How do I fix pike-chewed soft swimbaits and tooth-marked hard baits — which glue, and does glue smell matter to pike?
Pike teeth make this routine. Ordinary soft swimbaits and grubs are PVC plastisol: heat-weld slashes with a lighter or soldering tip — odourless — or use a plastisol solvent glue such as Mend-It. TPE / ElaZtech baits, popular because they survive teeth, do not bond with Mend-It and should not be heated; super glue (cyanoacrylate) holds them but leaves a hard spot you cannot rig through. On hard baits, seal tooth punctures with UV topcoat or clear nail polish so wood and balsa do not soak up water, and use two-part epoxy or UV resin at lips and hook hangers. Does the smell matter? On a moving lure, hardly — pike commit on sight and vibration. Cure overnight anyway: uncured glue is weak glue, and a dead-sticked soft bait gets a slow inspection. Never store TPE against PVC; they melt together.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Smell & Taste
- Why is dead bait so deadly for pike if they are sight hunters?
- Do scents and attractants on lures make a difference for pike?
- Can pike smell danger — does handling scent on bait matter?
- Do I need a special sunscreen for pike fishing, or is scent-free sunscreen overkill for northern pike?
- Will DEET bug spray hurt my pike lures, line and leaders — what repellent should pike anglers buy?
Same topic, other species
- Live minnow versus plastic — how much does smell really matter? — Crappie
- Does scent on soft plastics really matter? — Largemouth Bass
- Does scent matter for muskie lures? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Should I glue small plastics onto perch jigs — which glue works and will yellow perch taste it? — Yellow Perch
- Does sunscreen on my hands scare smallmouth bass, and which sunscreen should I buy? — Smallmouth Bass
- Which glue is safe for repairing trout lures, soft beads and trout worms — will super glue smell scare trout? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- Why does live bait outfish plastics for walleye — and when does it not? — Walleye