BUILDING YOUR OWN UV BOX FOR BLANK SEALING

 

 

So, here we are, in the middle of the cold water period.  There isn't too much open water left and the water that is open is hit or miss in terms of success rates.  Usually around this time of year, I fill my down time with various projects, including painting crankbait blanks.  

Normally, it is color combinations I haven't seen before, or trying to replicate proven patterns.  Lately however, I've been shifting my attention to natural patterns in part to try and tempt fish that have seen everything off the shelf from the local big box stores.

All of this is all well and good, but eventually, when I am done painting them, the unenviable job of sealing them comes to the fore.  The only thing worse than that is actually putting the split rings and hooks on them.

Years ago, I used to use concrete sealant, but that was a very stinky job, with noxious fumes and it stunk up the garage and the house.  Not to mention, it probably posed several fire hazards and skunked out the tackle box for weeks.

Enter a product called AlumiUV.  Its a UV resin, when applied to baits and exposed to UV wavelengths of 365nm or better, hardens into an almost indestructible coating that protects my paint jobs and makes the blank water tight.

One of the biggest issues with this product is making a UV box that will adequately cure your bait once you hang them in it.  Below you'll see a picture of this ugly first guerilla build with some baits hanging in it for good measure.

As you can see, the box is hardly adequate for the number of baits I typically seal at one time. 

A new box is definitely in order and I thought, why not show everyone how easy it is to actually build one of these boxes using materials I already had on hand, or something someone could get pretty easily. 

So I decided to use an old cupboard I had tucked away in the basement that wasn't seeing any use.  It was doubtful if it would see any use as my wife totally hated the color I stained it, so there's that lol.

Now, the lights I have are good lights.  Not optimal but they can cure a bait hard as a rock within 8-20 minutes of direct exposure, which is plenty of time for me.  

But those two lights in an old cupboard were not going to get the job done in this big of an area.  Too much open area to adequately cure baits over a large area. Thus, I needed two more lights minimum.  Preferably bar lights  or at least two more of the same type I currently have.  

After doing some thinking, I opted for buying two more of the same type I had.  Two lights, each pushing 385-400 nm UV wavelengths.   They were the same strength I had in the old box.  The optimal wavelength is 365 nm but the prices are a bit outrageous in my estimation.  

The manufacturer of my old lights was out of stock so I had to do some digging to find some that were comparable.  Finally, after about an hour of searching I found some I thought would work as well.  So I ordered them late last weekend and they arrived Friday. 

Only a bit different in terms of size and light arrangement, but still the same wattage and working light angles. They ran about 50 bucks for 2 of them if I remember right. 

(If you look closer, you can see a bunch of other items I planned on using for this project.)

And now for the box. 

I mentioned I had an old cupboard I planned on using. I dug it out of the basement nook it was hiding it and dusted it off.  It was a cheap storage cabinet from Menards that ran me roughly 40 bucks back when I bought it.

Roughly 30 inches long x 12 inches wide x 12 deep.  Plenty of room for curing baits, provided I could get the UV light brackets installed in there.

This provided plenty of potential and also left room to expand into some future directions, if the needs arose.  

I needed to remove the door to get adequately started on this project.  Grabbed my electric drill, and proceeded to take the screws out of the hinges and set the door off to the side.

Next I needed to drill out the holes that would serve to hold the 3/8" 3' dowel I had.  The dowel would be the stable surface I hang the coated baits from to dry via large paper clips.

I used a 3/8" bit and just drilled where I had marked the holes a week earlier.  That mark was centered  width wise, but located 2" down from what would be the "new" top of the box.

This height allowed for the curing of larger baits, up to 6".

For bigger baits, like the 10-12 Grandma blanks I occasionally paint, I will have to put in some hooks beneath the dowel holes, remove the dowel, and then tip upright to get the height I need.  

It was at this point, I knew I had to drill the hole where I would be running the electrical cords out of once I mounted the UV lights inside. 

I knew I was going to be running the cords along side the box on the outside and plug them into a power strip mounted towards the rear of the box,  so I opted for a more centrally located hole.  I used a 1 1/2 inch drill bit  to create the hole to run the power cords through. 

I also took the lights off their brackets and placed the brackets inside the cabinet, marked out the bracket holes for the bolts and drilled them out.

After I had finished with all the drilling, I took a small hand held vacuum and cleaned up all the sawdust out of and around the box.

Beings I have already built a UV box before, I knew I wanted to do some things differently with this one. 

