15 minutes ago, Dogface said:

I have a small collection of balsa Rapalas with broken bills. Someday I'll pick up some circuit board or another material and try to repair them. 

If you get some clear PVC cement, which is actually just a strong solvent, you can repair those cracked bills.  The hard part is getting the cement in between the cracks in the bill.  But if you can fill the crack with the cement, let it dissolve for a minute, add another round of cement to let it dissolve further, than place the broken pieces together and hold them in place for a few minutes, they'll melt and rejoin to be as strong as new.  You're basically chemically welding the two plastic parts together.  

 

The downside is they'll likely be kind of cloudy, and you may wind up altering the shape or size of the bill.  So it's possible they won't run true anymore, depending on how well you did the job.  But I've done it to a few Rapala and other brands of crankbaits over the years and have had a pretty high probability of success.    Probably around 75%, which isn't bad considering it saved a broken lure using stuff I already had on me.  

I've broken a bunch of DT 6's and 7's

However, mine break because of the balsa

So I reel in the whole lip and just a part of the wood bait.

 

This is just the price of using balsa and grinding it on the bottom all the time.

I dont have the same problem with the 10's or 16's though

 

 

1 hour ago, Dogface said:

 

Hang around with me and I'll show you how it's done. 

 

I have a small collection of balsa Rapalas with broken bills. Someday I'll pick up some circuit board or another material and try to repair them. 

They do make nice keychains

1 hour ago, Dogface said:

 

Hang around with me and I'll show you how it's done. 

 

I have a small collection of balsa Rapalas with broken bills. Someday I'll pick up some circuit board or another material and try to repair them.