Best Method to repair damaged Muskie plastics

I’m just curious what method everyone here uses to repair large Muskie plastics Like Bulldogs and Shadzilla’s. Doing research it looks like you can Melt with a soldering iron or torch, Glue with various Glue’s, or use something like PVC Cement. At around 25.00 each I don’t want to not at least try and repair them 1st. Some of the damage is rather minor and some is rather severe. We have a little downtime each evening during our Canada Trips that we can spend sitting back and having a few cold ones while making repair to the hot damaged lures from that days fishing. Primarily interested in what method works the best and effects the lures action the least.

The gel type super glue is what I’ve found works best and easiest.

munchy wrote:

The gel type super glue is what I’ve found works best and easiest.

I have not tried the gel type but hate working with normal superglue. I always seem to get that crap all over me and everything else around me when working with it. It also seems like whenever I go to work with it, its all dried up and hard. I may have to try some of the Gel type and see if its better to work with

A torch and butter knife have saves countless rubber baits for me. One particular mammoth curly sue had over a dozen 50” plus fish to its credit before finally being retired. At the end it was more melted plastic than bait.

Mend-It Softbait Glue for me.

I will second Mend-it. Far and away the best way to repair soft plastic. I’ve gone through more bulldawgs than most guys will ever buy and nothing works as well to repair them. No scorching of the plastic and it will remain flexible, super glue makes it hard.

timschmitz wrote:

A torch and butter knife

I have used this method many times and it has worked well for me.

I got a 1 Oz jar of Mend it on the way. That should fix a fair amount of baits. Probably use the torch and butter knife on some of the baits with BIG/Deep Damage and use the mend it on smaller damage. The shadzilla’s tend to get tore up the worst. The big pike seem to almost always T bone them from the side. On the bulldogs they seem to most often inhale them from the back. Not really sure why that is.

Melting the plastic on each side of the tear works ok. A blade on a soldering iron works well. Also as stated above mend-it is a glue designed for soft plastics.

The hot butter knife trick is my go to for this.

fishthumper, don’t ruin your bait by melting it. Wait for the mend-it to arrive and try it. It chemically welds the bait better than any other method. I promise you will be glad you did.

Muskybites wrote:

fishthumper, don’t ruin your bait by melting it. Wait for the mend-it to arrive and try it. It chemically welds the bait better than any other method. I promise you will be glad you did.

I was planning on holding off on repairs till I receive the Mend it. I’m just unsure of how far a 1oz bottle will go. I changed my order to 2 1oz bottles. Its mostly shadzillas that need the most repair. These are semi hollow body baits. Some of the damage will probably take a fair amount of Mend it to fix. We have LOTS of damaged bodies to fix and will surely have lots more after our upcoming 2 week trip to Canada. I really believe that Large pike do way more damage to these baits than Muskie’s do. Then again it may be because were are catching far more big pike in a day that we would if Muskie fishing.

Just thought I’d add a follow up on my review on the mend it product. I have to say my results were mixed. It seemed to do a good job on smaller rips and cuts. On bigger tears and cuts it was no good. It actually made it worse is some situations. When applied to larger damage it actually opened up the area even more on initial contact. Not sure how quick the cure process is intended to take, but after holding together for a minute or two it opened right back up. Adding a second application once again it seemed to open it up even more. It may work if you had a way to clamp the bait closed somehow and allowed to cure longer. Clamping a bait together does not seem to be a easy situation. Once again these are mostly shadzillas that have a hollow body. It may work much better on more solid bodies. I’ll bring it along on my trip and will try it some more. Mostly for fixing smaller damaged area. As for repairing larger damaged areas I think I’ll stick with the pipe cement that my buddy has always used. It doesn’t look the greatest when done but seems to work the best on large damaged areas

A minute or two cure period is not long enough for Mend It to do it’s job. It’s not superglue. Try to find a way to put pressure on the area just treated, then give it some time to sit and let the chemical bond occur. Ideally, this would be a full day, but when on a trip give it an hour or two at a minimum. Heat is quicker but the baits are never the same to me.

BrianF wrote:

A minute or two cure period is not long enough for Mend It to do it’s job. It’s not superglue. Try to find a way to put pressure on the area just treated, then give it some time to sit and let the chemical bond occur. Ideally, this would be a full day, but when on a trip give it an hour or two at a minimum. Heat is quicker but the baits are never the same to me.

I though the cure time for the mend it product was really fast. I don’t have a idea how you could keep pressure on a bait like these for a hour or two. It seemed to cure the smaller cuts really quick. I got 4 bottles so I’m sure I’ll give it a few more tries. Maybe while sitting the Cabin in the evening I’ll try and repair the daily damage and find a way to either clamp it of at least use some type of weight to hold it closed for a few Hours.

fishthumper wrote:

I though the cure time for the mend it product was really fast. I don’t have a idea how you could keep pressure on a bait like these for a hour or two.

Apply Mend-It. Then apply tape perpendicular to the cut to pull the cut closed until cured