First on the agenda was using aluminum foil and keeping it affixed to the sides without the use of duct tape.

So I opted for some adhesive spray from Elmers.

It worked perfectly and allowed me the flexibility to smooth out most of the wrinkles and reposition the foil until it was in place.

I started by unrolling enough foil to cover one side lengthwise with about three inches extra on each side.

Once I had the sheet, I flipped it over so the duller side as facing me, sprayed it with the adhesive and then carefully inserted the sheet into the cabinet and did the bottom.  The extra length on each side was folded onto the opposing surface.   I repeated the process for the other sides and for the door also and found out with enough coaxing, I could almost "blend" the extra  foil into the sheet I had previously placed with just some finger pressure.  

I almost opted to get out the old rolling pin I had in the kitchen but not sure I could have gotten it to fit well enough to actually make a difference.

This is what the inside of the box looked like when I was finished and had the door reattached to the cabinet.  Not perfect, but still pretty damn good.

One thing to remember if any of you choose to build a UV bo is that mirrors, or silver paint really don't work that well with UV lights.  I had the same thought but before investing in either of those things, I figured I needed to do some research. 

Not sure now but I seem to remember reading a thread where someone was explaining how mirrors actually tended to absorb or change the wavelength pattern of the UV light and render it ineffective.  Silver paint didn't offer enough reflectivity to make it worth the effort.  

You can see the hole I drilled in the cabinet at the bottom of it.  That is where I planned to thread the wires.

I opted to put some round felt spacers beneath on the bottom to help ensure I had enough clearance between the cabinet and the desk with the bolts I was using.

These were some I picked up at Menards.  A set of 8 from Gorilla Glue ran me about 6 bucks.  They are pretty thick and hold great and allowed for enough clearance.

You can see the holes I drilled for the light brackets between the spacers.

The next step was to actually was to flip the cabinet back over and set the lights in there. 

Since I already had the holes drilled, It was simply a matter of placing the lights and brackets back in, threading in the screws and tightening them.

Be advised, its a tough operation since there isn't much clearance beneath the light and bracket but it can be managed.

After I had them mounted, I threaded all the the wiring through the central hole.

I didn't bother putting in any cable holders or tying them up on the inside at this point..  Not really necessary plus it ensured I had enough cable to reach just about any place I decided to place the power strip.

I did use cable holders to secure the power cords to the outside of the cabinet/UV box and then attached a power strip towards the back of the cabinet.  

This prevent the loose cables from cluttering the area, sticking out and gave the box a cleaner look.

The power strips position in the back was more or less to prevent any accidental powering down, plus it only had a 2 foot cord so it was easier to reach the wall outlet with it there.

Once everything was plugged in, it was time to turn it on and see how everything looked.

I powered it up and was pretty pleased with how it turned out overall.  I noticed some slight discrepancy in the lights right away, but after using it already, it only takes a few more minutes to cure baits with the new ones.

One of the perks of the new lights was that they had their own on and off switches so I can turn them off if I do not need to use them to cure anything.  Plus, the bigger baits would not hang down far enough to use their lighting.

After using this box a few times, I can see I could have probably gotten more powerful lights to help increase curing times, but since I am not painting baits to sell at this point, curing time is not really that critical.

When I do start to sell them, then I will have to upgrade the setup, but with this setup, upgrading to bigger lights should no be an issue.  I could also install some smaller light bars over top of the lights currently in place to increase the level of UV exposure the baits receive.

So there you have it...A relatively easy UV box build based mostly on material I had on hand.  Overall cost of the project would probably run close to 150 bucks or slightly more, all depending on the lights one buys.

Here's hoping you all get some use out of this article in the future.  And if anyone has any better methods or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comment section below.

Now its time to fire up the airbrush...I got baits to make.

GENERIC BLUEGILL PATTERN

 

It's been a bit cold here the last week .  Took a little break from the madness in the Lure Foundry and headed out to the lake to check on some things.  Looking over the vast swathe of ice covering the lake in all but a few places brought my thoughts back to warmer days and the expectations that inevitably follow.

One of the things I thought about was the importance of the bluegill in this lakes food chain.  I know I've brought it up before in other articles, but it got me to really thinking on how despite all my crankbait painting, I really don't have a generic bluegill pattern I can just throw anyway and expect to catch some fish.

The problem there is the invariable and infinite color variations one finds in bluegill, hybrids and sunfish.  

