How do I repair smallmouth bass tubes, ned rig baits and jerkbaits — which glue works on which lure?
Three materials, three repairs. PVC plastisol — most tubes, grubs and drop-shot worms — heat-welds cleanly with a lighter or soldering tip, which leaves no odour, or bonds with a plastisol solvent glue such as Mend-It. TPE / ElaZtech — many ned baits — ignores Mend-It and turns to a mess under heat; only super glue (cyanoacrylate) holds it, and it leaves a hard spot you cannot rig through. Hard baits get two-part epoxy or UV resin for lips and cracks, clear nail polish over chipped paint. All solvent glues smell until cured: overnight, aired, rinsed. For smallmouth the common job is a drop of super glue locking a ned bait or tube onto the jig head. Do it the night before, because those baits are dragged slowly past fish in clear water. Box TPE and PVC separately — they melt together.
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