9 hours ago, RRocket said:

I'd like a more thorough post on this, please. It's not entirely clear what you're doing. But the ability to increase the life of soft JDM plastics? I'm all ears.

You use a twist lock hook and open up the part of the twist lock that the hook eye clips into the lock.  When a fish is hooked the bait bends as it slides down the hook and this causes the twist lock to unclip from the hook eye and allows the bait to slide up the hook and line.  This allows the twist lock to stay screwed in the bait instead of being ripped out of the bait when the twist lock stays clipped to the hook eye.  You basically want the twist lock keeper to unclip from the hook instead of ripping out of the bait.  The latter destroys the bait obviously.

 

Look at the pic of a stock twist lock below and go look at the pic of the Gilly I posted earlier.  You bend and open up the gap on the twist lock where it clips onto the hook.  This makes it east for the bait to unclip from the hook.  Unclipping from the hook and sliding up the line when you hook a fish allows the baits to last a long time since you never damage the nose of the bait.

 

On 5/29/2025 at 9:37 PM, wolfe_ohara said:

(wooden stick thingy) to apply it

Do you dip the stick into the mend it jar?

On 5/30/2025 at 5:46 AM, RRocket said:

soldering iron

Why not solder the whole tear?

On 5/30/2025 at 6:29 AM, VTFan said:

lighter to broken or ripped plastics and just meld them back together

How do they hold up after this?

1 hour ago, KP Duty said:

I heard mend-it is PVC glue.  It is popular to rebrand stuff and mark it up for fishermen.  Kinda like Reel Magic= silicone spray and KVD line/lure is water based protectant (automotive quick detailer).

Don't we have a couple chemical engineers on here? Can anybody confirm if I can just buy the big can of the off label stuff without the big name/niche market mark up? 

23 minutes ago, Banned User said:

Don't we have a couple chemical engineers on here? Can anybody confirm if I can just buy the big can of the off label stuff without the big name/niche market mark up? 

Just try it and let us know.  I've been using the auto detail  spray on my line for 20+ years, so I can confirm it works.  

4 hours ago, KP Duty said:

auto detail  spray on my line

What brand and how are you applying it?

19 hours ago, Banned User said:

Do you dip the stick into the mend it jar?

Why not solder the whole tear?

How do they hold up after this?

Melding two pieces of worm back together works just fine. I've actually had them break somewhere else other than the melded seam. Melding the head of the plastic where the hook eye tears it can be tricky with a lighter though.

 

Most of the time I will heat up a small pocket knife blade and melt the plastic back together again.  If the bait is just too far gone, I'll use it for a trailer.

I thought I had a can of pvc glue in the garage. I was gonna try. But I’m not buying a can just to try it lol

On 5/30/2025 at 12:33 PM, Tackleholic said:

This post is great timing for me.  Yesterday I received my first two bottles of Mend-It.  Two friends of mine claim that Super Glue works just as well;  do any of you have experience with that?

Not the same. Super glue dries rock hard, so it's hard to get a hook through. Mend-It is more pliable....soft material like the soft plastic. 

@Banned User  sometimes yes, it depends on the moment. i keep a bunch of them with my rats to pin tails, so after i use the stick i can grab a clean one without issue. once the used glue dries you can peel it off the stick or if using a cuticle pusher you can shave the used end. i use the pusher when i need to repair larger tears and the tooth pick for fine work

18 hours ago, Banned User said:

What brand and how are you applying it?

I picked up like a dozen bottles of the Turtle Wax on sale for $1 15yrs ago and it works great, but they don't make it anymore .  Picked up a few bottles of the new Meguisrs ceramic infused detail sprsy and it is great, but $20 retail (I paid $5 @walmart on clearance).  If you were to pour them in a glass, they are all alike- a semi opaque cloudy liquid that is thin and slippery.  I use these water based protectants on all sorts of things, including my rod, reel, and line after I fish.  These sprays were made for motorcycles and cars in-between waxes.  They don't offer the level of protection a straight wax or synthetic wax will, and I think they aid in line management before your line absorbs water.

 

I don’t know if it’s still true because I don’t reuse or repair plastics but superglue and mend it never used to work on Yamamoto baits due to their formula.

On 5/31/2025 at 11:27 AM, Bigbox99 said:

You use a twist lock hook and open up the part of the twist lock that the hook eye clips into the lock.  When a fish is hooked the bait bends as it slides down the hook and this causes the twist lock to unclip from the hook eye and allows the bait to slide up the hook and line.  This allows the twist lock to stay screwed in the bait instead of being ripped out of the bait when the twist lock stays clipped to the hook eye.  You basically want the twist lock keeper to unclip from the hook instead of ripping out of the bait.  The latter destroys the bait obviously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

 

The confusion for me was that I've never used anything but actual Owner Twistlock Pins. And they do not have an opening at the top. It's at the bottom. See image.