Another problem is that if one tries to really replicate the colors those fish sport, you tend to get a really dark patterned bait that only darkens further once you put the clear coat on.  There is a fine line to walk when painting crankbaits that is far to easy to cross.  

On the flip side, having a lure that is slightly different than what most predatory fish see can be a bonus.  If it is close enough to the usual selection of forage they see, but slightly a different color, it sets the bait apart from everything else, effectively making it a target.  

So, after I got home, I got out the airbrush, arranged the airbrush paints, pulled up a photo of the lightest bluegill I could find with spring and summer colors and put together a quick plan to see if I could 

As you can see with the nearly finished bait, the bluegill I found on the internet was rather light and even after I finished painting the blank and held it up to the photo for comparison, it was still a bit dark.

I felt it still might be a step in the right direction.  As it is, I also feel this lure might be a better option since most bluegill are typically darker in this area of the US.

I opted for the the basic shad rap crankbait blanks I got from a US based distributor.  The shape is close enough, definitely the right size and dives deeper than the usual crankbait body I use.  They have run well in the past, usually need very little tuning and tend to be tough enough to handle bigger fish.

An even better reason is the fact they seem to be easier to paint than other styles of crankbaits.  Every crankbait painter I know has favorite body style that work well with how they paint.  Given enough time and choices, one will always find a few that fit.

So without further adieu, lets get this show on the road so you can take this pattern and use it to put your own spin on it.

I started with a body I had primed flat white with Rustoleum spray paint.  This is how I usually start most of my patterns for future reference.

I then mixed up a classic bone color.  I tend to use about 4 drops of createx white then add 1 drop of opaque yellow. 

 As I mentioned, I wanted this bait to a bit brighter than usual since I know the colors will darken with the clear coat application.

I painted the bottom half of the bait with this bone color.  Doesn't have to be exact as I have seen tons of bluegill with varying shades of this color in a range of body locations.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Nothing in nature is perfect so don't be too worried about taking the bone color the body further if you need to.  Also, make sure you paint the belly this color also.

Without cleaning the airbrush of the remaining paint, I then added a few drops of fluorescent orange, to give me a creamy orange coloring along the shoulders.  I paid special attention to avoid the head area of the bait.

If you noticed, in the photo of the finished bait. you don't see any of this color.  One might ask why even bother laying down that color if it is not going to be seen.

The answer is it is not meant to be seen, it is meant to help slightly change the hue of another color I'll put down later. 

This was something I discovered quite by accident.  I liked the end result and filed it away for future reference.  depending on the color, it can produce remarkable transitions that are not easily replicated by any other methods I am currently aware of.  

Additionally, it saves me time trying to mix up another  color later on in the process.

Again, without cleaning the brush of the remaining paint,  I add a few more drops of fluorescent orange to lay onto the breast area on the bait.  I target the lower hook area.  That orange is a draw and serves to help focus most strikes.

It is also a common identifier on a bluegill and other sunfish and perch.  Kind of an forage marker that says "eat me" and is understood by every predator that swims...  

I cleaned out the airbrush and put in a few drops of createx Pearl Lime color and lightly hit the back and overspray the shoulders lightly.

Remember, I was looking for a brighter looking bait and to achieve that, I had to have a lot of lighter background colors on the bait.

I started working on the head and gill area of the crankbait with 
a few coats of the pearl Lime until I get the depth and darkness of color I wanted.  

Once I was finished, I added a few drops of Folk Art color shift green Flash and a small drop of transparent gray to the remainder of the paint in the bowl to get this color 

Seems like kind of an odd mixture, but the tonal value was already there, I just needed a darker hue.  Adding the grey achieved that end.  

I went over the back and was even more subtly over spraying the shoulders.  I wanted a visible transition area that didn't take up too much space along the bait sides.  This fit the bill nicely.  

I opted to use a fine tooth comb and sprayed through it onto the bait to get the striping pattern I was looking for.  

If one notices, the stripes are slightly darker and sprayed with much less pressure than the rest of the bait pattern. I added another small drop or two of gray 

Went over the back at slightly lower air pressures with sepia in an effort to try and bring out the striping and give the bait a more lifelike look.

Rather than clean the sepia out of the brush, I added a few drops of black, got out my home-made blue gill "ear-flap" stencil and painted the ear flap with light low pressure passes.

Now all I have to do is add eyes, split rings and hooks and these bad boys are ready to rage!

