SKIRT DIRT

Did you think your car was the only thing that needs oil? Are your skirted trolling lures sticky, stiff or brittle? Then Peter Pakula reckons they probably need an oil change…

Trolling skirts are made from various types of plastics, mainly PVC, which by nature, is hard and brittle, only made soft with the addition of oils. These oils do not bond with the skirt materials and will continue to leach and migrate to the surface of the skirt. This can either make them feel sticky or stiff – and sometimes brittle. If this sounds like your lure roll, then follow these six simple steps to bring them back to life.

HOW TO REJUVENATE YOUR SKIRTS

1. Clean out the skirt by putting the lure in just-boiled water, agitate it for about one minute. This will remove the sticky surface oil and dissolve any salt.
2. Dry the skirt as much as possible before laying it flat on a towel in the shade.
3. Once dry, spray with silicone oil and rub the silicone into the skirt. Use a high-grade pure silicone such as CRC 808. Do not use a cheap multipurpose or food-grade silicone. Many furniture polishes such as Pledge or Mr Sheen are high-grade silicones, but are scented. This is a no-no.
4. Allow an hour or two for the silicone to soak into the skirts and, if necessary, apply another coat.
5. For long-term storage, the best method is to spray lures and rigs with silicone, then wrap them individually in greaseproof paper. Store away from light sources.
6. If you store lures in plastic of any sort, the lubricants in the skirts will migrate to the plastic or any other lures the skirts are in contact with. Spraying plastic containers or lure rolls with silicone will cut the migration down significantly.

DON’T SKIMP ON THE SILICONE

When it comes to your rigs, don’t be afraid to spray them with silicone, too. All hooks have a steel and carbon content that will corrode in salt water over time. Spraying rigs with silicone will keep them in top condition for many years. There’s also a theory that coating hooks with non-conductive coatings will increase your hook-up rate. Basic physics tells us that when a ferrous object (for example, a rig with carbon and steel) passes through the Earth’s magnetic field, the object will put out an electrical field. This can confuse a fish attacking a trolled lure. By applying a non-conductive coating such as silicone, non-conductive grease, Teflon or a powder coating, you will prevent any electrical fields, prolong the life of your rigs and increase your success rate.