Time had not been kind to the old Rebel and Bomber swimmers. The hooks and snap rings were in bad shape and the paint on them was barely there...

Photos and Story by Tom Vassallo

Ahhh...the dreaded "Honey-Do" list...bane of all husbands and it never seems to end. To be honest, I have been doing my best to shorten that list this summer. As the saying goes..."Happy Wife...Happy Life". After replacing the shed and building a small deck for the BBQ grill, it was time to attack one of the big ones. That's right...the garage clean out. You know...the garage that looks like the aftermath of the bombing of London. Cardboard...wood...tires...hardware...tools...air compressor...table saw...scroll saw...NOT fun. However, the thought of going a year or two without the occasional "reminder" from the wife was indeed quite appealing.

As I had been reminded several times, "99% of this stuff is YOURS!" Well...I couldn't argue that point. And besides, I knew that buried in all the stuff was GOOD stuff. You see there were cans and old tackle boxes with FISHING stuff...some from my Dad when he passed away, others from my father-in-law when he passed on and some from my old boat when she passed on! (LOL) Actually, I was looking forward to rearranging the garage to set up the drill press, table saw and lathe to make some NEW lures too! It took nearly a week to sort out and move all the stuff. Then came sorting and packaging weights, hooks, swivels and clips...another week! It was an arduous task. My wife actually helped me out by washing and rinsing the old containers and tackle boxes. It was looking good.

Unfortunately, time had not been kind to the old surf Rebel and Bomber swimmers. The hooks and snap rings were in bad shape and the paint on them was barely there. I used to be a surf guy before getting hooked on boats and then came the four boys to take care of...by then, surf fishing had really become a forgotten past time. But remembering the great times, the smell of the beach and the sight of a huge moon over the sea got me thinking that I just couldn't discard those "old faithful", so I vowed to get them back in shape to survive a few more trips to the sand. I had already purchased some new waders, and promised Bob Misak that him and I would hit the beach this fall.

The salt and sand had taken the life out of these old rebel surf swimmers I uncovered during my garage clean up.

As you can see from the photo above, these poor devils had taken a lickin' and were no longer tickin'. The first step was to remove the snap rings and old hooks. An old dykes wire-cutting pliers made short work of those, but be careful...some of this metal can go flying and hit an eye or get caught in a toe. Wear some safety glasses and footwear at this point.

Once the hooks were gone, a good scrubbing with a brillo pad will remove most traces of salt and corrosion from the lure's surface, eyehooks and/or wires. Dry them well with an old cotton or microfiber cloth so there will be little or no dust or hairs on them. Then use some painter's tape (or masking tape if you don't have any) and mask off any lips. I also used an exacto knife to cut masks for the eyes, since most were still in good shape.

A good scrubbing with steel wool and some painter's tape will get the bodies ready for paint.

While I was cleaning the garage, I had located a bunch of spray cans of old enamel and rustoleum paints. Not exactly as precise as my airbrush, but I figured I'd save a little coin and use what I had. The first coat consisted of a gray automotive primer. BE WARNED...some paints do not play nice with each other or certain plastics. There is a line of new paints by Krylon you can pick up made specifically to paint on plastics. They will probably do a "zillion" plugs, so it may be worth the piece of mind to spend a few extra bucks.

A first coat of gray automotive primer will seal the old paint to the swimmer bodies and creat a uniform base color.

The next part was the FUN part. I had a rustoleum "chrome" paint and a bronze metallic from my old Crown Vic. I laid down a coat of the chrome. After allowing that to dry about a half hour, I sprayed the bellies with some cheap Walmart gloss white. A half hour or so later, I hit the top of the lures with the bronze. After another half hour, I lightly sprayed the head and down the backbone with some cheap "dollar-a-can" Walmart green enamel. This was giving me my "menhaden" look. A one-hole punch and an old manila file folder gave me the final "spot" detail in the gill area. The lures were looking fine, but an attempt to topcoat the enamels with a Krylon "Triple Thick Glaze" that I've used over water-based acrylics on wooden lures was a failure. After trying it on one of the lures, I decided the enamels would have to fend for themselves.

The snap rings and hooks are virtually impossible without a good snap ring pliers. If you are not using one, do yourself a favor and pick one up from your local bait and tackle. I get a lot of my hooks, snap rings and grommets from Jersey Tackle. Try to support our local businesses. I used some 1/0 and 2/0 galvanized trebles on the larger lures. On the smaller ones, I went with a 1/0 bronze which is still a substantial hook, but not as bulky. It goes without saying that they will need to be replaced more often. Below is a photo of the finished "Rebel Re-Do".

A spray can is not as easy or accurate to put on the final finish, but for a "budget" paint job and a fast refurbishing...it will work just fine. Some new snap rings and hooks finalized the new look for my old swimmers.

I also took a couple of old Cotton Cordell swimmers and gave them a simple wash job, some new hooks and snap rings. I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Check those out in the picture below.

With some old lures, a simple washing, new snap rings and a couple of hooks can turn them back into real striper magnets!.

So get into those tackle boxes and don't be afraid to "un-retire" those old plastic rebels and bombers. They used to do just fine catching blitzing blues and stripers in the surf and you'll save a little money on replacing them all. So breathe some new life into those old timers and you may get a pleasant surprise when you hit the surf in the fall. Now get in that garage and get to work!