COLD WATER BLUEGILL PATTERN - FIRST ATTEMPT AT A NEW PATTERN.

Over the course of 2020, predominately fishing lowland/flatland lakes, I noticed a lot of things I had never noticed before..

At first, some of these items didn't make a lot of sense, but the more I fished and the more I dug into the available information I had or came across, the more I discovered just how important it was to be throwing bluegill imitations on these types of reservoirs.

Now it may seem like a no brainer to a lot of anglers, but the fact is that up until last year, I had never had much luck throwing bluegill imitating lures.  which in itself didn't make sense since I was seeing people using live bluegill and catching a lot of bigger fish, albeit catfish and some bass.

What threw me was that up to that point, most of the information I had on file pointed to walleyes aggressively feeding on bullhead or small catfish in those types of lakes throughout the year.  Panfish in general were only briefly mentioned as playing any type of role in establishing feeding patterns for walleye.  

It wasn't until one eater sized walleye I caught in June decided to regurgitate a rather large bluegill it had recently ingested that I began to realize just how important those panfish were to the day to day movements of the walleye.  Honestly, I thought given the overall  broad and tall shape of the panfish wasn't conducive to them being a primary source of forage.

Another incident in the beginning of July further cemented that importance as I came across a group of night catfishermen who had all popped walleye in the 23 inch range.  When I asked them about it, they said it was fairly common for them to score that size of walleye in the heat of the summer on live bluegill.

Fast forward to fall and the season I typically decide to harvest a few fish for the wife. 

Cleaning them and opening the stomach to see the contents revealed that bluegill were about the only thing those walleyes were eating at that time..  There were no catfish or bullheads even though catfish were present in wide size ranges throughout the lake and available in decent numbers.  Just stomachs nearly bursting with smaller gills and little to nothing else.

So I looked back over my lure choices which had been successful and I quickly discovered they all had at least one to two colors typical for bluegill that time of year.

I have painted bluegill patterns before and I have had limited success with them and I felt I now knew the reason why.  While the colors were the standard bluegill colors, they were still off.  The bluegill in the lakes I fished, especially this time of year had lost much of that color and had slightly different hues.  Plus, these were only about 3 inches long. The lures I had used had also been bigger.

Time to come up with a new bluegill pattern to mimic them during cooler water periods.  Not exactly an easy thing to do since bluegills regularly exhibit many different shades throughout the year.  Not uncommon to catch dozens of them even during summer and have them all slightly different shades. 

So, with that in mind,  I am going to try this from scratch with no promises this pattern is even going to work.  In this post, you'll get a brief idea on how I come up with a general sense of the pattern. 

And if common sense dictates anglers try to match the hatch, then this pattern should in theory be more successful during cooler water periods than the others.

First you are going to need a small blank roughly 2 1/2 "- 3" long.  Since bluegill at this size tend to be more broad than thick I opted for the thin bodied generic baitfish crankbait pictured to the left as a reasonable imitation.  It comes in at a little over 2 1/2" and about 1/5th of an ounce without hooks..

I couldn't tell you were I bought it from, as I typically order a couple hundred over the course of the year from various manufacturers and resellers.  I've used it on several different occasions with decent success so I know it runs fairly well

Choose a crankbait within that size range any style you prefer to throw.  This pattern should still work with it.  Make sure you clean the crankbait before you tape the bill.  Soap and water have worked well for me on most baits, but occasionally I'll run into a few that need to be cleaned with rubbing alcohol.

I start off priming the crankbaits  with Rustoleum Flat white.  It generally covers the baits pretty well. with just a light spraying. 

 The key is not to over do any of the painting.  In order for any crankbait to run effectively, one must try to keep the coatings thorough yet light. Excess paint equals excess weight and weight can be a killer on crankbait action.

One to two coats should be sufficient to get the covering you need to prime.  Once you've finished priming it, let it dry for at least an hour or go over it quickly with a heat gun to help set the paint.  

That step is important because painting over top of wet or slightly dry paint can result in some truly undesirable after effects once your finished and go to seal the bait.  Air bubbles, cracking, chipping etc.  You get the gist.  Patience is truly your friend when it comes to painting baits in general.

After I am satisfied everything is dry, I look through the photos I am going to use to reference the pattern.  As you can see from this photo to the left, in cooler to cold water, the bluegill patterns often change hue.  This particular photo is indicative of the range I often run across in early spring and late fall, a time when bigger walleyes are making forays into the shallows to feed.

Why is this important?  The closer an angler can get to the current colors of the dominant forage, the better chances they stand at tempting or provoking strikes.  Matching the hatch...

Getting back to the crankbait.  The first thing I look at when attempting a new pattern based on real life forage are the underlying colors and how they are spread out across the fish.  Also bear in mind that you will work from the bottom up.    

In this case, I am seeing a creamy light orange color predominating from the belly up almost to the shoulder.  That orange is a bit more visible on the throat area and the sides of the fish are plum colored, transparent, and overlaying the orange. 

I also know there is some yellow in there and that the yellow will help brighten up the orange I put on later.  So I start with the belly first, putting enough on just to lightly cover the underside.

