Replacing Skirts

[Bud Kennedy]

How often do you replace skirts on your jigs and other baits.  Do you buy additional skirts or do you make your own.  What do you use to tie your new skirt in place. 

[FLO GROWN]

How often do you replace skirts on your jigs and other baits.  Do you buy additional skirts or do you make your own.  What do you use to tie your new skirt in place.

I use Gambler ko straflash punch skirts for my Texas rigged jig caught quite a few on it and some that went over 5lbs haven't had to change it out ,I've had it for about 4 months.

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[merc1997]

bud

i have literally had to change the skirt a couple of times in one trip.  bass's teeth are really rough and when you are catching a bunch of them, it does not take that long for them to tear off the silicone strands in a skirt.  this is why that i just use banded skirts.  i would be spending way too much time retying jig head with new skirts.

bo

[SteveTX]

How often do you replace skirts on your jigs and other baits.

I never really thought about how long one lasts for me on average. Some get destroyed in a day and some seem to last quite a while. The living rubber skirts hold up far better than the silicone offerings for me.

Do you buy additional skirts or do you make your own.

Both. Some pre-made skirts I like If the price is right I will pick them up. Others I buy the material from the usual places and make my own. Generally I make my own only to get a color I want.

What do you use to tie your new skirt in place.

Living rubber I wire tie and put a rattle band on as well on my jigs. I use rattles apparently way more than others from what I read. I sometimes will wire tie silicone but if the rattle band is a good snug fit I may not bother with wire.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Like Steve, I haven't kept track. I've replaced a couple in a single outing, and have some jigs that still have the original skirts even after catching a few.

They're cheap enough and easy enough to find, I'm not making my own. I look for ones that have the bands with rattle loops just in case I want to put a rattle on, but I also have some trailers I can shove a rattle into.

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[SFL BassHunter]

I've only come across an issue with the silicone band on one or two brands.
The heat down here does the most damage to them.

I do carry a few jigs with me and if one does malfunction I have the tool and extra skirt and bands to replace when I get home.


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[FloridaFishinFool]

I do the skirt bypass... I use the skirted hula grub. A huge time and energy saver. All I gotta do is change grubs and I get a new skirt every time.

[Princeton_Man]

I've only come across an issue with the silicone band on one or two brands.
The heat down here does the most damage to them.

I do carry a few jigs with me and if one does malfunction I have the tool and extra skirt and bands to replace when I get home.


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I carry my entire NuTech Lures suitcase with me all the time and pretty good variety of replacement skirts. If a skirt looses too many strands or a band breaks, I'll just tie on a new one and replace the skirt when I'm back home.

Maybe I'm just lucky but, I rarely ever have to replace a skirt or even a jig unless it gets trapped in the rocks.

[njpaulc]

I've started to do an additional wire tie on all my skirts.  It's impossible to replace skirts on some jigs because of rattles.

[Smallie_Stalker]

I replace as needed. I both buy skirts and sometimes make my own.

I usually use a wire tie even on pre made skirts. You can mix or match colors that way to add a little contrast if needed.

I also have plenty of collars with rattle holders that I can put over the top of the wire ties if need be. The other option I use on occasion is to just stick a couple of glass rattles in the plastic trailer.




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[Lipripper]

I replace as needed. I both buy skirts and sometimes make my own.

I usually use a wire tie even on pre made skirts. You can mix or match colors that way to add a little contrast if needed.

I also have plenty of collars with rattle holders that I can put over the top of the wire ties if need be. The other option I use on occasion is to just stick a couple of glass rattles in the plastic trailer.




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Now that I got them jigs and spinner baits and extra skirts from Dale I'm going to have to figure out how to change them.  Heck I'm an old cat fishermen and haven't had to learn how to do them sort of things. 

[Bud Kennedy]

So here is the deal.  I have been having a problem with collar failures on some of my newer NuTech Jigs.  Although I think this may be heat related the fact remains I now have a few more naked jigs than I once had.  Before replacing the skirts I have been considering wire tying the new skirts in place.  The older NuTechs did not have this problem and the skirts are still very good.  I also use spinnerbaits from a builder in North  Carolina and all of those skirts are wire tied on his product line.  I am thinking this may be a better way to attach skirts. 

[merc1997]

So here is the deal.  I have been having a problem with collar failures on some of my newer NuTech Jigs.  Although I think this may be heat related the fact remains I now have a few more naked jigs than I once had.  Before replacing the skirts I have been considering wire tying the new skirts in place.  The older NuTechs did not have this problem and the skirts are still very good.  I also use spinnerbaits from a builder in North  Carolina and all of those skirts are wire tied on his product line.  I am thinking this may be a better way to attach skirts.

bud, are the problem childs a particular color???  we have had an isue with a couple of colors, western craw and junebug come to mind, and these two colors have had broken bands in the bag and have never been placed on a jig.  about the only time there should be an issue with a skirt is if someone knicked the band with the hook when installing it on the jig.  just let me know what skirts you have that the band broke and i will mail you some new ones.

bo

[Bud Kennedy]

Bo, I will have to check my e mails.  I sent you a note a couple months ago and I suppose you never received it.  It is hard to remember but I should have some records somewhere.  Just wanted to let you know all the the baits were new and unused and still in the sandwich bag you sent them in.  There were in the boat and were subject to some high temps during the summer.  I'll see what I can find for records.

