How to make foam rubber baits with your own hands step by step

Advantages and disadvantages

Analyzing the advantages of foam rubber, we can confidently note their low cost.
The cost of a factory bait is low and its loss during fishing is incomparable in terms of budget to the loss of a wobbler or even silicone. Undoubtedly, the ease of manufacturing the simulator is also an advantage. The material for the preparation is easy to find in any construction or hardware store and, using ordinary scissors, it can be given a shape that is attractive to a predator in a couple of minutes. Thanks to the foam rubber being equipped with weights, the assembled rigs have high flight characteristics, which ensures catching and accurate delivery of baits at various distances. These spinning baits are versatile in several ways. After all, they can catch different types of predators under a variety of fishing conditions, manipulating only the mass of the shipment. Foam rubber absorbs odors quickly and for a long time and is easy to paint. Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the fragility of hunting instruments and the inertia of one’s own game.

How to paint a foam fish

Many fishermen may think that painting a foam fish is very simple. But it is not so. Proper painting is far from an easy task, which requires certain skills and tools from the fisherman.

Everything would be fine, but active paints containing a solvent will simply ruin your bait, since foam rubber is a very delicate material. If you are not vigilant, you can easily ruin the workpiece, but there is always a way out.

Permanent markers. This type of markers does not wash off with water and is perfect for coloring fish. True, such a marker is very expensive, but it is convenient to work with and you can apply a clear drawing.

Cans of aerosol acrylic paints

You need to paint dry foam rubber from a spray can very carefully and carefully, otherwise you can simply ruin the workpiece if you apply a lot of paint. There is a drawback to this method of coloring - you cannot color the fish indoors, you will have to go outside.

Acrylic paints in liquid form

The main thing is to wet the fish well, otherwise you will simply burn the dry foam with such paints. Painting with a brush is more convenient and can be done even in an apartment.

And in general, the variety of colors is simply stunning, but I have not had the opportunity to test other types from personal experience. So, of course, I won’t advise you about something I don’t know about. If you have opinions on this matter, then you are welcome to comment.

Foam rubber baits - do it yourself

Making foam rubber is very simple. To do this you will need simple material and ordinary tools. Such foam rubbers are cheaper than store-bought ones, but are in no way inferior to them in catchability and reliability.

When figuring out how to make a foam fish, you need to decide on the materials and tools necessary for this.

Materials:

furniture foam rubber 3−5 cm thick;
waterproof glue (“Crystal Moment”);
waterproof paint;
corresponding hooks - single, double, triple, offset;
a collapsible "Cheburashka" type sinker or a solid jig head;
steel wire.

Note to the angler

Tools you will need:

simple scissors or a sharp stationery knife;
pliers.

On a double

The production of simple foam rubber baits equipped with doubles consists of the following operations:

First, a small piece is cut out of the foam rubber with scissors or a stationery knife. The cut-out workpiece is then shaped into a cylinder, a truncated cone, or a small fish. In order for the material to cut well, it is soaked in water;
Using pliers, the double hooks are pressed against each other. The distance between them should be less than the thickness of the cut workpiece;
in the workpiece, starting from the head part, an incision is made with a length equal to that of the forend of the double;
the double is inserted into the incision;
A little glue is poured inside the cut. The edges of the foam rubber cut are impregnated with glue;
the incision and the hook are fixed in it for several minutes;
If necessary, the bait is painted with waterproof paint.

This manufacturing method allows you to obtain very high-quality foam rubber fish for catching pike perch in places with a large number of hooks.

On the tee

The manufacturing process of foam rubber with a tee consists of the following steps:

from a piece of foam rubber, using sharp scissors or a stationery knife, cut out the body of the bait in the form of a fish or a truncated cone;
An incision is made along the body of the cut workpiece. The depth of the cut should be equal to half the thickness of the bait;
in those places where the points of the tee hooks will come out of the body, transverse incisions are made;
when using two tees, they are connected to each other with thin, rigid steel wire and, placed in the cut, filled with glue;
when using one treble hook, place it in the cut at the head of the bait and pour glue inside. Fix the edges of the cut for a few minutes until the glue sets;
after the glue hardens, the bait is painted;
In order for the foam rubber to better provoke a predator to grab, the hooks of the tee are wound with red woolen thread.

The production and use of such a foam fish is justified for unsnagged and uncluttered reservoirs. Such baits are well suited for catching pike and pike perch, and are less commonly used for perch.

Note to the angler

Since pike swallows its prey from the head, when catching it with such baits, one large tee located in the head part is used. When fishing for pike perch, on the contrary, they use foam rubber with two tees.

With offset hook

When catching pike perch with foam rubber bait in heavily snagged and cluttered places, use a rig with an offset hook. The process of manufacturing and equipping such a foam rubber is as follows:

A wide-bodied fish is cut out of a piece of foam rubber;
in the head part of the foam rubber a cutout is made for the stepped bend of the offset hook;
cutouts are made on the belly and back of the fish for hooking and hooking the hook;
the hook inserted into the slots is fixed in the body of the bait with glue.

These fish are used for catching perch, large and medium pike, and pike perch.

DIY making

Foam rubber fish for pike perch, pike and perch are not difficult to produce and are most likely the simplest and fastest option for making a spinning bait. The material used for the work is dense foam rubber, which is used as insulation in construction, and an ordinary cheap household sponge, sold in any department store.

