Repairing Plastic Frogs/Softbaits

[mattaw]

Hey guys,

 

I have a question which hopefully some of you have experience with. I fish a ton up in the Haliburton County area, and love throwing topwater frogs. Occasionally a pike decides to chomp down on my nice LiveTarget frogs and Spro frogs, which is a ton of fun BUT they rip/cut the bait a bit with the teeth. They still work but take on water and don't have the same action.

 

What is the best way you have found to repair these frogs. I have tried a soldering gun with little success and am worried that potentially using a super glue will leave a negative scent on the bait.

 

Any experience and advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Edited September 18, 2013 by mattaw

[BillM]

I really wouldn't be worried about superglue leaving a scent on the bait.. I'd use something like Gorilla glue.

[lew]

What about just using a lighter and melting both sides of the tear and sticking them back together, that way no glue is used.

 

I've done that with big Bulldawgs and it works.

[musky_hunter]

Superglue

[mattaw]

Appreciate the feedback guys, will try both what Lew suggested and the gorilla glue. My thought on the lighter is it would be similar to the soldering iron though....

[aplumma]

The true Target baits can be sewed with braid. I first wrap the nose before the bait is used to keep the hook from enlarging the bottom hole and tearing the body. When the body gets beat up I put arrow fletching glue inside of the body thru the hook hole and sew an X in front of the hook. The bait is back in business. So far Bass have had no issues with the glue.

 

 

Art

[manitoubass2]

Dr frog! Love it art! That's awesome

[aplumma]

I had one that had been stitched up so many times we named him frankinfrog. The baits are awesome for bass and the snakeheads really like them.

 

 

Art

[Dave Bailey]

Krazy glue, superglue, whatever one wants to call it, should work fine. Just make sure the pieces are very dry before applying, cyanoacrylate glues are accelerated by water so it'll set too fast and foam up if they're wet, might set too fast to bond.

[John Bacon]

Many pros recommend using Krazy Glue to attached plastics to jig heads. This helps the plastic last longer. The scent does not seem to cause an issue; so I don't think it should be a problem for frogs either.

[e-z-out]

I've used mend it on all my plastic and have never had a problem.