[Bud Kennedy]

Bo, found my old e mail and have forwarded it to you

[SFL BassHunter]

I carry my entire NuTech Lures suitcase with me all the time and pretty good variety of replacement skirts. If a skirt looses too many strands or a band breaks, I'll just tie on a new one and replace the skirt when I'm back home.

Maybe I'm just lucky but, I rarely ever have to replace a skirt or even a jig unless it gets trapped in the rocks.

Only times I've ever needed to replace is when the band melts



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[SFL BassHunter]

So here is the deal.  I have been having a problem with collar failures on some of my newer NuTech Jigs.  Although I think this may be heat related the fact remains I now have a few more naked jigs than I once had.  Before replacing the skirts I have been considering wire tying the new skirts in place.  The older NuTechs did not have this problem and the skirts are still very good.  I also use spinnerbaits from a builder in North  Carolina and all of those skirts are wire tied on his product line.  I am thinking this may be a better way to attach skirts.

Bud you are correct the bands melt. Sometimes almost entirely sometimes just enough to crack them and then you end up with just the jig head.


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[Oldfart9999]

Sunlight also ruins bands, it's not just heat but the UV rays. In the past I used to use small zip ties over the collars with good results, they're quick and easy and a pair of nippers or larger clippers will cut them off. All of my jigs get tied because I make my own, I carry enough so I can just replace the jig on the water and retie new skirts when I get home. The other problem I've had with the collars is swimming or skipping the jigs, the collar loosen and they reach a point they won't stay where they belong but the strands can still be in good shape, back to zip ties.

I've started to do an additional wire tie on all my skirts.  It's impossible to replace skirts on some jigs because of rattles.

Not if you tie your skirts.
Rodney

[saltystick]

Like Rodney, I like cable zip ties but have also experienced slipping after a few dozen casts. One way I've found to stop that is to use rubber rattle collars from Lurecraft.com which adds enough friction so there's no slippage under the tie. (Amazing I hadn't thought of using ties up until 6 years ago. No more thread, wire or anything else for jigs and spinnerbaits. Bass bite just as good.)

fishingskirts.com has an incredible assortment of silicone skirt colors and patterns and even sells the old fashioned living rubber skirt material (round and square) plus spinnerbait forms, basic jigs and more to make, modify or repair lures.

Just a suggestion...

[Bud Kennedy]

Now for the rest of the story. 

I don't care where you buy stuff, from time to time there may be a problem with the bait with regards to the quality of construction.  I have been buying NuTech stuff for many years and even before joining Ultimate Bass.  So, my recent question about tying on skirts was to address a a very rare problem when some skirts came apart due to a skirt collar failure.  These baits were new but had been in my locker for a long time and had been subjected to the South Carolina heat for about a year.  So I just wanted to add some new skirts and was thinking that tying on the skirt would be something I should do.  I was not concerned with build quality as this seems to be a one off thing that happened.

Sitting in my office yesterday I got a phone call  from Bo James.  While that was a total surprise it was as always good to hear from him.  Bo was very concerned about the problem and wanted to be sure to take care and send me some new skirts.  This folks is why I buy NuTech.  First of all they work and catch fish and the big reason is that Bo stands by all of his products and will make it right if there is a problem.  I keep my NuTech stuff for a long time because I just don't lose them like other jigs.  The overall design usually gets the jig back home without being lost to underwater structure or in my case even a shore bound tree.    So you want a quality product that you can count on you better be buying NuTech.  It don't get any better to be designed by an Angler to catch fish and to perform as advertised.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Glad to hear it's likely just a "limited edition" problem.
Interesting thing though, two of my Nutechs have exactly the colors Bo mentioned, and they both have the original skirts and are about a year old. BUT... they're very rarely used, the colors just don't work as well for me as the darker greens do. I actually have some black, green, black and green, and black and blue skirts I picked up for those two jigs (different company though). I may take those skirts and put them on a spinner bait.
When I pull 'em off, I'll just go ahead and replace the band, I've got several.

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[D.W. Verts]

First off, thank you to Bo for supporting this forum and for building what is obviously a superior product.

I build my own, and I use both silicone (mostly from fishing skirts.com) and old-school (now NEW school, again) live rubber.

Being old school myself, I have always tied my living rubber with heavy carpet thread. It works for me.

About those broken skirts- yes, the heat does 'em in. But it seems I have more problems with the "tan" colored bands than anything else, so I stick to the black ones. Just a thought.

[SFL BassHunter]

First off, thank you to Bo for supporting this forum and for building what is obviously a superior product.

I build my own, and I use both silicone (mostly from fishing skirts.com) and old-school (now NEW school, again) live rubber.

Being old school myself, I have always tied my living rubber with heavy carpet thread. It works for me.

About those broken skirts- yes, the heat does 'em in. But it seems I have more problems with the "tan" colored bands than anything else, so I stick to the black ones. Just a thought.

Dale you're correct. It seems the tan color or clear ones ones melt or crack easier.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Dale you're correct. It seems the tan color or clear ones ones melt or crack easier.

I've never thought about which colors are affected.

Your observations are interesting to me though Rick because we hear so much how black and other dark colors get hotter and hold heat longer.

Thanks. I learned something new today.


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