swimbait.com - How to rig and fish with swimbaits

To Glue or Not To Glue

I haven't always been an advocate of gluing swimbaits to the jig heads. Mainly because I was lazy and thought it was too difficult or too much of a hassle. But over the years I have learned why most seasoned anglers not only glue their swimbaits to the jig heads but often swear by it. The reasons are simple but not necessarily what you might expect - or at least not what I originally thought. The obvious reason for gluing the swimbait to the jig head is so that the bait will last longer. This is true but it is not what I feel is the most important reason. The most important reason is that it will help you catch more and larger fish.

Under stress a soft plastic lure will tend to slide down the jig head. Once it has slid down it is almost impossible to get it to stay back up. This stress is caused by fish pulling on the bait or ripping the bait through structure. The larger the bait the more prone it will be to sliding down the jig head.

There are two reasons gluing a swimbait to the jig head will help you catch more fish. Many times a fish will hit a lure as it comes darting out of structure. But many times a bait that gets buried in structure will be slid down when it finally pulls through. Most of the time the fish will not hit it when the bait has slid down the jig head. The other situation is when one fish is either lightly hooked and about to fall off or just holding on to the swimbait and running with it. More often than not there will be other fish following that fish around trying to steal the "food". Quite often this "follower" fish will be the larger of the two. Again, if the fish has pulled the swimbait down and it comes loose there is a less of a chance the follower fish will eat it.

Rigging swimbaits using quick drying "Super" or cyanoacrylate glue:

There are many ways to rig a swimbait and many ways to use glue in the rigging process. The following is the technique that I currently use at home when I am pre-rigging baits for an up-coming trip. It keeps most of the glue inside the bait but it is a longer and more precise process than my "on the water" technique.

Rig the bait as you normally would. When you get the point where the head of the swimbait is just touching the bait holder on the jig head stop and put a small drop on the bait holder and continue rigging. As quickly as possible continue rigging the bait as you normally would. With a little practice you should be able to get a strong bond without any of the glue oozing out of the gap between the head of the swimbait and the jig head.

As quickly as possible continue rigging the bait as you normally would. With a little practice you should be able to get a strong bond without any of the glue oozing out of the gap between the head of the swimbait and the jig head.

My "on the water" technique is similar to my "at home" technique but I tend to rig the bait all the way and then pull it back off the jig head about 1/8 of an inch, or I rig it so that the front of the bait is only about 1/8 of an inch away from the jig head. This technique is quicker and easier but it can be slightly messier as some of the glue may ooze out the gap between the bait and jig head once the bait is fully rigged.

Cyanoacrylate Glue:

Most cyanoacrylate glues will work for this application. Finding the right type of bottle, applicator, etc. is important for use out on the water. There are thin glues, thick glues, gels, etc. The thinner they are the quicker they seem to dry. There are also "oderless" cyanoacrylate glues that don't seem to "eat" or melt soft plastic baits as much as regular cyanoacrylate glues do. I don't find this "eating" of the plastic to be a problem when gluing swimbaits to jig heads.

The glue and bottle I have found to be the best for rigging while out on the water is Super Glue made by Loctite^® in the "Frustration Free Applicator" bottle. This bottle is easy to open, easy to use, is resistant to clogging, and does not leak. Visit the Loctite^® website for more information.

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