As for the tools, it is enough to have scissors, which can replace a sharp pocket knife or even a regular razor blade. It will not be superfluous to have superglue and felt-tip pens for coloring the workpiece. Fishing accessories will require articulated weights and hooks, tees, doubles or their offset versions. With the availability of material and a simple set of tools, the fisherman will need no more than 10–15 minutes of free time to make the most extravagant artificial fish, even taking into account the lack of production experience.

Creating a blank

Creating a blank begins with determining the size of the future bait. After the measurement, a block is cut out of a common piece of material, on which a kennel is drawn with a felt-tip pen to cut out a final specimen. There are two main types of foam rubber: a conical version, the so-called carrot, where the back part of the simulator is cut at an acute angle, and a version that resembles a fry in its appearance, when a tail is cut out that resembles a real fish part of the body.

Carrots are much easier to make. A product with a ponytail will take a little more time. When cutting, they try to give the workpiece smooth, rounded lines that outline the surfaces that are convex on the sides, avoiding angularities. Such baits have a more realistic move. For a large batch of prepared artificial fish, it is advisable to make a pattern, which will not only contribute to the convenience of work, but also increase productivity.

Beautiful DIY foam rubber

Foam rubber lures can be found in fishing stores, but most anglers cut them themselves, making fish of the desired size and shape.

But they don’t turn out as smooth and beautiful as on store shelves and it takes quite a lot of time. In addition, they all come out different in shape and play during wiring.

Basically, foam fish are made by stamping and cutting.

Using scissors

The simplest foam rubbers are cut with scissors. If they are made from blanks of the same size, then good repeatability can be achieved. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes a lot of time and requires skills.

By pressing method

30 mm is placed in a heated mold and compressed. The excess around the edges is trimmed with scissors. The result is a dense foam fish, which also has positive buoyancy. It looks like this:

The problem with this method is that it requires a special mold, which is almost impossible to make at home. In addition, it takes even more time to make one fish than when cutting with scissors.

Burning method

The essence of this method is to burn foam rubber with a wire curved along the contour of the fish.

The baits are the same in size and shape, and the time required is much less than when produced by other methods.

The device itself is not very complicated and can be made independently.

It consists of a textolite tile sliding along two guides, into which is mounted a removable fish profile made of nichrome wire, connected to a power source.

The operating principle is as follows:

A piece of foam rubber is placed on the base;
The wire warms up;
The tile slides along the guides under its own weight, burning the foam along the contour:

A blank is obtained, from which individual fish are then burned with an outline in a different projection.

Watch a short video in which K. Shorin demonstrates the manufacturing process and shares his thoughts on this matter:

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Benefits of foam fish

This bait has a lot of advantages. The most important ones are:

Softness. Since it is very soft, when a predator grabs it, it does not become suspicious, because such prey is immediately classified as alive. In addition, thanks to the peculiarity of the foam rubber, during the grip the tip is immediately exposed, and the prey is detected much more efficiently.
Buoyancy. Such material, immediately after entering the water, becomes vertical, which is very popular with predators and makes the bait more desirable.
Elasticity. When such material is saturated with water, it can play a very interesting game, attracting more fish.
Cheapness. Foam rubber is very cheap, which makes it possible to produce simply a huge number of such fish of various sizes and shapes.

Advantages of foam rubber

Since this bait has a small twister with a hook in the tail, perches will no longer spoil your bait with impunity.

With uniform wiring, foam fish do not provide active play, but with stepped or any other wiring, they are not inferior in their play to any analogues from the store. In addition to the beautiful game, they also have a huge supply of advantages:

Foam rubber is excellent for making non-snappy pads.
You can simply soak a foam fish with the FishHungry bite activator.
The casting range of a foam rubber on a swivel joint can be envied by many baits.
The cost of such bait is very low.
Multi-colored foam sponges allow you to make a lot of good and varied baits.

You will get an excellent foam fish with your own hands if you use ordinary household sponges as a basis (as shown in photo 1). If you buy a set of colored sponges, it will be much better. Before starting work, you need to soak the foam rubber well in water and squeeze it out. All this is done to ensure that pieces of foam rubber do not stick to the scissors.

Armed with a blade, you need to cut a rectangular blank (photo 2). The resulting workpiece must be cut diagonally along (photo 3). Now you need to use scissors to form some kind of fish from the workpiece (photo 4).

As you can see, everything is quite simple. All you need is a little patience, a sponge, scissors and a blade.

When using colorless foam rubber, the fish can be painted with a regular marker (naturally waterproof), and if the fish is already colored, then you can simply draw eyes and a few stripes on the belly. A little later we will talk about how and with what to paint a foam fish.

Soft fish on a jig head

Quite productive, and therefore a common type of bait. Of course, a jig is noticeably more expensive than a regular double or tee. But there is no need to rack your brains over the additional load, which will probably regularly cling to various obstacles, threatening to break. Take a jig hook, the shank of which is 3-4 cm less than the length of the base. Carefully pierce the foam from the front so that the sting sticks out from the “belly”. Make sure that the hook goes completely into the bait - only the weight should be visible.

To learn more:

How to wash and preserve bloodworms for fishing

All that remains is to squeeze out a few drops of glue to securely fix the foam rubber to the weighting agent and let it harden. Now you know how to make a foam fish with your own hands, and you can always repeat the procedure, which means that every trip to a river or lake will bring rich fruits.