All the paints I use are createx water based paints and createx reducers.  The airbrush is an Iwata HP model along with an Iwata Ninja air compressor set on high

After that initial coat, I apply another light coat over the aforementioned area, but this time, I also bring that yellow up along the sides and stop just before I reach the crankbaits shoulders.

If you look at the reference picture again, you can see how high the lighter color goes along the sides of the fish before the darker shades of purplish pink blend in over top of it.  In order to get this, I typically try to go a lighter higher than I see with the photo and blend everything in approximately where it should be.  Nothing in nature is perfect so you do have some leeway when it comes to where you are blending...up to a point where the bait looks totally unnatural.  

I mix in some fluorescent orange with what yellow I have left in the airbrush.  Just enough to get it that creamy orange color I am looking for.  

Once I manage to mix it to the hue I want I apply it to the throat and upper belly area.  When this is done correctly, you'll see the orange blending into the creamy yellow naturally.  It just looks right to the eye.

After a quick heat setting with a small portable ceramic heater, I  apply the purple or plum color to the sides of the bait. 

A transparent here would have been way better but unfortunately I had to use a fluorescent plum and mix in a little extra thinner to give it a transparent effect.

I started along the spine and over-sprayed the shoulders halfway down the sides until I got a really good blending effect.

Where the purple meets the yellow, you can see an orange blending area.  Looking closely at the reference photo, you will see that same effect, albeit in a few slightly different areas. 

Used a bit of transparent gray and fluorescent plum mix to come up with the striping color.  I like contrasts, but if you notice with the reference pic, the common bluegill striping naturally blends into the plum color of the sides.  

I sprayed it  lightly through a regular hair pick I mix in some flourescent orange with what yellow I have left in the airbrush.  Just enough to get it that creamy orange color I am looking for.  Once I manage to mix it to the hue I wan.t I apply it to the throat and upper belly area. 

When this is done correctly, you'll see the orange blending into the creamy yellow naturally.  It just looks right to the eye placed  lightly up against the bait to get the striping.

Initial coat of sepia along the back,  Use light even coats,  It might not seem like you are getting any paint on the bait but trust me, go even one coat too many and it will darken up the bait. 

I used three in total for the entire pattern, but in hindsight, I should have used just 2.  This would have kept the bait lighter and resulted in a more striking end product.

But as I have said, this a first attempt and up to this point, I am feeling optimistic this bait will turn out exactly how I want it to.

I apply a second coat of sepia along back and sides. Notice how the sepia really just makes everything more lifelike.

I am not sure how I ever painted natural patterns before I ran across Sepia.  You wouldn't think upon looking at it in a bottle that it could very well be the most important color in your painting inventory, but trust me, it is.  It is absolutely an essential color to have and to use in moderation especially if you love painting natural baitfish patterns.

Next I made up a weird mossy green after I thoroughly cleaned out the airbrush,  to go over the back and slightly over shoulders.  

No specific recipe for this but a combination of colors I had on hand.  Any shade of natural green should actually work, but this is close to what I remember color-wise to what the bluegill have in the lakes I fish.

Each lake or body of water that has bluegill has its own shades and hues for them.  As you can see from the very top photo at the beginning of this article, that shade of green I used on these baits came very close to what that fish exhibits.  

Side view of the green I used.  

Again, it is looking like a really close match which is amazing since I mixed everything by eye with the colors I had on hand and had no specific recipe. 

A closer side view of the green.  More of a sunfish type of green than anything, but it works and I decided to run with it.

If I wouldn't have liked it at this point, I would have mixed up a slightly darker color green by eye and the colors on hand and reapplied the paint to get it the way I wanted.  

A note of interest -I haven't used any of the color shifting paints, but I am willing to bet they could be used to great effect in this pattern to provide a bit more realism to the finished bait.  

Do not know if applying the sepia in the next step would interfere with the color shifting properties of that paint though.

One more time with sepia or transparent black.  At the time, I liked the way it darkened everything up and blended everything together pretty naturally..  

Hit the gills with the bluegill black flap. I used a homemade template for that flap, which is made out of laminating sheet.  Simple and effective.

This really brought this lure to life. As I said earlier, I had used three coats of Sepia and I believe 2 would have gotten this a shade lighter and made everything else pop.  

Another splotch of yellow for some extra punch

I added the eyes and viola! The finished product. 

 A little darker than I wanted but damn these really look great.  Cannot wait to get them sealed and hardware put on them.  

All in all, I can see a few areas where I should have went lighter to help mimic the reference photo, but this is still an acceptable attempt.  

I like this better than some of the other bluegill patterns I have painted in the past.

I hope this provided some clarification on how I approach painting natural baitfish patterns to crankbait blanks.  Everyone has their own process of painting.  That is what makes this hobby great.  You learn new things, new techniques for bait painting and if you have a specific idea, you can use a few blanks and try it out to see if it works.  It either does or it doesn't but ultimately, the fish will let you know, and I am chomping at the bit to see how well these work in the early spring.  So until the next article

Keep those lines wet, those hooks sharp and those fish afraid.