How to Hot-Rod a Fishing Lure

Do you modify your fishing lures, to make them more effective? If so, you need to know about hot-rodding. And if not, well, you should. In one episode of the Got Bait? fishing series, we show how to hot-rod and rig a soft plastic fishing lure, step by step. Here’s a clip from the series, on hot-rodding:

Interesting? Yeah, we thought so, too. What we didn’t get into here was where and how to fish these types of lures (you can pick up that in the full episode, Got Bait? The Search for Stripers). Of course, everyone has their own favorite ways to rig, jig, and fish. And that’s one of the beautiful things about fishing: there’s no real “right” or “wrong,” and there are many different way to effectively get a bend in your rod.

All the variables aside, however, the color contrast we talk about in this clip is an imperative feature. And if you don’t want to take the time and effort to hot rod your lures (or you don’t want to risk the mess), there’s one simple way you can always add contrast to soft plastic jigs: use different color jig heads. In my case, I usually prefer chartreuse or white tails. So I simply choose the opposing color for the head. Red heads also provide excellent color contrast. And, don’t sell black short. It may not look pretty to our eyes, but it does provide the color contrast that allows those fish to see the bait from afar.

Nuff said – now, let’s go fishing!