Pros of foam fish

Foam rubber fish have been used for fishing for quite a long time and have earned trust among fishermen. Its main advantages are:

Softness of the material. Foam rubber is a very soft material. When attacked by a predator, the foam bait will not cause him any fear. For the same reason, an angler can make an instant hook, and the hook is 100% likely to grab the fish.
Position in the water. When lowered, the fish in the water takes on an almost vertical position. The predator thinks that the fish, which the foam bait imitates, is feeding, and therefore attacks it.
Bait game. In water, the foam becomes very elastic, which allows the angler to make the perfect play with the bait.
No snags. Most foam attachments are non-snappy. Due to the fact that foam rubber easily restores its shape, even if it collides with a snag or some other obstacle, the nozzle will quickly restore its shape. In the case of other attachments, for example, silicone ones, the hook is immediately exposed.
Porosity. Due to the fact that the foam rubber from which the bait is made is porous, the bait will be easy to impregnate with various aromatics, which will improve the bite.
Low price. Foam rubber is a cheap material. By spending about 100 rubles, you can make about a dozen attachments.

Foam rubber plus twister

Another bold but effective solution. Production will be more expensive, but the likelihood of a bite with each trip will increase. The fact is that foam rubber is a soft, easily torn material; it will not be possible to make a large tail from it that would oscillate in the water. A twister will help you make a catch fish with your own hands. In this case, the base should be made short and thick - without a tail. Thread a tee or double into it using the method described above.

To learn more:

Top 5 best wobblers for asp

How to do it yourself?

Foam rubber is an inexpensive and easy-to-process material. Therefore, it is not surprising that a large number of fishermen make fish with their own hands. The result is an original bait, created for specific conditions and according to the preferences of the spinner himself.

Making foam fish does not require any special tools or auxiliary materials. For this you will need:

Simple stationery scissors to cut out the future bait from the blank.
Glue. Non-aggressive, which will not burn foam rubber.
Blade for making cuts in the body of the bait.
Wire, if there is a need to lengthen the shank of the hook.
Actually the foam itself. It can be of any color and shape.
Hook. We choose the optimal type and size for the given conditions.
Eared sinker or jig head.

There are a huge variety of options for making foam fish. They can be mounted on a single hook, on a double or tee, using an offset hook and a jig head. Let's look at a few of the most popular types of bait.

"Foam rubber" on a double

This is the most common bait, the most versatile and very easy to make. The sequence for obtaining it is as follows:

We take the blank and use scissors to cut out the bait of the required size and shape.
We make a longitudinal incision in the belly of the fish. The forend of the double will be located here.
If necessary, add a piece of wire to the eye of the hook, and at the other end of it we make a loop to connect with the eared sinker.
We put the shank of the hook into the longitudinal cut and seal it with glue.
All that remains is to attach the weight and the foam fish is ready.

Photo 2. Finished bait with a double.

If jig fishing is carried out in strong conditions, then from a simple foam fish with a double you can easily make a non-snagging version of the bait. To do this, use pliers to bring the hook tips closer to each other. If the factory standard angle between the forend is about 120 degrees, then in our case it is necessary to leave about 45–60 degrees. Such a “foam rubber” can be fished in snags without any problems and has a minimum number of hooks.

Foam fish on a tee

This option for equipping a foam fish is used in places with a clean bottom, where the likelihood of a snag is absent or minimal. The advantage of this bait will be better hookability than when using a double, especially in a non-hooking design. It is made similarly to the previous method with some minor differences:

Using scissors, cut out the bait of the desired length and shape from foam rubber.
We make a longitudinal cut.
We place the shank of the hook into the cut and pierce the bait with one sting, removing it from the back of the fish.

Advice! In the classic version, a wire extension must be connected to the tee. If the pike perch is pressed to the bottom and often attacks the bait in the head, then we attach the hook directly without wire.

All that remains is to attach the resulting bait to an eared sinker of the required weight.

All. DIY foam fish on a treble hook is ready for use.

Foam fish on an offset hook

In very catchy places where it is very difficult to pass the bait without tearing it off, the option of equipping a “foam rubber” on an offset hook comes to the rescue. Considering the almost zero cost of the material itself, this method, in addition to better cross-country ability, turns out to be the most acceptable from the point of view of financial waste. But the fishing result turns out to be consistently high.

Making a foam fish on an offset hook is as follows:

Using scissors, cut out a fish of the required shape from foam rubber. For sticky places, it would be optimal to use carrot-shaped bait.
Next, you can make a small cut to lay the ledge of the offset forend, or you can simply pierce the fish in the head part, as is done with soft silicone baits.
Then we pierce the body of the bait with an offset tip and remove it from the back.

Photo 3. Foam rubber on an offset press.

Advice! For maximum non-snaking of the bait, the tip of the hook can be buried in the body of the fish.

All that remains is to equip the foam rubber fish with a “Cheburashka”. The optimal solution would be to use a bullet-shaped load. This will allow you to pass dense supports as easily as possible, avoiding snags due to the sinker getting stuck among the branches.

That's it, our all-terrain non-snacking foam fish is ready.

Fishing technique

Let's take a closer look at the technique of fishing with foam fish. So how to properly catch fish with foam rubber? At the first stage, the bottom topography is studied with a non-snacking foam rubber with a heavy eared sinker. On reconnaissance casts, bites may occur, but, as a rule, it is rarely possible to hook a fish, since due to the excess weight of the weight head, the jig behaves unnaturally in the water, making too fast and very low jumps. Only active fish are able to react to such wiring.