They are indeed lighter colored baits, but are also readily identifiable as a bluegill pattern. 

I should state, that this generic pattern has a lot of possibilities.  Change a few colors and you'll still have something that looks great to most predatory fish.

Enjoy

SONGS OF ICE AND FIRE (OR 13 DIFFERENT WAYS TO KILL TIME UNTIL ICE OUT)

 

It's that time of year.  The holiday season is over and we've all just settled in for the "real" winter.  

The wind seems like it is always howling from the north, bringing with it that  lovely mixture of snow and miserable wind chill.  It snarls and growls at your doors and windows as it rushes by.

Then there are the other precious gifts nature has left in her wake.   Icicles hanging from your rooftop.  Your driveway and sidewalks are always drifted in, or you see your truck is buried ...again ...

To top it off,   the last time you checked you discovered your favorite body of water is frozen completely shut and all you can do now is sit in front of your fireplace and dream about ice-out and the first real days of spring.

 But we both know it's a long time between here and there.  Cue exasperated groaning and another shuffle step towards seasonal insanity. 

The long dark nights and short days drag this purgatorial period out far longer than it should actually last.  Kind of like one of those B-movie death scenes where it takes the guy 15 minutes to finally succumb to his injury.  Not pretty.

If you don't ice fish, like yours truly, this part of the year is truly the worst.  What is more worse, is that you have friends who do like to ice fish and they catch plenty in their heated shacks and portable huts.  They post their photos to social media and you are glad they are having a good time and being successful.   More power to them.  They can have it.

 So what else can you do to kill the time?

Fortunately, for you, I have a boatload of suggestions on how to keep so busy you'll swear winter just flew by. All based on decades of suffering through the dark days like these.  So my friend, toss another log on that fire, stoke those embers and sit back down because this might take a few minutes.

 

Suggestion 1: Clean out and re-arrange/organize tackle boxes

Tackleboxes get gnarly throughout the regular fishing season.  Tackle gets disorganized, jigheads and hooks mysteriously disappear into crevices, bits of gravel, sand and grass make their way onto the bottom, etc. etc.  

Now is as good as time as any to take everything out of it, clean it out and start reorganizing your tackle so its easy to find and easy to use.  Why wait to do it until last minute.  Make yourself useful.

Suggestion 2: Paint crankbaits, pour soft plastics or weights, or make crawler harnesses, hoochie rigs, tying flies etc

Ok.  Unless you have all or most of the stuff needed to accomplish any of these tasks, this might not help.  

However, if one of these things is something you want to learn about or more of, now is the time to jump at the opportunity.  You actually have the time to take a stab at some of these productive hobbies.

Hit the forums, group pages and other sources of information to gather what you need to know.

Suggestion 3: Plan out some fishing trips throughout the warm weather seasons

I try to use this downtime to my advantage any and every chance I get.  One of the things I do is start plotting out the new years fishing "campaign".  I identify several lakes or water bodies I've never been to before and incorporate trips to them within my regularly fishing schedule.  Part of planning to go to them involves trolling through archives of fishing reports to get a general idea on when is a really good time to go.  Nothing like driving 12 hours to a lake and find out no one has caught any fish the last month...

Suggestion 4: Read up on your favorites species of fish and refresh your angling awareness.

Cannot stress enough how important it is to read up on the latest information on your favorite species of fish, whether it involves new tactics to catch them, new insights on behavior, or new places to find them, any time you spend trying to improve your "game" is well spent.

Suggestion 5: Look for open water fishing opportunities

Ok, so nothing I have suggested so far trips your trigger.  You are looking to chuck and wind, soak some bait or what not.  Well, there always seem to be some open water options available if you are willing to try them.  Major river systems are often open and given the right conditions, can put out more than a few good fish, if you are really willing to brave the cold.  Don't let a little snow and ice deter you, but do practice safety, common sense and pay attention to your surroundings.  Getting soaked in winter is no joke.

Suggestion 6: Work on, clean or repair boat/kayak  and trailers (in heated garage)

I do believe that most of us who own boats and kayaks clean them up pretty well before winter hits, but there are individuals who don't.  If you are one of those individuals, and you have a heated garage, why not get the boat or kayak into the garage and get it cleaned up properly.  Start off the new year and fishing season right.

Suggestion 7:  Watch some fishing shows/videos

I think most of us do this already so this is almost habit, but if you don't, take some time to hit Youtube to find your favorite pro, or watch some TV shows.  While its not the same as being there, it does tend to get ones mind wandering into the right direction.  Plus, you never know what types of tips or tricks those guys might reveal.

