How do you fish those in the pads without getting hung up?
I only fish the edges or open lanes.

How do you melt the plastic?
So that the cut will be smooth and straight, I use a box cutter blade or the razor used to scrape surfaces to cut the parts off other lures.
1. Light a candle.
2. Hold one end over the flame 2 seconds - no more! and then the other right after.
3. With a steady hand I line up the ends making sure the lure will be straight and then hold the two ends together for 3 seconds. The bond is strong but I still smooth the seam with a soldering iron (battery powered).

The lures I've shown are easily reproduced by anyone - especially if you have the parts from stored lures. But some parts come from molds I've bought as well as the liquid plastic to heat in the microwave. This one is from an injection mold which also caught fish yesterday:


Note: Only two jig wts. were used: 1/24 and 1/16 oz. Casting distance was over 35' and accurate.