After we have determined the approximate bottom topography with a series of long-distance fan casts, we can proceed directly to fishing. The first step is to carefully fish the sector closest to the angler with a foam rubber, using jig heads of the minimum possible weight for a given location. In snags that can be easily localized with a scout jig, it is more advisable to use non-snagging foam rubber to minimize possible losses. Near a snag, the boundaries of which are already known, and on edges, mounds and depressions that are free from snags, you should use such a bait with open hooks of a double or tee. This will greatly increase your chance of hooking a fish.

After carefully fishing near edges, snags, bottom irregularities and harvesting them in the form of fish, it is necessary to increase the weight of the eared fish by 3-4 g without changing the bait. This will automatically increase the casting range and allow you to fish a section of the bottom further away from you.

Gradually, after each successive series of casts, increasing the weight of the jig head by 3-4 g, the angler will be able to gradually fish more and more distant areas of the bottom with a head weight of optimal weight. Optimal weight means the minimum possible weight of the eared fish for a given specific maximum casting distance.

Of course, you can try to carry out a series of casts, starting with fishing distant horizons with a foam rubber with a heavy weight head and gradually reducing the load of the bait, tapping closer areas of the bottom. However, practice shows that such an algorithm obviously brings the fisherman a worse result, since all nearby sectors. They are caught qualitatively only at the last stage, and by this moment the fish may already be frightened by the heavy jigs that had previously quickly jumped from distant sectors. Therefore, preference should be given to the sector fishing algorithm using a gradual increase in the load head. This algorithm should be used primarily to search for fish in each specific place at a specific time. For example, in autumn and winter, fish stay away from the shore at great depths, and careful fishing of coastal shallow waters is not advisable, but in summer the opposite can often be the case.

Very often you can achieve a fish bite by moving slightly to the side. This technique allows you to pass the bait not only, for example, perpendicular to the underwater tubercle, but also along it or at an angle. Using fan casts, the tubercle itself and its borders are localized, and after careful fishing from one point, you can move to the left or right, as far as conditions allow, and fish its slopes somewhat along. This technique is especially helpful with empty bites when the fish cannot be detected. Wiring from a different point allows the fish to take better aim and attack the jig not from the head, for example, but from the side or behind, which is much better for reliable hooking.

When fishing with foam fish, you should definitely take into account its unique features, compared to other jig baits . First of all, this concerns the fact that at the bottom it does not fall on its side, but is suspended due to the air microbubbles remaining in the pores of the material. On the other hand, this material has the amazing property of radically changing when moving from air to water: in the air such bait is relatively hard, but in water it suddenly suddenly becomes unusually soft, alive and very mobile. These two main features of foam rubber must be taken into account. It is very useful to add phases such as a pause at the bottom, pulling the bait along the bottom, playing along both as the bait rises and falls, and soaking in attractants or fresh blood of the fish.

During a pause at the bottom, the foam fish, unlike many other baits, continues to work, imitating a fry feeding from the bottom, standing with its tail up. At each step of the stepped wiring, the value of the bottom pause can vary from 1 to 4 seconds. In the case of impregnation with attractants, the pause can be increased to 10 seconds, then even a passive predator will have time to approach, sniff and attack the bait. Ideally, for each such fish it is necessary to select its own optimal pause value at the bottom. This can be done by testing the bait in shallow water with a hard bottom, paying attention to the time from the moment the load touches the bottom until the vibrations and swaying of the foam rubber completely die out. For example, when fishing with a wide, sailing tail, this time can be 3-4 seconds, and on a tailless carrot - a maximum of 1-2 seconds. And if, in addition, you use not a spherical eared thing, but a lentil weight, which, after touching the hard bottom, falls on its side, the pause length can further increase. In some cases, the size of the bottom pause can be increased artificially by performing light twitches with the rod without dragging the load along the bottom, similar to fishing with a reelless jig.

Hook mounting

The shape of the final product does not affect the type and size of the hook used for rigging. An important factor is the length of the workpiece, comparable to the size of the hook. Tees, doubles, offset hooks and single hooks with a long shank are suitable for rigging foam rubber. Single hooks with a long shank are used for fishing in clean waters, where the likelihood of snags is very low. The fish is pierced with a sting and strung on the fore-end, or by cutting the foam rubber, the hook is glued directly into the body of the simulator, leaving the point protruding from the back free.

An offset hook is used to create a non-snagging hook. The foam rubber is mounted on a hook by analogy with a vibrating tail or, as in the case of a regular hook, it is glued into the cut body.

Doubles and tees are glued into the body of the fish, making a longitudinal cut on the back or tummy of the simulator. The only difference in installation is that initially a through puncture is made with one of the hooks of the tee a little further than the end of the cut.

Tips for rigging hooks

When installing bait on a hook, I would like to focus on a number of important nuances that improve the reliability of foam rubber fastening in installations. Long, large-sized baits, which are more typical for foam rubber lures for pike, are attached to hook options with an elongated shank

Such design features of the accessory are available not only for single hooks, but also for tees and doubles.

If there is a need to equip foam rubber with two triple hooks, then the installation includes a wire frame glued with a loop, connecting the hooks to each other through their fastening rings. Thus, by connecting the bait to the main line through the front hook and sinker, the reliability of installation of the entire equipment is ensured.