Suggestion 8;  Watch some videos and learn more about your electronics.  And while you are at it, update them if needed.

Electronics. 

Don't care how good you think you are at reading them, odds are pretty high you're not as good as you think.  So why not use this down time to learn more about interpreting your sonar, how to get the most out of it,  and actually updating the software that runs it?

Dig out that user manual, really familiarize yourself with your units options and operation.  Electronics are some of the most valuable tools we have as anglers.  Learn how to use them to your advantage and to make you more successful on the water.

Suggestion 10:  Start stockpiling or making some road/trip snacks like jerky, trail mix, sticks, etc.

This might be one of my more favorite winter past times.  Getting some road grub made up ahead.  Grab and go.  Im talking trail mixes, jerkies, dehydrated fruit snacks, meat sticks etc.  

Everyone has their favorite gas station snacks.  It just seems each time you go into one to grab a quick snack it costs more than the last stop.  Drives me crazy.  How can an ounce or two of chips in about 6 ounces of air and a paper thing container cost me almost 2 freaking dollars?  Wrong answer.  Thats almost  the cost of a container of crawlers.

Save some money and make some up ahead of time...most specifically the meat sticks or jerky.  They freeze real well and damn, they are usually tasty. Deer, beef, turkey, goose or wildebeast, its all good when you are cruising down the road to your next fishing hole.  

As far as trail mixes, I have a personal recipe similar to the proverbial chex mix that makes awesome road grub.  I'll make some up a few months ahead of times, and use my vac sealer to keep it fresh.  It works great for dehydrated fruit snacks too.  

Suggestion 11: Get on the internet and start looking at expanding your horizons and scouting new lakes

Ok.  This has actually become a full time habit for me.  If I get a few spare moments, I'll hop on google and start searching state maps for lakes, rivers, reservoirs etc.  I love to check out general layouts, camping areas, area attractions, nearby amenities etc. And if I like what I see overhead, I'll make a note and then do further research at a later date and time.  

Its actually pretty important to get out and expand your fishing horizons.  Its all too easy to get locked into a single body of water and forget everything else.  It stifles growth, knowledge and who knows what kind of opportunities are missed.

The only time I would suggest actually really hammering on a single body of water is if you are completely intent on learning as much about it as you can and acknowledge it will come at the expense of other knowledge.

Suggestion 12: Get a head start on your new season by cleaning your reels and putting on fresh line

I do know a lot of people who neglect these items.  They never clean their reels, or ever put on fresh line.  They seem oblivious to the fact that dirt and dust get into your reels and sunlight silently and gradually damages your line.  The thought of replacing line isn't even on their radar.

So get a good start to your new year by hitting the water with fresh line and clean gear.  Clean gear will last you longer and provide more enjoyment than something that has sat neglected in your dusty garage for years.

Suggestion 13: Go through your tackle and sharpen or replace (when needed) all the hooks

I should have put this up there right next to the top, but this is a bit more intense.  Your tackle has hooks.  Crankbaits, jerkbaits, bladebaits, rattlebaits...they all have hooks.  Take the time to sharpen them all up, inspect them, and where needed, replace them with the correct size hook to keep them running right and to prevent losing any fish.  

Invest in a pair of good split ring pliers.  They are worth the money.

So, there you have some suggestions to kill some time.  I had some more but these ought to keep the average angler busy the rest of the winter.

Dont fret...spring is coming.  The ice will leave the lakes and streams and open water will be upon us all.  Keep the faith.

So until the next blog entry, 

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.

THE HONEST TRUTH ABOUT PAINTING YOUR OWN CRANKS

 

For me, one of the highlights of any fishing trip is stepping into a local tackle shop and browsing their selection of lures.  Gets me absolutely giddy with excitement.  Been that way with me since the moment I first stepped into one at the ripe young age of 5. 

Not going to lie.  I was definitely hooked.  The colors and shapes, hell even the packaging...more tempting than a kid in a candy store for me.  I step foot in a new one, odds are high Im coming out with a sack full of stuff. For me and my bank account, they are infinitely more dangerous than strip clubs..

A few years later after that first trip into a bait shop, I started coming across fishing shows on Saturday morning TV.  Mostly Bill Dance or Roland Martin, but occasionally I'd run across Jimmy Houston, Babe Winkelman, Tony Dean....the list of legends and masters could go on...

