Good morning BR, Ive been thinking about trying some fuzzy dice or fuzzy ball style baits this coming year. The steep price tag per pack, combined with my impatience and fishing mediocrity, has me looking for cheaper options. Has anyone taken a used bait like a rage craw, and cut a piece off and threaded some skirt material through it? Ive got a threader and some skirts laying around, and a million plastics already.

Yes I have. It’s pretty easy to do. My problem (even when I am catching fish) is getting anything to bite them.

Yes, I use Z-Man Turbo Fatty Z's. They were on sale for 2 bucks a package at the tackle store and fat enough for what I want to do. I cut them up into 3/4 inch pieces and thread some silicone into them. They are round but the fish don't seem to care.

There are 4 baits (worm) in each package and I make four fuzzy baits with each worm... so that is 16 for 2 bucks. That's about 12 cents each.

Don't throw away the tail. It makes a nice goby imitator on a jighead.

3 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Yes I have. It’s pretty easy to do. My problem (even when I am catching fish) is getting anything to bite them.

Perhaps the fish only like the expensive ones?

Actually, @Glenn has an excellent article and video with links to what you need to make these.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/make-fuzzy-baits.html

I was threading silicone skirt strands through all kinds of plastic baits last year.

I have been threading bucktail hair through plastic baits.

I have built a fuzzy dice type bait

I had success with the worms that were modified. The actual fuzzy dice bait I made, not so much. It is a work in progress.

I've done it with some big 7" stick O's from BPS. They work decent but I've yet to have any real great success with a dice bait.

@Jigfishn10 - thank you for posting the article/video -- this is a topic I am interested in - I recently bought some silicone jig skirts and figured I could make some "fuzzy" baits out of the random pieces of plastics I have -- I think I might also try to make "fuzzy" baits out of some Yamamoto Yamatinuki's and some "Poop" baits I have (I have not had any success catching fish with the Yamatinuki's/Poop Baits so I figure it won't hurt to make them in to fuzzy baits) -- Thank you !

8 hours ago, WaskaCrank12 said:

@Jigfishn10 - thank you for posting the article/video -- this is a topic I am interested in - I recently bought some silicone jig skirts and figured I could make some "fuzzy" baits out of the random pieces of plastics I have -- I think I might also try to make "fuzzy" baits out of some Yamamoto Yamatinuki's and some "Poop" baits I have (I have not had any success catching fish with the Yamatinuki's/Poop Baits so I figure it won't hurt to make them in to fuzzy baits) -- Thank you !

My pleasure man. But @Glenn deserves the credit here. He puts in a lot of time and effort to produce information like that ... and not just for members, non-members can view it as well

I would love to see your new creations. Post a new thread in this forum or PM if you feel intimidated to do so. I've posted some crazy stuff that actually caught fish. Wanna see my construction scrap inline spinner? 🙂

I make my own fuzzy dice and fish them successfully one of two ways. I fish the smaller dice exclusively on a drop shot using a #4 - #2 Owner Mosquito hook. I fish the larger dice, mine are ~ 0.6", on a #1 straight shank hook, just like a wacky rig, occasionally hopping it off the bottom.

I make mine by melting ripped plastic baits I've collected in the microwave. I use a silicone ice cube tray to form the cubes. Once set, I thread skirt material with a large eyed needle.

I had fun making some fuzzy baits, but I have yet to fish them. I started with chunks of old senkos and an old jig skirt. I eventually made some fuzzy ned ochos and fuzzy senkos. They are actually a bit time consuming, but it beats buying them. My concern with the senkos is that they are already a brittle bait, and running strands through them creates weak points. It’s a fun afternoon project! I can attach some photos if you want to see how mine turned out.

I have used old plastics and also bought plastic from Fusion-X Cubes. They make about 20 per cube. I use candy making molds from Amazon.https://a.co/d/0j7ZSStp

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9 hours ago, NWfishing said:

I had fun making some fuzzy baits, but I have yet to fish them. I started with chunks of old senkos and an old jig skirt. I eventually made some fuzzy ned ochos and fuzzy senkos. They are actually a bit time consuming, but it beats buying them. My concern with the senkos is that they are already a brittle bait, and running strands through them creates weak points. It’s a fun afternoon project! I can attach some photos if you want to see how mine turned out.

I ended up doing the same. Cut up a few stick baits and threaded skirt material through them. I cut a few of them to be less round as well. It was a bit tedious, but not a bad way to kill a bit of time.

Poop baits have been good for me. Fat Ika, Cover Scat, etc. Last year I played with inserting legs in those baits with a big eyed needle. Easy to do but never noticed any improvement in catches. The bottom photo is a Cover Scat with rubber bands. With my limited experience I'd say the dice with the thicker "legs" like the Uni or the Coike will work better, but I got a lot to learn.

14 hours ago, NWfishing said:

I had fun making some fuzzy baits, but I have yet to fish them. I started with chunks of old senkos and an old jig skirt. I eventually made some fuzzy ned ochos and fuzzy senkos. They are actually a bit time consuming, but it beats buying them. My concern with the senkos is that they are already a brittle bait, and running strands through them creates weak points. It’s a fun afternoon project! I can attach some photos if you want to see how mine turned out.

I started using this threader instead of a needle on my thinner and more fragile baits.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Decoy_DT-2_Rubber_Threader/descpage-DDTRQ.html

Yessir! I made this video about the time when people were just beginning to hear about dice baits. Thanks @Jigfishn10

7 hours ago, ike8120 said:

I started using this threader instead of a needle on my thinner and more fragile baits.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Decoy_DT-2_Rubber_Threader/descpage-DDTRQ.html

Ahhh! I have a few of those for threading fly tying bobbins. I considered using it for fuzzy baits but never gave it a shot. Thanks for the tip!

15 hours ago, Glenn said:

Yessir! I made this video about the time when people were just beginning to hear about dice baits. Thanks @Jigfishn10

Your video motivated me to start adding the skirt materials to other baits. It is a great winter project me.

I didn't buy specialized threaders, but borrowed the largest eye needle in my wife's sewing kit.

I pinch off the last carapace section of a 4" maxscent chigger craw for use on a jig and used these sections threaded with silicone, round rubber, and flat rubber. I caught fish, but I am new to the dice game and this was all summer/late summer fishing with these baits. I think it would be better for me in prespawn through post spawn though.

FYI, silicone will tear easily when pulling through. Be careful and maybe lube it up to slide through the bait better. Some use worm oil. I tried megastrike scent as lube and it worked well. I did not have this problem with the rubber, fyi.

I've been doing it for years. Half a stick bait with skirt material . Posted about it here probably around 14 years ago. Originally I did it for river smallmouths but it proved effective for reservoir largemouths. Rigged them on a jighead. As far as i know Dan Gapens Ugly Bug was the first. Its nothing new.