Painting

Predator baits look more impressive and attractive after painting, although some fishermen do not see any particular advantages in painted imitators, using them in the natural colors of the blanks. But it is worth noting that if you fish on currents, where the fish quickly reacts to the rig, without particularly understanding the nuances of its shape and color, color design is not important, but when fishing in stagnant reservoirs, a promising color can provide additional advantages.

The easiest way to add war paint to a fish is to use permanent markers for this purpose.

This paint is not washed off with water, and on light-colored workpieces it looks distinct and bright, allowing you to draw attack points, which is especially important when making fish for pike perch or pike perch. The final choice of color or lack thereof is entirely up to the fisherman

Sinker

Due to the inertia of the foam rubber, a stationary jig head is not effective for this type of installation.

Important! The best attractiveness of baits is given by the combination of foam rubber with a hinged weight. Cheburashka gives more degrees of freedom to the imitator, which increases the number of bites

In addition, this type of shipment favors the quick change of nozzles, and the use of various forms of weights increases the aerodynamics of the installation and its maneuverability in overgrown and snags. The weight of the cargo is taken based on the fishing horizon. Heavy loads deliver the rig to the desired water level faster, thereby saving time for the bait to reach its operating parameters.

Cheburashka gives more degrees of freedom to the imitator, which increases the number of bites. In addition, this type of shipment favors the quick change of nozzles, and the use of various forms of weights increases the aerodynamics of the installation and its maneuverability in overgrown and snags. The weight of the cargo is taken based on the fishing horizon. Heavy loads deliver the rig to the desired water level faster, thereby saving time for the bait to reach its operating parameters.

DIY foam rubber baits for pike perch – About fishing

Recently, homemade foam rubber fish have gained enormous popularity, because predators bite on them no less willingly than on live bait. And sometimes, even much better. Sergei Pavlov was the first to make such a bait, and his invention is still in great demand.

You can make foam fish yourself. Any fisherman can do this. The process itself is very simple. Manufacturing does not require either expensive materials or a huge amount of time.

Should I buy a foam fish or make it myself?

Many fishermen prefer to buy everything they need for fishing in a store so as not to waste time and effort on manufacturing. If the question is whether to buy or make it yourself from foam rubber, then the answer is clear - do it yourself.

After all, such bait does not last long. They quickly become unable to work, getting caught on a piece of snags, or dying from the teeth of a predator. And therefore, even for one fishing trip you will need several pieces.

You have to buy them often, although their price is small, it is still quite expensive. Therefore, it is much easier and cheaper to do it yourself.

Moreover, it can be made to any size and painted the way you want, thereby increasing the chance of being caught. After all, you can create the perfect bait that will be ideally suited to fishing conditions and will be effective for hunting certain fish.

Manufacturing process of different types

There are a huge number of such baits. They all have different designs, shapes, sizes, and are equipped with different hooks. But, despite all the diversity, they are made in very similar ways.

Foam fish with a double

You can make it from a regular dishwashing sponge. In addition, such washcloths will produce fish of different colors, which will make such bait much more effective. From the very beginning, you need to cut out a suitable model using ordinary scissors.

And in order to equip it with a double, you will need the following materials and tools:

Double
Blade
Glue
Artificial fish
Pliers

Over 13 years of active fishing, I have found many ways to improve the bite. And here are the most effective:

Bite activator. Attracts fish in cold and warm water with the help of pheromones included in the composition and stimulates its appetite. It’s a pity that Rosprirodnadzor wants to impose a ban on its sale.
More sensitive gear. Read the relevant manuals for a specific type of gear on the pages of my website.
Pheromone -based lures .

You can get the rest of the secrets of successful fishing for free by reading my other materials on the site.

Equipment stages:

From the beginning, you need to modify the doubles a little, you need to bend them a little more so that when they are attached to the fish, they fit snugly against its sides. This will help avoid getting caught on snags, and thereby extend the life of the bait.
After this, on the sides of the workpiece you need to make a longitudinal cut with a blade into which to insert the double.
Glue the edges of the foam. To strengthen it, you can wrap the front part of the hooks with threads and glue them with waterproof glue.

Foam fish - non-snappy on the double

After the base is cut out, you need to give it the correct shape. That is, make the head and tail more pronounced. This is very simple to do; use a blade or scissors to cut out the tail fin and the thickening at the top.

It is very advantageous to make a non-clinging one, because it will last much longer, since it will not cling to ledges, snags and branches.

To attach the double you need to do the following:

Make small cuts on the side of the head, through which you need to push the double so that the base comes out through the middle of the head.
After this, you need to slightly squeeze the sides of the doubles so that they fit tightly to the body.
You need to pour a little glue into the cut, and for better fastening you can sew hooks to the body of the fish.

Foam fish equipped with treble hooks

It is better to use such baits in a body of water where there are no snags to catch on. They are much more effective at catching predators that attack the prey from the head.

It is very convenient to use tees, because even if the prey is sluggish and does not want to swallow the bait, there is a good chance that it will catch on at least one hook and can be hooked.

It is best to equip them with several tees.

The manufacturing process is as follows:

First you need to connect the tees together with regular wire. But before that, you need to decide on the place where they will be attached.
If you attach it to the head, it is better to use a tee without an extension. The second one needs to be attached below, near the tail.
Cut the fish along its entire length, the depth of the cut is approximately half the thickness of the bait.
Where the tees will be attached, it is necessary to make several small transverse cuts.
Then insert the hooks into the slits and fill with glue.

Foam fish on an offset hook

Having caught 237 kg of fish, the poachers were not punished!

