INDIANANGLER

Hi

any advice/experience on removing/shortening the bib on a DD lure would be welcome.

In counties where tackle shops are abundant one can simply buy the desired lure. here we have to experiment. This is because of the paucity of readily available lures of the desired length and weight.

Pandim

A good file and a bit of patience is what i recommend. Or if you want it to act like a top water lure simply switch the ends around. that is take the last hook off and move it to the front.

I hate to say this but bib modification isn't very often successful unless you're trying to deliberatly turn shallow running minows into lipless surface baits.
A good range of lures can be had in India but as you say, there isn't exactly a tackle shop in every neighborhood. Better to look for reliable sources of what you need rather than destroying perfectly good lures and throwing money away.

I beg to differ on bib modification ... I too had the same problem with having lures with large deep diving lips brought in by well wishing friends and uncles . Those days we used to do a lot of rock fishing whre the deep diving lure got snagged when it came closer to the shore ....its simple physics ... if your have a DD lure and you want to make it into medium shallow runner , take a fine drill bit and drill "symmetrical " holes in the plastic / metal lip . what this does is that it reduces the drag on the lip as the water then moves through the holes thereby reducing the depth that the lure then travels . I gurantee that this works .. The key is to drill symmetrical holes in the lip ... Assymetrical holes would then make the lure veer of to one of the sides ...... Happy fishing :)

However i must add that once i had screwed up on the symmetrical hole bit BUT the lure action changed so much that it used to dart from side to side and change depths suddenly depending on the current or the speed of teh retrieve .. Infact I had mastered the lure retrieve speed that i could make it either dart from side to side or change the depth with the current and wave action . It was a Rebel deepdiver and the action was so like an injured bait fish that it was the first one i would clip on and cast out at outer rock at Bandra ... total number of fish caught on that lure 13 Barra , 2 grouper ,,, and one trevally ... till I lost it to a large grouper at outer rock

Drill them eh! I have to try this.

Symmetrically mate : stay of the weed when you decide to drill them .... dont want your lure darting from side to side ... that would be a pity LOL

Very interesting, looks like I will be trying this over the weekend. now to find a drill & some drill bits

Thanks Fred

will experiment with the symmetrical holes and see what i end up with.

I want to convert DD into shallow runners.

will update after I try out the modified lures.

Cheers
Pandim

I kind of agree with Ken, most of the time lip modifications tend to screw up the lure. I have not tried Fred's technique though so I cannot comment, however having fished at Lands end for years with Fred several pounds ago, under the same trying conditions, deprived of tackle I will say this…necessity of the mother of invention. Go drill them holes, seems like the deep diver is of no use to you anyway, so if you screw up the lure you do not loose much, but if it works for you….

Bobby is bang on. The lure is of no real use to you. Experiment with it, drill holes or file the lip down. Who knows what might happen. You could end up with something irresistible.