Restoring Tomic plugs

[VanCity Tyee]

I found some old Tomic plugs today. The paint seems a bit scratched and the tie bar and swivels are very corroded. I was wondering what people do to fix them up. Can i just use WD 40 to clean up the tiebar? or can i just buy new ones. Also how would i replace the swivels on them? Any advice is appreciated. Feel free to post up your restored Tomic plugs as well.

Thanks


Here are some photos

 

[Seafever]

When they get that bad I just pull the pins and fish them with line straight through...

You can't really tell how eaten out/corroded the swivels are.....so I don't take that chance.....

 

[Sr SQ]

Cut the tie-bar and pull it out, then slide your main line thru and tie on a new swivel that you pinch on a new 6-7/0 siwash hook.
I do this to all my plugs the minute I unpackage them anyway.............I guess you could say I "fix them up from new"
Not really sure the color is all that important (as important as the action anyway) because my best producers dont look like they have much paint left.

 

[spring fever]

X2 with Sr SQ-the top hole is the one that goes all the way through--the bottom hole or front hole the pins are just half way through so each side needs to be pulled-just in case you're tempted to cut too close too the body. Not hard to do and if you break off-the plug floats to the surface and you get it back!!!

 

[gungadin]

If your interested in getting it repainted by tomic, they do a very nice job and in glow too.

 

[Seafever]

These are some I repainted with the pins pulled........

 

[VanCity Tyee]

Thanks for the replies guys much appreciated. I tried retying a plug does this look right.

Seafever those plugs you painted look really nice what kind of paint would one use to paint a plug.

 

[Seafever]

That looks good...but you might want to put a bead between the swivel and the body...

I use beads in front of the swivel so that I can get the correct distance for the hook to hang.

I like to use a hook that when saddled over the back of the plug will just slide off...

if the hook is too small and it "saddles", sometimes it will stick there from the hook point..
if hook is too big it will throw the plug action off
if it's too far back you could miss strikes

I use all sorts of stuff to paint with.......spray bombs,brush paint, nylon mesh,. I never use lacquer only enamel. I use spray enamel and can enamel.

For finish coat I use Krylon Satin Coat or Krylon Triple Thick Glaze.

Have also used Tremclad Clear.....but have to be careful with that....enamel needs to dry for at least 3 weeks before I use that.

This winter I'm going to buy a half decent airbrush kit.......it will make spoon and plug refinishing alot more precise.

 

[Sr SQ]

These are some I repainted with the pins pulled........View attachment 8265

Nice lookin paint jobs Seafever

 

[VanCity Tyee]

That looks good...but you might want to put a bead between the swivel and the body...

I use beads in front of the swivel so that I can get the correct distance for the hook to hang.

I like to use a hook that when saddled over the back of the plug will just slide off...

if the hook is too small and it "saddles", sometimes it will stick there from the hook point..
if hook is too big it will throw the plug action off
if it's too far back you could miss strikes

I use all sorts of stuff to paint with.......spray bombs,brush paint, nylon mesh,. I never use lacquer only enamel. I use spray enamel and can enamel.

For finish coat I use Krylon Satin Coat or Krylon Triple Thick Glaze.

Have also used Tremclad Clear.....but have to be careful with that....enamel needs to dry for at least 3 weeks before I use that.

This winter I'm going to buy a half decent airbrush kit.......it will make spoon and plug refinishing alot more precise.

Thank you for the advice im going to pick up some paint and try it out. Also going to get some beads to add to the plugs.

 

[searun]

My wife scored a huge box of Tomics in various sizes at a garage sale for $10. There must be about 200 of them. I was able to clean up a batch last night and salvaged about 20 that were brand new but filthy (must have been riding in the troller's bilge). There are about 75 of them that are in not great condition needing a re-paint.

Just looking for some advice for a winter project doing re-paints if anyone has had any success doing this, and what type of paints are best to use, any tips on proper prep and paint techniques. Should be a lot of fun playing!

 

[SteelyDan]

Pull pins, fill blemishes and put em in a box and ship them to tomic for repaint. Thats what I did

 

[fishin_magician]

Find out whether any are good or not first.

