Thread: Haven't got a mold for a thin straight tail grub? try making one with no mold

why not just get a 2.5" mo magic mold or something?

Have the Mo Magic mold and though the lure design works, there are design differences that don't work as well for me in colder water or when fish are turned off. Just an opinion not based on another angler using another design along side mine, though in in fact in warm water both have worked equally well for a friend of mine.

1. As seen from above, my design is uniformly thin front to back and closer to a minnow in shape and action of any soft plastic. (Mann company produces one, but it's not the same). Besides, I sometimes prefer a shorter tail to body ratio or one sometimes equal. My body thickness preference is as thin as the hook will take. The ribbed bodied grub you show is more to my liking and I have used it with success. I sometimes also like making a wider body top to bottom - kind of like a small sun fish shape. Who knows what the lateral line detects in cloudy water?

2. Lure making isn't for everyone and for those not wishing to invest in an injector or different molds sizes, the method shared allows one to whip up a few lures in no time in different shapes, sizes and colors with little invested.

3. I haven't found a mold maker that would make a specialty mold for less than $500 each. I make my lure in 1" (for ice), 2", 2 1/4", 2 1/2", 2 3/4" and 3" sizes.

4.Color variety is to my liking and not the limited selection from companies that sell them. I have never seen the colors I use sold anywhere.

No one sells the lures locally from the molds you show and though both designs are sold on EBAY, each is sold at prices even I wouldn't charge, not including S/H. A gallon of plastic will last years and plastic lures can be remelted.

This assumes that one lure in one color and size won't always work. Most of the time it will, but I'm a bit superstitious and like to rotate through the above lure variables, which is why I carry quite a few. Most times one box of a dozen is enough (never the big one pictured of course).

If you bass fish, there is no better drop shot worm design. Curl tail worms and grubs have lost their appeal and I do far better with thin straight tails quivering in place - especially under a float.

Design (dimensions) and color versatility is what attracts me to making my own and what an angler uses is at times as important to him or her as where and how they use it.

Thanks for the report! It is truly a design for all scenarios and fish species.
I have never sold any and wouldn't know what to charge. I would sell some to anglers that really like them, but mass production using the above process is very time consuming; colors, except basic solid colors or clear with flake, might not be uniform batch after batch. I get a big charge when anglers are blown away by this lure, the same as myself.

Now, there are thin straight tail grubs and prong tail grubs - none exactly like mine and in my experience none as successful. Yesterday I used a Bobby Garland Shad - a prong tail grub - for twenty minutes, anchored in 10'. One perch. Cast the above design and caught 2- 3 fish per area cast that held fish and of different species - strikes on bottom easily detected! Water temp 46.
Note: I don't usually catch that many perch (over two dozen) even in warm water!