic and fuse it together. I think Ed at Paddletales may carry it but I don't recall the name.

Post by **DropShotr** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:25 am

I believe this is the product Ed sells @ Paddletales http://www.menditglue.com/

This is a plastic specific glue and will not glue anything other than plastic. I would check to see if it works with Gulp products, as Berkley is getting away from traditional plastics.

Good luck,
DropShot'r

Post by **beachburger** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:57 am

How many fish are you expecting to catch off of a single Gulp leech?

The thinness and texture is one of the reasons the Gulp leeches work so well. Some of the best plastics are often trashed after 1 fish and won't hold up for more than 3 or 4 fish. The Yamamoto and WaveWorm senkos are a prime example.

Post by **DropShotr** » Wed May 20, 2009 8:56 am

beachburger wrote:How many fish are you expecting to catch off of a single Gulp leech?

The thinness and texture is one of the reasons the Gulp leeches work so well. Some of the best plastics are often trashed after 1 fish and won't hold up for more than 3 or 4 fish. The Yamamoto and WaveWorm senkos are a prime example.

Honestly, I find rigging my senkos with an "O" ring really adds a lot more life to the baits.

DropShot'r

Post by **beachburger** » Wed May 20, 2009 9:24 am

I use O rings as well for wacky rigging. There is no doubt that this lets a senko live a longer and productive life than skewering the senko with the hook. I tend to use a tighter O ring to prevent the perch from swiping the senko but the tighter O ring will also cause the senko to tear through in the middle after a while. If it's not one thing it's something else.....

A texas-rigged Yamamoto or WaveWorm usually doesn't last many fish (or missed hooksets). Brands such as Yum and Phenix are more durable but have I think they have less action.

Perhaps a small O ring around the head of a Gulp leech to bind it to the hook shank of a jig? Might be worth a try.....

Post by **Canmoore** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:26 pm

beachburger wrote:How many fish are you expecting to catch off of a single Gulp leech?

The thinness and texture is one of the reasons the Gulp leeches work so well. Some of the best plastics are often trashed after 1 fish and won't hold up for more than 3 or 4 fish. The Yamamoto and WaveWorm senkos are a prime example.

So basically it is a tournament lure, the guys can afford to throw away the lures after every fish.

Post by **beachburger** » Wed May 20, 2009 8:26 pm

So basically it is a tournament lure, the guys can afford to throw away the lures after every fish.

Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion but affordability and "bang for the buck" certainly play a role for most of us when it comes to deciding which baits to buy. I was (and still am) simply wondering what your expectations were.

I would be curious to know how you make out with the superglue on the head of the leech (I use Zap-A-Gap when tying foam flies). At first glance it sounds like it would solve the problem where a perfectly good leech simply flies off when you hook into a leaper.

Post by **Mr. T.** » Wed May 20, 2009 8:40 pm

When the superglue dries up, wouldn't it make the plastic hard and maybe brittle? Then you wouldn't be able to put the hook in.

Post by **Canmoore** » Wed May 20, 2009 9:15 pm

beachburger wrote:
So basically it is a tournament lure, the guys can afford to throw away the lures after every fish.
Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion but affordability and "bang for the buck" certainly play a role for most of us when it comes to deciding which baits to buy. I was (and still am) simply wondering what your expectations were.

I would be curious to know how you make out with the superglue on the head of the leech (I use Zap-A-Gap when tying foam flies). At first glance it sounds like it would solve the problem where a perfectly good leech simply flies off when you hook into a leaper.

Well when i first bought them i had no clue that they would be so fragile. I use regular plastics alot, like grubs and minnows. I use jig heads with them, and they have long life to them. I am going to try the stuff already mentioned in this thread.

As for my conclusion. A professional tournament fisherman can afford to buy copious amounts of these lures, and if a fish flings it off the hook, it does not matter. Because a landed fish means a paycheck at the end of the day, even if you loose a lure to land it.

As for me, I am not getting paid to fish, so there is no benefit when i loose a lure per fish landed.