16 replies to this topic

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

I started painting some muskie lures this year with spray paint and have had mixed results, but after refining my technique i'm pretty confident that they'll catch some fish! will post pics soon.

the only problem i have been having is painting the eyes. as it is hard to make tiny eyes with a can of aerosol paint i have been using paint pens. when i put a clearcoat on, the eyes run. going to brush on eyes with paint from the cans from now on.

i have a badger 200 airbrush i want to start using as soon as i have time to figure the damn thing out lol

does anybody else build/paint crankbaits? i'd like to learn from what other people are doing.

[S blair]

Take a nail and dip the head of it in paint and dab in on your lure.... Try different colors white black,, red yellow....Good Luck

[Ryan]

Would it work if you carved out a hole and glued in one of those crafting eyes?

[morfrost]

One of the Wood Carving Magazines now on sale at the newsstand has an article on carving wooden plugs, but they also have some tips on painting; i.e. producing scale effects, etc. I don't remember which magazine, but I saw it within the last 2 weeks or so. I don't carve right now, but I look at the magazines from time to time. Someday I might try it out.

As far as painting ryes, the nail method is good, as mentioned before. Get nails with different sized heads , and use acrylic enamel. Do the eyeball first in one colour ( white or yellow) then use a smaller nailhead for the pupil, usually black. Dip the nailhead into a can of paint, then press the head onto the surface of the lure. After it's dry, do the smaller nail. This should allow clearcoating over.

Have you thought about using stick on eyes, then clearcoating over them to seal them in?

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

never thought of the nail method. will try it out next time!

as far as stick on eyes go, i'll have to pick up a pack of googley eyes. might add some rattle

[Nim Rod]

go on stripers247--there is a truckload of info on plug making

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

thanks rod! think i may have visited it before already!

morfrost- do you remember where you saw the magazine? might narrow the search lol

[delete]

Those 3-d stick on eyes look the best. If you want to get fancy, you can buy taxidermy glass/plastic eyes and make your lures really come alive. Also, don't forget about using foils like they do on the original rapalas. The most realistic lures often have foil on the body then are painted over to give true realism. Aluminum foil tape for duct work is excellent. You can smooth it out and put indentations in for gills, scales etc if the lure body soft enough.

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

Here is the first batch of customs i did this year.. next batch will probably be a set of hellhounds...

[morfrost]

Here is the first batch of customs i did this year.. next batch will probably be a set of hellhounds...

Jay- GREAT Job on those plugs! I finally got to the magazinr shop and couldn't find the magazine I saw. It must have been a May issue, so I can't tell you what the name was. If you search for " painting wooden lures" or such, I'm sure you will get some information.

Don ( morfrost)

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

thanks! I'm sure Ron will let us know when he catches some muskies with them! i should have a few more to post in the near future!

[ipop]

google eyes or craft eyes as they are often called are okay (and as mentioned, rattle a bit), and a lot of the bigger striper flies have them. glass eyes (made from glass or plastic) and similar for decoys etc. are a much nicer product but also more expensive and time consuming to fit (epoxy putty works best) but will also take much more abuse. sequins, foils and stick on eyes also work to varying degrees.

other than the "glass" eyes, make sure you cover them in clear coat or sealer of some kind. you can recess the "glass" eyes by drilling a cone shaped hole for the eye socket if you don't like the bulging effect.

for foils a pair of hole punch pliers works great, although you have little control of the size. i have also punched the hole out, then cut a circle around the hole, so the empty hole is the pupil - works well.

test your sealer/clear coat before using it on you lure - some will eat the paint right off, others can change the color a bit, yet other will "crocadile" the paint, which is okay sometimes, a disaster other times.

one way to get a scale pattern is to place mesh, like from an onion bag, tightly across the lure, then spray lightly. i would wait in most cases until it's dry to remove the mesh but that can cause ridges...unless that what your looking for - a deeper scale impression. another way to get scales is to use a woodburner to draw/etch them onto the lure before painting. another method for scales is again using a nail (handy aren't they!!)with the paint still a bit wet, just thinking about tacky, you can scratch in the scale pattern. it takes a little practice to get the timing right - to soon and the paint just flows and fills in the scratches, to late and either nothing works or it ruins the paint job. so think a little area at a time to begin with. you can also just carve them...if you have the time....

a wire-through design for hook/ring attachment is best for heavy action like muskies and stripers, rather than screw eyes for hook conections. drilling the whole length works, but you can also either: cut a slot along the belly, letting you wire up easily and then cover with epoxy; angle drill from each end towards the belly & then either slot it to hide the wire or just epoxy and paint over to give more of a v-belly like mackeral have.

don't skimp on the rings and hooks, it will end up costing you later, when it counts with a big fish.

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

[ipop]

nice paint jobs jay. how do you like those sabre hooks, like shown on the top lure? i have very little confidence in them, they seem to be easier to throw the bait from the fishes point of view. anybody else had trouble with them? maybe i had a bad batch? they also corroded bad, i had to replace all of them that i used last year.

[Muskietackler]

Sweet looking crankbaits!! I started doing custom painted schemes on old lures that the paint got all chipped up from northern pike. I'll start a new thread with some pics.

[Jay (Fisherpunk)]

ipop- have not hooked anything on the giant thunderstick yet..... yet... so i dont know how i feel about the sabre hooks. i guess they are supossed to be exceptionally strong. only time will tell!.

m-tackler saw yours! they're awesome! gives me some ideas for the next batch!

[ipop]

the sabre hooks are strong, but i found brookies and stripers threw the hooks like they were barbless. i tried two different sizes, but from the same supplier, so i still might have gotten a bad batch. hurry up and land a monster so we can see if they work for you! lol! go get`em Jay!