jigmeister

Great Idea ! Thanks for sharing

One theory I have heard is to locate the kill spot above the belly hook hanger so if a fish target's the spot he will hit the bait around the belly hook . Makes sense .

Another option is to soak bare wooden lure bodies overnight in a mixture of 1 part linseed oil mixed with 9 parts mineral spirits . Take them out and hang to dry for a couple of days . You can then prime coat and paint any with any oil based paints . I had a problem with cedar swimbaits having the paint split from absorbing water while fishing until I tried this sealer . If you hit a rock and ding the paint the wood is still protected

Here is some Scroggins /Ditto Baits info Big Show’s Baits ~ Ditto Gator Tail Worm – Anglers Channel Big Show’s Baits – The Ditto Fire Craw – Anglers Channel

I would say if you' re planning on using those brush hog style baits with a Texas rig you could get some offset EWG hooks with the extended shank (VMC VANADIUM BASS EXTENDER EXTENDED SHANK EWG WORM HOOK or similar I believe Gamakatsu might also make one ) and tie a bigger barb on the hook by the eye to hold the skirt in place and possibly another barb behind the first one to hold the brush hog in place . If putting them on a jighead just do the same if it doesn't have adequate keepers for both . For the tail skirted Ned rig you could try making a barbed keeper an inch long out of a piece of a small thin paper clip to push thru the skirt into the tail of the TRD to hold the skirt in place . Making a round bend on one end of the wire and folding it over at 90 degrees and a barb at the opposite end would prevent the skirt from slipping off the wire when attached to the worm

That color from what I recollect was first sold by Cotton Cordell lures . They had the purple / brown like in your picture they called chameleon purple and they also had a chameleon green that was a shifting green brown color . In the early 70's I think a few different lure companies were selling these colors. As far as the Ditto worm style the only ones I remember were the Gator tail and they also made a craw style bait( Ditto Fire Craw in the early 80's ) I can remember flipping way back when . Larry Nixon won a lot of money using Gator tail worms in Bassmaster tournaments in the early 80's might know the name of the worm you have come across. Terry Scroggins has original Gator Tail and Fire Claw molds from what I read .

Interesting concept I am wondering if the less dense head would be unstable and possibly roll over on retrieve?

Kind of late but what I did was make a silicone mold from hard masters I created . At both ends of the cavity I cut slits with a razor knife for the rigged hook harness line to slip through to hold the hooks at the proper height in the mold before pouring . I rotate the hooks to one side of the mold to allow for pouring the plastic into the cavity without hitting the hooks . I made up a little fixture that sits on the tabletop beside the mold and holds a piece of brass rod horizontally slightly above the mold at hook level and after pouring I move the rod sideways against the hooks to center the hooks in the worm while the plastic cools . I heat the plastic in a pyrex cup before pouring . I fould some other dacron line made by "Gudebrod" called "meat master " that works but the flyreel backing seems to be much easier to find . Some historical context : The Deaver Fishfinder worm is said to be the inspiration for Jack Chansellor's "Do Nothing" worm " .

you could solder them together with a soldering iron as well

If it was me I'd be tempted to try some painted tungsten worm weights for spinner bodies

Badges ? We ain't got no badges ? We don't have to show you no stink'n badges!

Thanks for the article . If they (Deaver's )were produced into the 90's that would explain the two color hand pour in the Green weenie color . Attached pictures show 4" Deaver worm on left and Chancellors 4" Do nothing worm on right

It's worse than I originally thought . After seeing other longtime member members were only rated as "Newbies" I checked my status again and alas I am actually only a "Newbie" as well it seems . I only hope I haven't tarnished the lofty rating of "Rookie" by my false claims .

I am left humbled and speechless by this award .

Maybe there are some old timers on here that remember this worm made in Gastonia North Carolina and credited with being the first plastic worm fished "Carolina style " possibly as early as 1955 and were also the inspiration for Jack Chancellor's "Do Nothing worm" that won him a Bassmaster Classic title in the 80's . I came a cross an old 2 pack of these rigged 2 hook worms that say they came in Black , Blue , purple , green and green flake colors . I am curious how long these were produced because the ones I bought in the original package are two color pours green on the back and brown on the belly the are identical to a color that was very popular in the early to mid 80's on the west coast known as "Green Weenie" . Anyone know if these worms were still in production into the 1980's?

The squid type saltwater baits from what I have seen appear to be dipped on a shaped rod in a solution closer to "Tool Dip" for tool handles than plastisol

Fishing skirts .com gets their skirts from the same supplier in Vietnam per the supplier . I was on a waiting for a couple of colors for over a year before I received an email saying these colors were discontinued and NLA.

I posted on an old site that predated this one called "Luremaking.com " around 2001 as Megabass and most of those old guys mentioned were on there . If memory serves me correctly the luremaking.com site shut down after the Administrator lost interest and most if not all of those members came over to a new fledgling sight started up by a member who posted as " redg8r " . There is still a remnant from that original luremaking.com site that migrated here on Tackleunderground in the "Soft plastic cookbook " . There is a few color recipes I posted under Megabass around 2002 .

The top skirt tab supplier to the US market has it's production plant located in Vietnam. They make silicone skirts for Z Man and other big name lure manufacturers as well as skirt tabs for venders here in the states . They are overwhelmed by demand right now and running their production at 150% of designed capacity from what I was recently told . This has caused a shortage of skirt tabs and also the discontinuation of a lot of colors in favor of what colors/patterns their major clients want made. I was also told they were looking to expand their facilities in Vietnam to meet demand but Covid has put a damper on that for now .

Looks like some expensive precision equipment is required for making these thin .015 silicone strips . The heat curing is part of the process and then additional machinery would be needed for cutting and to slice the strands.

I recently received an email response to a question I submitted to the largest silicone skirt tab supplier in the US (and possibly the world ) inquiring about popular skirt tab colors that are no longer available today . The gist of it was that their production is overburdened and being unable to keep up with demand they scaled down the colors produced to about 300 used by their biggest customers . My original thought was to try to arrange a group purchase to meet a minimum lot size of tabs but even this was not an option . It seems like a golden opportunity for someone to start up a skirt tab production plant in the US to take up some of this business due to obvious "Supply and demand " issues. I'm sure the cost would be higher than what it cost to make a similar product in Vietnam but at least the US availability would be back . Maybe it comes down to environmental regulations ?

The first "Hard Head type worms were made by Bagley's in the 70's . Mann's came out with their hard head series years later . I believe both of these designs simply used a tougher plastic formulations for the head (such as saltwater plastic) and softer plastic for the body and tail . One type of plastic that is impervious to melting when exposed to plastic baits is plastic cable and wire ties (zip ties) if that will work for your project . Nylon tubing also

I bought a similar plastic made by Calhouns years ago . It looked like the stuff in the picture above . Soft spongy crystals . You have to heat it in a pan on a stove or hot plate , no re-melting left overs , Have to use powdered pigments no liquid plastic color , prone to stretchy strings coming off pan when stopping pour after cavity full . Oh and the stuff I bought was very expensive . People complained about all of the same experiences but I had to see for myself I guess . Maybe this new stuff will be better?