The ones which have bite marks, have them repainted by Tomic in the best colour patterns for where you fish.

 

[searun]

Yup, I have high graded out the one's with teeth marks and scratch marks on the plug face that the commercial trollers do to mark good producers. Some of them are pretty tired looking and those are the one's I want to play around and do my own colour patterns rather than ship them to Tomic. I know they do nice re-paints. I'm just looking for a nice winter project to experiment around with my own ideas on colour patterns. Was hopeful someone else has already played around a bit with paints and finishing techniques so I could save myself the learning curve when the time comes to start my project.

 

[spring fever]

Yup, I have high graded out the one's with teeth marks and scratch marks on the plug face that the commercial trollers do to mark good producers. Some of them are pretty tired looking and those are the one's I want to play around and do my own colour patterns rather than ship them to Tomic. I know they do nice re-paints. I'm just looking for a nice winter project to experiment around with my own ideas on colour patterns. Was hopeful someone else has already played around a bit with paints and finishing techniques so I could save myself the learning curve when the time comes to start my project.

I think SeaFever is the guy to talk to-he seems to be a bit of an artist from the plugs I've seen that he worked on!!

 

[onefish]

Yup, I have high graded out the one's with teeth marks and scratch marks on the plug face that the commercial trollers do to mark good producers. Some of them are pretty tired looking and those are the one's I want to play around and do my own colour patterns rather than ship them to Tomic. I know they do nice re-paints. I'm just looking for a nice winter project to experiment around with my own ideas on colour patterns. Was hopeful someone else has already played around a bit with paints and finishing techniques so I could save myself the learning curve when the time comes to start my project.

I have never heard of guys having the time to put marks on the front of a plug to indicate it caught a smiley. A hot plug may catch 5 or even 10 smileys a day and you are far too busy to fart around notching the front to record it's catch history (and possibly screw up the plug in the process).
The plugs with the most teeth marks on the sides are the "hot" plugs. They usually look like absolute crap but for whatever reason they catch fish (it must be the action not the colour). Those are the used plugs you want to buy not the nice shiny ones.
I had a batch of fishy plugs sent back to Tomic for repainting and reconditioning. They looked fantastic but for whatever reason did not fish as well as they had before they were refurbished.
Personally I would fish the beat up plugs, make sure the swivel is ok, the ring in the eye will be fine and make sure the hook is SHARP!
If you are not happy with the way they fish then send them in for refurbishing.
I bet you will be surprised how well they fish without the fresh paint job.

 

[searun]

Got loads of those. Was cleaning more in the box. I must have about 400 of them. Some are new, others are in various stages of "used." Onefish, some of the guys working the coast do mark their most productive plugs by using the hook point to scratch a line in the plug face. This is a fairly common practice among some of the guys in the trolling fleet.

 

[fshnfnatic]

You bet,searun. Commercial trolled for quite a few years,and that's exactly what my skipper would do.He had some sort of secret code using vertical,horizontal,and diagonal lines combined with X's.Asked him one day what they all meant,and
he told me to mind my own business and check the f@#kn' lines.Nicest guy you'd ever meet on land in the off season,but when
he went fishing for the summer he transformed into a miserable basturd!

 

[crab bait]

For old tomic plugs, here's a quick tip;

FLITZ metal polish. Comes in a grey tube for $12 and works great on spoons and old reels too.

For the old plugs, put some on a soft rag and polish the plastic and paint on the plug. It does remove the paint a bit, but it's like cut polish on a vehicle. It is amazing what a couple of minutes will do. Give it a try on any plug before you send it in for a repaint. Take two old crappy plugs and polish one and compare. It will be a night/day difference.

 

[searun]

Hey, thanks for that tip. Funny, I have been cleaning them up with a soft scour pad and soapy water and some of these guys are coming out looking great. I must have salvaged about 150 that are good to go as far as I'm concerned. I will try a few with that polish to see if it makes further difference. Some of them have loads of teeth marks, so I will high grade those into a special box!! What a steal of a deal. Looks like I owe my wife a nice dinner night out.