 

So thats why I couldn't picture how the pin was opened.

 

I suppose I could snip and bend the top to achieve what you describe.

 

 

On 5/31/2025 at 11:38 AM, Banned User said:

On 5/31/2025 at 11:38 AM, Banned User said:

 

Why not solder the whole tear?

 

 

I use some thick baits and it's tricky to get a consistent "weld" deep into the plastic. Whereas the Mend It on a brush or stick easily gets into those deep areas with good welding.

 

Perhaps someone with a more deft hand than I would have better success.

On 6/1/2025 at 10:35 PM, RRocket said:

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

 

The confusion for me was that I've never used anything but actual Owner Twistlock Pins. And they do not have an opening at the top. It's at the bottom. See image.

 

So thats why I couldn't picture how the pin was opened.

 

I suppose I could snip and bend the top to achieve what you describe.

 

 

I use some thick baits and it's tricky to get a consistent "weld" deep into the plastic. Whereas the Mend It on a brush or stick easily gets into those deep areas with good welding.

 

Perhaps someone with a more deft hand than I would have better success.

Yeah you can't do that with the owners hooks.  You can just cut them off and buy a bag of the twist locks like the Gamakatsu hooks use from Gamakatsu, VMC or BPS brands.  Others have them as well.  I have a pack of soft copper ones I have been using on my baits the past few years.  They seem to do the same job so I get whatever I run across when I need them.

Couple things. Have been using mend it for years and it truly is an amazing product.
I'll save ripped plastics and repair them over the winter while watching movies. 

Works on 99% of the plastics I have tried, including Yamamoto baits. Big swimbaits, small finesse worms, it dosent matter, just works. Has saved me hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars. 

Make sure you let it dry before handling and I always let them air out before bagging.

As far as what it is... Word is its 50% PVC glue (Clear stuff) and 50% Acetone.

22 minutes ago, m_lowlander said:

Couple things. Have been using mend it for years and it truly is an amazing product.
I'll save ripped plastics and repair them over the winter while watching movies. 

Works on 99% of the plastics I have tried, including Yamamoto baits. Big swimbaits, small finesse worms, it dosent matter, just works. Has saved me hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars. 

Make sure you let it dry before handling and I always let them air out before bagging.

As far as what it is... Word is its 50% PVC glue (Clear stuff) and 50% Acetone.

I can see that being the mixture. Didn’t think of the acetone 

On 6/3/2025 at 5:05 PM, m_lowlander said:

As far as what it is... Word is its 50% PVC glue (Clear stuff) and 50% Acetone.

having just cracked open a fresh bottle of mend-it, this is believable to me. i plan on "making my own" this winter to see if this ratio is correct

 

I don’t know what mend-it is made from but I have had a bottle for years and it dries out and gets tacky.  When that happens I just put a little acetone in the bottle and shake it up then I am back in business.

On Swimbaits.

On 6/1/2025 at 11:36 AM, KP Duty said:

use these water based protectants on all sorts of things, including my rod, reel, and line after I fish

Would you mind elaborating a bit on this? How exactly are you applying it? Just spray it on all over everything? 

On 9/10/2025 at 9:17 AM, Banned User said:

Would you mind elaborating a bit on this? How exactly are you applying it? Just spray it on all over everything? 

I spray it on a microfiber cloth to clean rods/reels, and will spray the spool directly and wipe the runoff.  

Has anyone used Mend It on Max Scent baits? Just curious if it works as well or if fish seem to be less interested in the Powerbait smell. 

On 9/12/2025 at 9:38 AM, JHoss said:

Has anyone used Mend It on Max Scent baits? Just curious if it works as well or if fish seem to be less interested in the Powerbait smell. 

i have mended a few nessies and cull shad with it. just like any other plastic i have used mend-it on giving it an overnight, open air cure seems to work best for keeping the mend-it smell to a minimum. The powerbait scent tends to bounce back fairly quickly. 

I’ve been using it all season since I made this post. I could not be happier with the stuff. It has saved me a lot of money 

I appreciate you sharing this with all of us. I do prefer to mend if I can and save some dough and make lures last longer. Its a great idea. I've been doing it with other adhesives with some success and some failures as some of my marine adhesives melt the rubber so I will be ordering this to try it out.

 

Thanks Joe!