During interrogation, the detained fishermen revealed the name of the secret bait.

Foam fish on a single hook

This bait can be made with an open hook, or in a closed version.

Manufacturing stages:

Take hook No. 17-18, the thickness of the fish should be half the length of the hook.
You need to fasten it a little obliquely, and additionally secure the blunt part with thread and glue.
The foam is cut at the top and only the front part is inserted.
A small incision is made on the back through which the sting is removed.

Foam fish on a jig head

If you don’t have to cast too far, you can make this bait on a jig head. For manufacturing it is necessary to complete the following steps:

Prepare a jig head with medium size hooks. They must be durable and very sharp.
A deep cut is made in the fish, the length is the same as the fore-end.
A hook is inserted into it, next to the weight. And then attach it with glue.

Foam rubber + twister

Often the fish grabs the bait by the tail, and if you equip the back with a twister with a hook, this will significantly increase the chance of catching prey. You need to purchase a tee No. 2-3, a twister and a hook. And also, for fastening you need a small piece of wire.

Stages of work:

First, the base of the tee is wrapped with wire, and a little is left for fastening.
The workpiece is cut lengthwise, a tee with wire is inserted and filled with glue.
When it dries, you need to bend the ends of the wire a little and put on the twister.
Also, in order for such a bait to sink, you need to attach a small weight.

Source: https://ribolov-inform.com/porolonovye-primanki-na-sudaka-svoimi-rukami/

Technique for catching pike with foam rubber

The basic technique for catching pike with foam rubber is the classic step retrieve. To complete it, you must:

wait until the equipment sinks to the bottom after casting;
make 2-3 turns of the reel handle;
pause, allowing the bait to fall to the bottom again;
rewind the line again.

At the beginning of such wiring, the foam rubber stands vertically after lowering to the bottom. But it takes on water pretty quickly. After this happens, the bait falls to the ground during a pause, like a regular vibrotail or twister. You can squeeze out the foam rubber after each cast, in which case the fishing will be more successful.

Another variant of the animation technique is step-by-step fishing with a rod. To perform it, you need to jerk the tip of the spinning rod and immediately take out the slack in the fishing line, pause and make another swing. Thus, spinning jerks and pauses alternate until the bait reaches the shore or the boat.

Thus, there is nothing difficult about fishing with foam rubber. In this type of fishing, classic jigs are used. But foam fish differs from standard silicone jig baits in its working qualities.

Therefore, it is worth trying it in practice to evaluate its benefits. A foam rubber can work great in a situation where the pike is reluctant to attack the twisters and vibrating tails offered to it.

Features of foam rubber

Foam rubber is a lightweight and porous material. It is easy to handle, it can be cut with a stationery knife or paper scissors, glued, and painted. It is enough to take a piece of foam rubber with you on a fishing trip to make a simple imitation of a fish right on the shore.

“Foam rubber” is especially popular among fans of jig fishing. It is in this technique that an important feature of the bait’s operation is revealed. When the jig head sinks to the bottom, a lot of air remains in the pores of the foam fish. As a result, the bait takes a vertical position, only the tail sways to the sides under the influence of the underwater current. To a predator, this behavior resembles small prey that seeks food in the bottom layer of silt or sand. The attack follows with lightning speed and greed. Sometimes a large amount of soil that gets in with the “foam rubber” ends up in the mouth of a pike perch or perch.

It should be noted that there are some negative properties of foam rubber. When exposed to light or open air for a long time, the material deteriorates. Therefore, it is better to store ready-made foam rubber baits in hermetically sealed containers or bags. The packaging should be washed and dried beforehand.

Application of attractants

Impregnation of foam rubber with attractants significantly increases the number of bites. The porous structure of the material retains odors and aromatic liquid for a long time, releasing small portions of the odorous substance during each wiring. To aromatize bait, both purchased concentrated aromas and natural products are used that are attractive with their odors to predatory fish.

Among natural substances, the most effective method is to impregnate foam rubber with fish oil or the blood of any type of fish. For example, before catching pike perch using foam rubber, the simulator is impregnated with a mixture of mixed fish blood and liquid silicone with a small addition of glitter and table salt. For pike and perch, just soak the bait in fish oil for a couple of minutes. Among the concentrated attractants, all variants of aromas with animal odors, as well as anise and garlic, are attractive to predatory fish. When using a concentrate, it is enough to sprinkle a couple of drops of odorous liquid on the material before submitting the bait and continue fishing.

Often, concentrated attractants with an animal-like aroma have an unpleasant odor for the fisherman, but this should not be embarrassing; such a composition only whets the predator’s appetite. During periods of high fish activity, bait impregnation does not play a decisive role in the success of the hunt, but in moments of depressed biting it can significantly increase the result of a seemingly completely unsuccessful fishing.

Buy a foam fish or make it yourself

As we have already noted, foam rubber bait can be factory-made, which can be purchased at a fishing store, or made independently by the efforts of the fisherman. As a rule, the dilemma of choosing to make it yourself or buy a ready-made simulator only faces beginning spinning anglers who do not yet have sufficient fishing techniques and have no practice in fishing with foam rubber. Experienced spinning anglers try to independently cut baits suitable for fishing conditions, taking into account the preferences of the predator being caught in a particular body of water.

It is more convenient for beginning spinning anglers to practice their fishing skills on a factory-made product, and then, taking into account certain nuances of their own fishing technique in conjunction with the preferences of the fish, begin to independently produce an effective bait. For example, an avid fisherman takes a piece of foam rubber and scissors directly to a pond, preparing a suitable simulator on the spot in real fishing conditions, and is almost never left without a catch.

