I'm not saying that I have the next big idea in lures. I'm not saying I don't. But am I the only one that feels the need to "tweak" a lure or set up to seem right to me? You know, like add a pinch weight to the nose of a swim minnow. Or customize a worm rig. I've tried the textbook way of using many lures over my 4 years of fishing and I must say that sometimes a little ingenuity goes a long way.

Well one things for sure..theres no "standard" in fishing. If you tweak a bait, and it fools fish, there's not a thing wrong with that.

Well one things for sure..theres no "standard" in fishing. If you tweak a bait, and it fools fish, there's not a thing wrong with that.

Exactly!

Been "tweaking" with jigheads for more than two decades, now they call them "shakey" jigheads.

Yep. One day we could all be famous. :-)

And rich. ;-)

Tweak it at ya want.  Just don't "twerk" it! 

Twerk it baby! LOL

I won't say I tweek lures, but I do make some of my own.  I have experimented with different styles and materials.  I do not feel my strike ratio is any different but I have designs that are more durable now.

I call this fine tuning a presentation and sometimes it makes the difference we're looking for.

If I'm awake, I'm probably thinking about how I can modify some kind of bait to be a little different and catch more fish. 

Whatever needs to happen to catch fish, and that includes mutilating lures... 

Whatever needs to happen to catch fish, and that includes mutilating lures... 

 

Yup, something like this:

 

 

Oh boy, it catches fish when nothing else does.

I 'tweak' flies in very small ways, and in low clear water, the trout actually seem to bite more on some modified flies.

I load floating jerkbaits with silicone to make them more buoyant, add silicone to my line, to soft baits, add water to Red Fins for Windy days so they won't roll, cast easy, and have that dead action i want....I modify everything....I always think about what worked for me as a kid growing up fishing for Stripers in saltwater, walleye, salmon, Trout, and Musky/Pike....I apply alot of what I learned fishing for other gamefish to bass Fishing and adding Flash to soft baits is something I have been doing forever, way before the MJ rig, although I would just hang a willow blade now called an underspin to an ewg hook, or add a prop in front of a senko to fish it as a topwater, bend it into a U shape like the OSP bent minnow and fish it on top....

 

If you like to modify baits, get some D.O.A. chug Heads which you slide over any soft bait and it has eyes, a rutter to make it glide in the water, and you can bring your soft bait up as a popper any time you want...One of the best inventions ever, not sure why freshwater guys are not aware of these...i fish a swim senko  or any cigar shaped bait, 6" grub, 10 ribbon tail, swimbait, you would be amazed how well it works some days...most of us cast a worm near cover, let it sink, shake, shake and lift, and then reel it in for another cast...Now you can do the same, only chug it back to the boat.....you may find that a topwater bite is on, or maybe an aggressive bunch of fish suspending as you reel fast to get it to the surface....some days it has really paid off when I would have never figured the fish would want a fast moving bait on the surface, or 1' below moving quickly.

 

Then you can switch to a better lure or larger lure to pick of bigger fish, many times I end up throwing the big chug bug or chuggin spook on a day I would never think to throw it, and all because I had that little accessory on my presentation.