Recently I've been thinking of a way to save $$$ on plastics. I got tired of having them slide down after awhile and rigging them 8 ways then biting off the head the another and rigging another 8 ways so I spent some time pondering. I recently found a cheaper alternative to the Gamakatsu/Roboworm RE-barb hooks so I thought I'd share it.
Materials
1. lighter
2. heat shrink tubing (I had the best success with 3/32" tubing but this will vary based on hook shank width I used a 1 and 1/0 hook for this)
3. thin scissors
4. small bowl of water
5. a hardening adhesive (5min epoxy/super glue)
6. HOOKS! :lol: (I used an owner wide gap worm hook)
1. First take a piece of heat shrink tubing then put it next to the front bend of the worm hook. I'll cut the piece of tubing double the length of the portion on the hook from the eye to where the hook curves down.
2. Next this seems confusing but is a lot easier than it seems. Cut the barrel of the tube in half about half of the length of the tube. The picture should explain it better.
3. Next slide the halved portion of the tube on the hook first.
4. Slide the tube all the way to where the bend of the worm hooks starts near the eyelet.
5. Now grabbing the halved portion, pull it gently up the shank.
6. Now advance the tube slightly closer to the eyelet. It should look something like this.
7. Next take your lighter and carefully shrink the tubing around the shank of the hook, being careful to heat the halved portion as little as possible. Once done dip the shrunken tubing in the bowl of water.
8. Now with your tubing shrunk around the shank, it is time to make the spike of the hook. First "heat" the halved portion. Next simply dip your index finger and thumb in the bowl of water. Then quickly squeeze the halved portion together as symmetrically as possible, holding your fingers together for a few seconds. The halved portion should lightly melt together and look like this. After squeezing, dip the tubing in the bowl of water to harden.
9. Now trim the joined portion into a spike, tiny lumps are okay as they will be covered by adhesive. The spike may vary to your preference, determined by your hook choice, the lure's width, etc.
10. Finally coat the tubing's edges and most importantly the spike with a hardening adhesive to keep a strong hold and critically harden the spike to lodge it in the bait.
Once you get the hang of it it's really to turn out a lot of hooks. Surprisingly, as I fished these hooks, they didn't rip through the plastic. They actually held a really strong grip and were very durable.
Maybe even for bait stealers on a big 6/0 hook...
Hope this saves some time and money! -Nicky
