feathers in soft plastics

[LittleMac]

In the most recent BASSMASTER magazine, Charlie Ingram has been making and using a lure he entitles "Charlie's Chicken"....It's a front end of a fluke type lure with a few hackle feathers embedded in the soft plastic. Would anyone care to venture an idea as to how the embedding is done?

Thanks for any help given......it's appreciated. LittleMac

[catchem79]

I don't know if it would work with feathers( maybe Maribou) But when I was heavy into bass fishing I experamented with anding some red spinnerbait skirt material to plastic worms by carfuly threading the skirt material through the worm one strand at a time with a sowing needle.

[YPSIFLY]

I recently picked up a copy of C. Boyd Pfeiffer's book "Tackle Craft". This book covers all kinds of lure and rod making. In the section that deals with making soft plastics he suggests placing newly molded soft baits in water just after removing them from the mold.

This allows them to cool and solidify.

I'm guessing if you could imbue the feathers into the newly molded soft baits and somehow let them cool without putting them into water, you might get the desired results. Just a guess.

I'm also guessing that you could make a crawler harness out of heavy mono and spin hackle or whatever feathers you want on the forward section either before or after you rig the soft bait. This crawler harness could use one or multiple hooks depending upon the softbait used. You may have to somehow use superglue or another adhesive to keep your feathers in place. Or you can leave them loose as they may push up against the head of your softbait, which should work just fine.

I'm guessing one benifit to this approach is that you can replace chewed up softbaits on this rig, granted that the hackle is still in good shape.

I have never done anything like this, so who knows if this will work.

Just a couple ideas.

Good luck! And let us know if you find the solution to your question.

[spawnbag]

i saw that article and it looked as if the feathers were tied to the hook and then the front end of the fluke was slide over it or some thing of that nature. i wonder if it would work around here.

[LittleMac]

Spawnbag, I'm sure it would work.

I also made life simpler in the production of the lure and have good reports on the method and results.

I used a piece of stovepipe wire (black, soft wire) bent at the end about a half inch and heated with a propane torch to melt a hole in the back end of the cut fluke type lure and inserted the feathers quickly into the melted hole.

Before inserting feathers, line three up evenly at the soft tips, wind some thread in cement about three inches down toward the butt ends, let dry and clip both the butt ends off at the thread and also the tag ends of thread. This "package" is easier to insert.

We know from the article that it works on largemouth, and I've learned from a post on riversmallies.com that it also works on smallmouth, walleye and muskie. I'm sure it would work there in Michigan's clear water situations.

Just remember to keep it slow.....let it fall completely to the bottom and lay at rest for 25 seconds before gently lifting to feel for fish.....work it across the bottom in twitches, slow pulls, rests, etc. for about ten feet, if nothing on by then, reel in and re-cast.
This is the same method I use with the watermelon/red flake Zoom Speed Worm with the tail clipped off. When visiting my son in MI this summer, in one morning and two evenings, we caught and released 79 bass, eight of which were keepers. I'm sure the chicken will work as well.

As to color, the fellow who reported the 12 smallmouth, 1 walleye and 1 muskie............states the red and white feathers worked the best for him. I'm making some red and white, some white and brown, some brown and black just to try them out. Good Fishing, Mac