I know most of the muskie world uses and considers the bulldawg a great, versatile muskie bait. I have had good success with the bulldawg in my very limited experience with muskie addiction, however, it seems to me that for every fish strike or catch my bulldawg needs repair. Is this normal and is there any advice from those more experienced on "bulldawg repair techniques". I tried melting/super glueing some of the tears and it seems to be working alright and I will attempt to take a tail off of one bad dawg to mold into a good dawg with no tail and see how it works. In my book (not my wife's!) a muskie caught and released is worth the price of a $20-30 lure but was curious what others have experienced and done. Also, for those of you that have used the Super D's, is the rubber less, more, or equal to the quality of the bulldawgs. Thanks for any responses.
I haven't personally used it yet, but am thinking about buying some soft plastic repair from Rollie & Helen's. It says it's supposed to dry clear and feel just like the original rubber. I don't think it bonds, tho. It just filles holes and tears. My Shallow Invaders have seen a lot of action this past spring and early summer, so I was thinking of trying some. I think it's $10 for a few ounces. If you get some first, let me know how it works! [smilie=2thumbsup.gif]
On the sage advice of kmur, I've had some success repairing tears with a butane lighter! I use the long-necked one I have for my gas grill. The plastic melts easily, and holding the melty edges together for a few secs makes a pretty good repair in many cases. It can't always be used though, depending on the particulars of the damage.
Melting it works pretty well but I like the hawg seekers glue for repairs in the boat. The new Super D's are pretty good quality and ive started buying those over bulldawgs. The rubber on the super d's is still going to get messed up but its easier to justify buying them when they are only 11 bucks. If you buy the Super d's make sure to put better hooks and split rings on them as the ones that come with the bait arent good at all. Dont know if this helps but heres a little video for melting baits back together:
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It sure seems like I remember a nifty little repair tool from my bass days (maybe 15 years ago?) It was a battery-powered rubber worm welder – had a heating element that got hot enough to melt the plastic, but didn't make it catch fire the way that lighters tend to. In my head I can picture some bass pro, like Rick Clunn or Chad Sandy, spot-welding a second tail on a grub. It was so cool it made me wet my pants. I try to do something similar by heating up a small screwdriver, but it's a pain to go between the lure and the torch so often. Haven't tried hawg seekers glue, will have to give that a shot. Methylene chloride also dissolves the rubber nicely before evaporating, making nice seams…but that's pretty nasty stuff (and if you don't want to buy any, it's in pvc cement.)
Ah… the love hate of soft plastics. I've got some that lost a tail without catching a fish and others that have caught more than 10 fish.
The Super D is a decent bait and a much cheaper option but the action is not the same as a Bulldawg. I'm not saying that is good or bad, it's just different. The same can be said for the Curly Sue , nice bait but not the same as a Dawg.
Unless part of the tail is coming off or the harness is pulling out you don't need to fix every cut. Only when the head of the bait is pulling out do my Dawgs get superglue. BTW – all the "special" glues out there are just superglue. You can get superglue kicker at a hobby store if you want. Water also makes superglue cure faster, just repair the area and dip the bait in the water and wipe off the excess with a towell. For tails and body parts nothing beats welding with a lighter/torch but you need to heat gently so you don't catch the plastic, or yourself (speaking from experience), on fire!
"hemichemi" said:
Ummm… has anyone tried a soldering iron?
That would probably work – here's a battery powered iron for under $20!
I wonder if that end could be hammered flat without ruining the tool?
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Poifect! I'm sure you can buy flat tips for it…
Or for this $22 butane-powered one:
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I tried an old electric soldering iron on my bulldawgs and other soft baits and it worked great! The iron got the plastic to the softening point almost instantly, and melted it to liquid in just a second or so. I used it quickly so I didn't melt big holes in the baits, and was able to easily splice a tail which had come off and fix all kinds of splits and gashes. The best part is that you can get the tip down inside and repair deep gashes fully, not just the surface like I was able to do with only a butane lighter.
Recommended! [smilie=2thumbsup.gif]
I just ordered some Super D's and bought this glue from them. It worked well and has an accelerator so you can keep fishing. I called the guy from Hawg Seekers and he said they key is to making sure the surface is clean and you wipe off any oily residue. I used it on (2) bulldawgs and so far so good.
EDIT:I added the link:
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"hemichemi" said:
"Re-catalyzes the plastic" and "Not a glue", whatever that means. Sounds like a solvent, like the methylene chloride Pete spoke about before.Maybe a bottle of fingernail polish remover (acetone or ethyl acetate) would work just as well. Hmmm… I'll snatch some of my daughter's and try it out…
I heard that it can get thick and can be thinned with MEK. C'mon chemists… would that make it methylene chloride?
"Will Schultz" said:
I heard that it can get thick and can be thinned with MEK. C'mon chemists… would that make it methylene chloride?
MEK = methyl ethyl ketone
Pete's methylene chloride is a very low-viscosity ("thin") liquid, so I doubt that's what's in this stuff. I don't recommend anyone using methylene chloride (dichloromethane) willy-nilly, BTW. I believe it's potentially carcinogenic (causes cancer).
MEK is a good solvent for many things. I still haven't a clue what's in this new stuff.
Wikipedia indicates most soft plastic lures use silicone plastics (<url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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) I confess ignorance as to what solvents/substances might dissolve/soften this stuff.
"hemichemi" said:
[quote="Will Schultz"]
I confess ignorance as to what solvents/substances might dissolve/soften this stuff.
Plastisol is made with PVC so I'm thinking MEK would work to dissolve the plastic BUT… I'm not sure if it would harden back to where it started… OR maybe it would harden the plastisol after application and would simply crack.
MEK and methylene chloride are both nasty and should be used outdoors and/or with a respirator.
"Will Schultz" said:
Plastisol is made with PVC so I'm thinking MEK would work to dissolve the plastic BUT… I'm not sure if it would harden back to where it started… OR maybe it would harden the plastisol after application and would simply crack.
MEK and methylene chloride are both nasty and should be used outdoors and/or with a respirator.
If it's <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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I'm liking the idea of a portable soldering iron more and more.
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