Since the round lead belly weights can run anywhere from $1.59 per 10 and up, I've decided to think of another way.
These exact steps are for plugs with lips on them only. I'm sure it can be modified to work though.There are numerous freshwater weights that can be converted to belly weights. My idea eliminates drilling a hole in the belly and having to spend the extra time to wood putty it and make it look like there wasn't a hole there in the first place.
These are the weights I used for this. I'm sure Dick's has these, along with other styles of this.
What I did was squish the lead into the roundest shape possible, like so.
Then, I grabbed my drill bits, and matched up a drill bit to the size of my new belly weight, drilled a hole underneath the through wire hole. Then I put the lead in, and tapped it with a hammer. It looks like this.
No need for wood putty, nor epoxy in this step. Saves time, epoxy, and wood putty.
Once you have that in, the plug is painted, and ready to be finished, put the lip on, and it will hide it from sight. The combination of the size of the hole you drill, and the epoxy you use to adhere the lip onto the plug itself will be more then enough to hold it in place. Should look similar to this.
