Striped Bass Fishing Forums Forum banner

Loading Needlefish and Redfins

4K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Striperjim 
#1 ·
What do you guys use to load needlefish or redfins? and what do you seal the hole with? I have heard water, sand, oil, bird shot. I haven't tried to load one yet and hate to screw up a good lure.

Thanks

Tony
 
#2 ·
People use all of the above. You might try loading identical plugs and see how each is affected.

The old timers I know used to heat a small flat bit of metal and use it to melt the hole closed. Nowadays most guys are using 30 minute 2 part epoxy. Make sure you wipe the area down with a piece of paper towel and alchohol first, especially if you load it with mineral oil.
 
#3 ·
Sudsy is right, use a sag resistant 2 part paste epoxy to seal it back up. Use the paste type, not the low viscosity fluid, that way the epoxy will stay where you put it instead of run. And as Sudsy states, make sure the surfaces are clean before applying the adhesive/sealant.
 
#6 ·

Master surf angler Steve McKenna currently writes for On The Water magazine and can usually be found, when not fishing, at Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle in North Kingstown Rhode Island.
 
#7 ·
Re: Loading a Redfin Video

Some More about Red Fins from Russ Bassdozer. and other tips.

The two Red Fin models are the C10 Floating Series 7
inch, 1-ounce model, and the C9 Floating Series 5 inch, 5/8-ounce model.
Both are floaters and have various applications.
They also can both be loaded to change their action and improve their casting ability.
Cotton Cordell also came out with sinking models of both the 5-inch and 7
inch model.
The 5-inch sinker weighed around 1 ounce and was fitted with two sets of trebles vice three. The 7-inch sinking model weighed in at 2 ounces. The sinkers were easily recognized; they had a red or black dot on the
tail end of the plug. Cotton Cordell also produces a jointed 5-inch Red Fin. The Red Fin straight out of the package and un-weighed is a very good fish catcher. The drawback is their poor casting ability. Use the unloaded Fins in calm water conditions and retrieve them very slowly. You'll know you have the right retrieve speed when the fin wobbles on the surface leaving a wake. This wobble sometimes drives the bass crazy. And make sure you sharpen the trebles on your Fins!

A great trick that works extremely well with the 5" Red Fin
is to make it into a "Super-Vee Waker". This is a modification that you can perform on a Red Fin that makes it into a special plug - one that will make a vee wake on the surface. This works especially wicked if there is a flat surface on the water - either flat and still, or
flat and moving. But under calmer surface conditions, the super vee wake of the modified Red Fin can be deadly.
Just take a cigarette lighter, being very, very careful - and turn the
flame way down low. Hold it near the base of the plastic lip where it
joins the body of the bait. Better to heat it too slowly than too quickly.
This is more easily done on the solid-colored plastics.
The chrome-painted Red Fins have a tendency to bubble up a bit. Just heat gently, and use a flat stick like a paint stirrer or straight-edged ruler to slowly bend the heated lip back toward the tail a bit. This
modified Red Fin works on those super quiet nights when everything is flat and during those first and last hours of the tide when everything is easing off and moving slowly. This one almost twists and turns in place, causing explosive strikes.
Load the Red Fin's with tap water. Others load them with mineral
water, fish oil, BB's and even mercury. I stick with tap water; it's much safer to work with than mercury.
A water level over 10 ccs will sink the Red Fin and prevent it from swimming correctly. An overloaded Red Fin does have one application, which is to fish it into heavy surf and strong winds. It will cast a mile in those conditions. During calm and flat seas an overloaded Red Fin will drag bottom and hang up.

Loading a Red Fin will accomplish
three things:
1. It will allow you to increase your casting distance up to double depending on wind conditions.
2. It will cause your Red Fin to swim deeper into the water column, depending on how much it's loaded.
3. It will catch more bass!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top