Fishhound Magazine 009 | Page 11

amazement as soft swim baits, hand-poured worms, Senkos and every conceivable soft plastic bait was miraculously repaired before their eyes at the Mend-it booth. $50 trout replica swim baits were cut in half with a knife and glued back together so perfectly you couldn’t tell where the repair had been made. Lures had the same action after the Mend-it repair that they had before they were literally cut in two. The repair was clear-as close to invisible as possible. The repair was soft-the same consistency as the original lure. Oily hand-poured baits didn’t faze the bond and neither did salt-infused baits like Senkos. The only downside to Mend-it was its cure time. Mend-it takes about 10 minutes to cure and for those using superglues, this seemed too long. The solution, thinking anglers figured out, was to use a duplicate lure while the repaired bait cured. One who did this famously won a B.A.S.S. Central Open using a bag of lizards his co-angler had given him the first of a three day tournament. He cycled his last three baits the final day, fishing with one as the other two, repaired with Mend-it, cured. He took home the winner’s trophy and cash and quipped: “I couldn’t believe it. Here I was in contention for a win going into the final day with only three baits! Mend-it saved the day and the tournament!” Some anglers set damaged lures aside and repair them after getting off the water. I keep mine in the pedal-well in my Triton’s front deck and gather them at the end of a day, glue them up so they’re ready for the next day on the water. Another quick soft plastic customization that I use is on the soft plastics with a tail. I simply clip off the tail of these baits, (lizards, worms, and even a Senko) and use a Mesu Baits Dingle Berry. It is a small Colorado blade and gives off a ton of action, whether your are swimming, jigging, or hopping it off the bottom. This article was brought you by To see this and other incredible articles like this go to www.bassinonline.com FHM Fishhound Mag | Page 10