Put Some Weight on Your Lures
You may only be able to bring a limited number of crankbaits, jerkbaits or swimbaits on your next long-distance trip, but if they don’t cast well into the wind or don’t dive to the necessary depth, you might as well have none at all.
With soft plastics, you can simply add a heavier or lighter bullet weight, dropshot weight or nail weight to achieve the desired rate of fall. With a jig, not only can you go heavier or lighter, but you can also alter your trailer to change things up. With hard baits, it’s not quite that easy. You need to maintain the profile and the desired wobble, as well as balance, if you’re going to get bit. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to change things up.
One option is to increase or decrease your line diameter, but that may be less-than-optimal. You chose a given line for its strength and abrasion resistance. There are also some DIY options, like lead golfer’s tape or soldering wire. If those seem to confusing, you might try drilling holes and filling them with molten lead – but I can tell you that more baits are ruined than improved that way. I strongly suggest that you instead consider some of the products made especially for this purpose.
And if your bait runs too deep and changing line size or rod angle is not an option, Zappu also makes “Floating Board,” precut, sticky foam attachments that will adhere to your lures.
