Well, it's that time of year again when the water level in the local pond has now dropped 6 feet which means it's lure hunting season. I've found some pretty cool stuff in the muck around the pond, like an old copper kastmaster, a little cleo, a blue fox super vibrax, an Xcalibur lipless crankbait, tons of stick worms, grubs and jigheads, and the occasional spinnerbait. However, most of the lures, especially blades, are tarnished beyond recognition. Does anyone know a good way to restore the shine in an old bladed lure? I've been using Lime-A-Way which has been working but it takes a long time to get a lure nice and clean. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Sounds like you are already on the way.  Sometimes, I use silver or brass polish, etc. but the best thing I have used came from a painting enthusiasts: "Acetone" which you can buy cheaply by gallon and pass on what you don't use to your heirs--hard to use a gallon.  If you just want to give it a try--finger nail polish remover is the same thing.  It even comes on small pads so you don't have to use your wife's favorite dish towel but to keep clear vision let me suggest you get your own or it might take a week for the swelling to go down in your eye.  Know what I mean?  My grand daughter who loves to help me paint let's me use hers sometimes (she's 7 but loves to paint lures, even some I didn't want painted) How bout some of the rest of you?  I have trouble with old spinner bait blades.  I bought a small hobbyists air gun but have never taken the time to use it.  Any suggestions?  Uncle Tom

The problem with many of the blades is that they are plated brass. The corrosion gets under the plating or the paint. I've used some stuff called "The Works Rust, Calcium and Lime Remover" on crusted blades...and it takes off everthing down to bare brass, at which point you have to use a polish like Brasso etc...to get them to shine.

On blades that haven't reached the crusty stage yet, I've used both Brasso and jewelry polish to clean them up.

The brass blades could painted if you didn't like them to be brass colored though. Use a clear coat on them to make them last longer.

The only time that acetone-based nail polish remover has worked for me is on lures with certain other types of "debris" stuck to them.

Rust is a different beast...as rusty spots are usually where there was a tiny imperfection in the metal itself. A Dremel-type tool with a small grinding stone on it helps with this.

Thanks so much for the help guys. Also, does anyone know how to get a crankbait to float again? I found some old cranks at the pond that are sinking on me and would like to be able to use them again. Any thoughts?

Some lures are made to sink by design....Rapala Countdowns, Rat-L-Trap's and Cordell Spots all sink. Sebile, Lucky Craft and Yozuri have all made sinking lures in the recent past too.

At the same time though, the lure could have a tiny hole in it, allowing it to get filled with water. If you can, remove the screw eyes and shake it. If you see / feel water coming out, then you know it has a leak that you would have to close up once the water has emptied out / evaporated.

If it's a wood lure that had a crack in the paint, then it could have absorbed water over a period of time, causing it to sink. Dry it out and seal the crack with something.

A lot of new lures have a clear coat over paint job--sometimes they get a small crack in them that allows them to take on water.  One of my favorite Rapala lures has done this and it took me a while to figure out why the old one worked better than the new replacement.  I noticed the water because it changed the color of its belly.  Fish it with a couple of friends who are very competitive.  I always forget to mention the difference, they think it is the same lure.  I drill small holes in them some time to speed up the drying process and then cover with some kine of clear epoxy.  Once you get over drilling a hole in $10.00 lure you will be surprised the things you can make them do.  Might I suggest you start with small hole--it is a lot easier to make it bigger than to make it smaller.  Good luck, sounds like you may be interested in lure refurbishing or building.  Be careful if it is a vintage lure--antiques are worth more like they are than like they were!  Uncle Tom

Hi. I use my dremel with felt polishing pads to either restore the finish on plated metal lures and blades or I  polish the brass that used to be under the plating. If they are heavily tarnished I start with tripoli polishing compound, then use white rouge and finish with jeweler's rouge compound. I also follow by cleaning the polished blades with rubbing alcohol and/or soap and water. I have also used Brasso metal polish with great results.
Plastic crankbait lips can be polished in much the same manner with pads that are designed to restore automotive headlights and other plastic lenses. 3M makes a kit that can be used with a cordless drill. I have had pretty good results and have even made a "ghost" finish crankbait with it(the bait is see through around the paint pattern).
As for restoring painted lures, I have simply cleaned them, primered them and then airbrushed finishes on lures and I am happy with the results.
Good luck.

Thanks Sethbergen!  I'm going to dig through all those old tools and look for my Dremel Tool.  After reading your article I asked myself why I did not think of that earlier.  Opened up lots of ideas for the old dremel tool.  After looking at Mr. Bill's spinners and others, maybe we need a lure of week section for home made lures or at least lure of the month.  What do some of the rest of you think?  Uncle Tom

Thanks from me too...to ALL of you that have contributed to this topic so far....great info!

I have many lures...a wide variety of both metal, wood and plastic...that I will be working on over the upcoming months...and turnip is getting a bunch from me that he too will be working on.

Neither of us do airbrush at the moment...although he has talked about MAYBE getting into it. I personally don't have the eyesight...nor the patience / artistic qualities in me to do that. At the same time though...I'm sure that I will be able to show you folks some fairly decent "refurbed" lures.

HOW would you folks feel if I copied all this Topic to one we had a while back about lures in the "Member's Tips" Forum...and continuing this discussion there?

Found a small jigging spoon in the muck near the shoreline of a lake I usually fish.  The spoon was in good shape, but the hook was rusted beyond belief.  I'll have to replace the treble hook before I can use it.  I'm considering putting a red treble hook on it, but I'm not sure if that's the best choice.

The Classic Michigander