I'll share a few of my top secret modifications

 

1) Instead of using a rattle on my jigs, I go to the craft store and buy small metal jingle bells.  They will slide right on the hook, and I'll hold it in place with a piece of Berkley Power Worm.  Now I've added a different sound then everyone else is doing, and I've added a small amount of scent/taste (Powder Worm) on the hook.

 

2) When I make my own jigs, and powder coat them, after dipping them in the fluid bed and they are starting to cool down, I'll push my thumb into the back of the jighead.  This imprints my fingerprint on the back of the jighead, giving the head a textured finish, that I believe gives off more or a different vibration then a normal jig.  It's possible this is just a confidence thing, but I believe it works better.

 

3) When I buy a brand new crankbait, I'm not a fan of the bright colors, so I leave it in a window for a few weeks, so dull the colors.  When it's "done" it looks more natural.

 

4) If I'm fishing heavy cover with a square bill crankbait, I'll clip off the front facing hook on the treble on the front and back.  This keeps the bait from getting snagged, but still catches fish.

Here's one of the jigs I make

A few more

Didn't take the first time for some reason

i normally make sure my rivet on my buzzbait is completely flat maybe file them if they are painted

 

upgrade hooks on certain cranks

 

i also have a couple square bills that no longer have bills this one wasn't really by choice but i hit the inside of my boat while casting and it kind of shattered.

I will sign my name on crank baits, jerk baits, top water baits just about any reaction baits with a sharpie various colors. 

 

This kind of breaks up the appearance and gives it a different look, Good when fishing stained to muddy water!

We would cut pieces of nails and push them into the ends of shorter senkos for more wacky rig action.

A guy named Crankenstein years ago on another site kept a bass aquarium and fed them threadfin shad.  He noted that dying shad began to sink backwards and they were the first baitfish the bass would attack - an easy meal.  His mod (The Deadfall Rogue) was to take a suspending Smithwick Pro Rogue and apply suspendots (or any lead adhesive tape) behind the 2nd treble until the bait sank slowly backward.  Deadstick the bait in front of a bass and it's game on.  I've done this through the years with several Rogues and it works great.  Bass are very susceptible to this presentation in the fall when shad are stunned by a cold snap, but it really works year round.  I liked it enough that I stripped the finish on a couple of Rogues, applied the lead tape, then refinished the baits in a shad pattern so the mod is invisible.

Don't think this has been mentioned: swap out the back hooks on a popper to make it float differently and have a different popping action.

Other than basic changing hooks , blades ... I cant recall ever making modifications that improved the bait . I tried shaving the bottom of a pop r mouth but it didnt improve it any ,I trimmed a bunch of weed guards on jigs exactly like some "Pro" recommended and wound up with a bunch of jigs that were no longer snag resistant .