Homemade foam fish

The first home-made foam rubber fish was invented by one of the Russian spinning fishermen even before Gorbachev’s perestroika and did not have any special refinements in color.

The invention gradually spread across the vast expanses of Russia, although, as far as I remember, at that time homemade foam fish did not find widespread use among fishermen.

Which is not surprising. Considering that at that time Russian reservoirs had not yet been cleared of their inhabitants to such an extent, we, as fishermen, were quite comfortable with catching predatory fish with a spinning rod, not some suspiciously flimsy foam fish, but purchased or hand-made metal spoons, the choice which were not so small, and the bait cost mere pennies.

Therefore, the fishermen of our company tested homemade foam fish on fishing trips only in the blessed times of the beginning of Yeltsin’s market relations and, it must be said, did not bring either much disappointment or excessive delight.

In principle, any purchased or homemade foam rubber fish is one of the many varieties of handmade baits that you should get used to and learn how to catch with it correctly.

True, in a homemade version of making a soft foam spinner, you can set the color as closely as possible to the image of a small baitfish. And the variety of foam fish rigs allows you to catch different predatory fish in various types of reservoirs at any time of the year. An example would be a foam rubber for pike perch.

Homemade foam rubber material

The material of the desired color for making foam rubber with your own hands can be selected at the nearest hardware store. There, blanks for homemade foam fish are found in packages of dishwashing sponges.

Take your time to cut the hard base off the foam squares. Perhaps this will make it easier for you to cut out with your own hands the vertical contour of future artificial homemade fish - foam rubber according to the pattern.

One word of caution for novice fishermen. Foam rubber fish - both homemade and purchased - in skillful hands are indeed quite promising in catching predatory fish, but they are not a complete alternative replacement for the many spinning lures of other designs that are bought up by fishermen.

Disadvantages of foam fish

The big disadvantage of soft baits is that the physical properties of foam rubber change over time, not for the better, and the very weak strength of foam rubber fish in real fishing conditions.

But soft homemade baits are more versatile in terms of catching predatory fish, both in open water and in winter from the ice of a reservoir. And the process of making foam fish with your own hands does not require special talents or the use of scarce tools.

True, if each homemade foam rubber is painted to be as similar as possible to the original live bait fish, as some craftsmen advise, then the process of making each foam rubber fish with your own hands will be unreasonably expensive in terms of time spent.

Is it better to buy a foam fish?

Therefore, first you should think about whether it is better to simply buy foam rubber fish in the store for effective catching of predatory fish in the summer? Of course, if the fisherman has such an opportunity.

Some theoretical materials on this topic, dedicated to making simple foam fish with your own hands, were selected from my old archives, collected back in the days of the Soviet Union.

Drawings with images of homemade foam rubber have been edited. For most topics for beginning fishermen, my explanations and additions will be added.

To begin with, novice fishermen can make a few foam rubber fish with their own hands to try out in the simplest way.

For those fishermen who have long been familiar with such work, I can suggest making a foam rubber for catching pike perch.

How to properly catch fish with foam rubber

Catching pike perch and pike with foam fish in 90 cases out of 100 is fishing using classic stepped fishing . Experience shows that this works on most bodies of water. However, there are situations when some variety in wiring technique not only does not hurt, but can also bring excellent results. The technique of fishing with foam fish in a still body of water can be divided into two types: shore fishing and fishing from a boat. How to catch fish with foam rubber?

Types of foam rubber baits

Depending on the size and object of fishing, the foam bait can be one of the following types:

perch - a small “carrot” shaped foam rubber up to 5 cm in size. Equipped with a single, or less often, double hook. Used for catching small and medium-sized perch in reservoirs with a slight current and a depth of no more than 3 m;
pike - bait 8-10 cm long, in the shape of a small fish. They are equipped with double and triple hooks. Such foam rubbers are used when fishing for pike along aquatic vegetation, in relatively clean holes and pools;
pike perch - 9-10 cm long, foam rubber fish, equipped with a double and painted yellow or green. Used for catching pike perch in holes and pools;
universal - a foam rubber 7-9 cm long in the form of a small narrow-bodied fish, equipped with doubles. Well suited for catching pike, pike perch, large perch in rivers and standing reservoirs.

Important!

When choosing the type of weight - a solid jig head or a collapsible "Cheburashka" type sinker - preference is given to the latter. It increases the mobility of the bait, allows you to quickly change the weight of the load without removing the hook from the body of the foam rubber. Non-separable eared sinkers are not used - connecting them to the foam rubber hook takes a lot of time.

Advantages of foam rubber as a material for bait

All the advantages of foam rubber are explained by the characteristics of the material from which it is made. These advantages include the following:

ease of processing - the material is easily cut with simple scissors or a sharp knife or blade;
light weight - foam rubber is light in weight. Lures made from it work well in shallow places. A box with them will weigh significantly less than with wobblers or spinners;
porous structure - a bait made of porous foam rubber, when it gets into the water and becomes saturated with it, becomes mobile and more attractive to a predator. The pores are well filled with attractants and other substances that attract predators with a sensitive sense of smell;
resistance to wear and durability - baits made of this material do not rot in water and can last for more than one season;
color variety - furniture and construction foam rubber (insulation) is very diverse in its color range;
easy paintability - if you still need to give the bait a color, you can use any waterproof paint. Foam rubber will absorb the paint well, ensure its even distribution throughout the pores and dry very quickly.

Note to the angler

Foam rubber for baits is chosen new. Material from old sofas and armchairs is not suitable for these purposes. It crumbles easily, is very fragile and quickly collapses. In water, such a material loses its strength and other properties completely.

Foam rubber fish - “non-catch”

We use this 5 cm long bait mainly in places where the bottom is littered with small twigs, leaves, old shells and other debris. In this case, the hook is hidden in the body of the fish, thanks to which the foam rubber bait acquires the properties of “non-snagging”, while practically not losing its effectiveness when hooking a predator.

Foam rubber fish without hooking

When making such a “non-hook” fish, you need to remember that the slot for the hook should be made exactly in the center of the bait, because if it is beveled to one of the sides, your fish will become disposable and will not withstand more than two bites. Such a fish needs to be attached to the hook with threads, and not “set on glue.” It is fastened by throwing over loops in the area of the head, and this must be done in such a way that the point of the hook is level with the outer edge of the body of the “foam rubber”. We use hooks from Gamakatsu series F22 and F31. To this we can add that the hooks of the F31 series, the tip of which is slightly bent inward, are generally ideal in this case. They adhere very well to the foam rubber and, what is also very important, the tip of the hooks practically does not become dull, as happens when, during wiring, a regular hook strikes against various bottom obstacles. The only drawback of these hooks is that sometimes the very tip of the sting breaks, after which the hook needs to be changed.

Varieties of fish made from foam rubber

Foam rubber baits used when catching predatory fish, depending on the size and type of hooks used, are as follows:

non-snagging foam rubber with double hooks;
foam rubber on single;
baits equipped with single hooks;
foam rubber on solid jig heads.

All of them can be made from cheap and simple polyurethane foam (foam rubber) with your own hands.

Unhooked on double

This type of foam rubber is a bait in the shape of a fish, or less often a truncated cone. The points of the double hooks are located not on top of the fish, but on the sides. This makes the foam rubber snag-resistant. When a predator grabs it, the soft material allows the hooks to effectively hook it.

Depending on the weight of the load and the object being fished, such foam rubber can be from 6 to 12 cm long.

On an offset hook

This foam rubber has the appearance of a wide-bodied fish. The offset hook is mounted so that its tip is hidden in the body of the fish in the tail area. This arrangement of the hook in the body of the foam rubber ensures that if a predator grabs it, it will securely and firmly hook it into the dense tissue of the fish’s mouth. Used when fishing in heavily snagged, cluttered places, heavily overgrown backwaters and old rivers.

Note to the angler

Single hook

A foam rubber on a single hook is a bait with a cylindrical body, like a wobbler. The body of the bait has a slight narrowing at the tail. A single large hook is passed through the body or glued into it. Such foam rubbers are small in size and are used for catching small and medium-sized perch and grass pike.

Note to the angler

When choosing a hook for such a foam rubber, preference is given to models with a long shank. The exception is fish for catching small perch - hooks for them are taken with a short shank and of a small size (No. 6-8).

On a jig head

Foam rubber fish are equipped not only with collapsible “Cheburashka” type sinkers, but also with lead jig heads weighing up to 15-18 grams. Like the foam rubber on a single hook, it has a cylindrical body without a pronounced tail.

They are used for catching pike perch and large pike on rivers and large lakes.

Foam rubber with twister

Very often, foam rubber bait is combined with a twister. The resulting “tandem”, thanks to the mobility of both baits, attracts predators, has a long flight range and low grip. Connect two baits into a single whole using soft knitting wire.

This bait allows you to catch medium and large sized perch, trophy pike perch, and pike.

Foam fish for pike and pike perch

Pike perch and pike are readily deceived when fishing with a foam fish with a double hook.
If you are fishing in a heavily snagged area, where driftwood and snags are located haphazardly, then it is better to use a foam fish, it has better cross-country ability. In this case, you just need to be prepared for a bite in any direction. Often the pike takes the bait again. Here, the advantage also lies with the foam rubber tackle, because it, having crumpled at the first bite, quickly straightens out and continues to work.

You should know that foam rubber varies in its hardness and softness. What foam rubber to use for the fish is dictated by the fisherman’s preference and experience. It should be noted that soft fish can be lost much more than hard ones.

The “catching” of the tackle also depends on the pressure of the hook tips. You can correct them a little yourself, bend them.

If the foam fish has already suffered from bites, its body is cut, then it is better to replace the tackle, otherwise you can lose both the hook and everything else.

Foam rubber bait - a miracle of fishing thought

There are still heated discussions surrounding the authorship of this invention; some, especially resourceful ones, presented to the world foam rubber baits that almost date back to the 60s. However, until the 70s, foam rubber was simply not known, and even after its invention it was quite scarce, moreover, the shelf life of the material is a maximum of 15 years, then it simply turns into dust! But be that as it may, an application by a certain Sergei Pavlov was registered at the patent office. Well, the bait itself received, accordingly, the name “Pavlov’s foam fish.”

Of course, for some time foam rubber baits were kept secret from the general mass of domestic fishing enthusiasts. But such a secret simply cannot be kept for long! And soon this bait went to the people, quickly forming an entire army of adherents around it. By the way, this fact was also facilitated by the fact that pike perch, for which foam rubber is most effective, was released en masse into the reservoirs of the Moscow region!

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