One of the things that I always paid attention to were the lures they were using.  Most of the time, there were crankbaits involved.  Cotton Cordell, Rebel, Rapala, Rat-l-Trap, Lucky Strike, etc etc.  Sometimes the colors were outrageous, especially during that dark era  of fervent adherence to the gospel of the Color-C-Lector.  Like looking through fashion magazines that came out in the 1970's...shudder

Somehow, during these brief edited glimpses of professional fishermen's lives and adventures to lakes and waterways I knew I knew I'd never see, I developed an obsessive fondness for fishing lures of all types, but mostly crankbaits. I had unwittingly become a Bait Junky...

I tried a few times to carve my own, tried rattle canning paint jobs and other ill advised methods to get something to honestly catch fish.  Other than trout flies and an early version of the little known mayfly rig for walleye, I had no success with my lure creations.  I remember trying to weld plastic worms together with a bic lighter.  Nothing like burnt fingers and  plastisol patches on my clothes.  Had a hard time explaining to my mother why I ruined another pair of pants....

So here we are, a couple  of decades later and in the interim, I succeeded in learning how to make inline spinners, walleye spinners.  Felt like it was time to focus on crankbaits.  Thought it would be easier than making the other types of lures....

Let me tell you, I was wrong.  Dead wrong.  Painting them is easy enough once you get the hang of the airbrush.  Sealing them isn't that bad either.  Its getting them to run even remotely close to the lures they are supposed to be replicating that is my main issue.

Take for instance the Megabass Vision 100 Knocks offs.  The real Vision 100 and its siblings are typically 25.00 bucks apiece.  Its no wonder that a whole slew of vendors from across the globe chose to get in on that action with their visually similar yet infinitely inferior knock offs.  And I will be the first to admit that  I was struck by the allure of getting my hands on about a hundred of them and painting away to my hearts content.

Enter reality and the old proverbial axiom of getting what you pay for comes to mind.  

I could paint them strikingly similar to the Ito paint jobs, seal them very well, but compared to the real thing, they not only feel different when retrieved, they definitely do not respond remotely close to the real thing. Ergo, the success rate with these baits is smaller than with the exquisite engineering of the original.  Getting them to run as close as possible to the original bait is often a long game of try it and see.  

This alone is the main premise as to why I have refused to sell any of the baits I paint.  I cannot possibly guarantee any of those lures will catch fish like the original.  Money is hard to come by for a lot of folks and I'll be damned if I "con" it out of them simply by presenting a lure that looks like the original.  I don't have it in me to do that to people.  

Make no mistake.  I've had enough people ask me to paint lures for them that I could have probably bought a bigger boat.  But integrity has to come into the question.  I wouldn't want some joker selling me a knockoff that performs poorly.  

My only option then from this point forward is to paint the real thing.  I won't be buying those baits to use as blanks unless its for my own personal stash.  If I did, the price of these baits would be ridiculously high.  Better to have someone bring me the exact baits they want painted and then go from there.  Should keep the prices reasonable.

I do give some people lures I have painted.  A lot of the lures I do paint have caught me some pretty nice fish.  But my personal confidence in the final product always needs to be addressed.  If I send or give people baits, its because I feel they will work and that I have already caught fish using the same blank or paint scheme.

So why do I keep painting these blanks if they don't work quite like they should.  

Thats the sticking point right there.

You see, I have had some success with some blanks I have come across.  The Flicker shad blanks, some of the Shad Rap blanks, some topwaters and a select few others.  I don't want to sound like I am bashing on the vendors/producers of these blanks.  Some make much better products than others.  Just like anything else. You have to buy them and try them to figure out what you got, where you buy or don't buy from.  

One also has to look at purchases from vendors like this as warm-ups and a way of honing your painting skills.  It takes the sting out of having hundreds of blanks of questionable quality you may have bought on faith.

Paint them, slap on the right hardware, make alterations like adding suspend-dots, or different hook sizes to make the lures you paint run the way you want.  Its a slow laborious process but the patience and persistence in getting it right will make you glad you took the time.

In closing, I want to say a few words on sealants or finishes and I need to be clear about this.  No lure sealant is going to be anywhere as close to being as lightweight as factory finishes, unless you have the facilities to use automotive grade sealants.  If you do, you are fortunate because that alone will boost the price of those painted baits considerably, due to product cost and cleanup costs.

For the rest of us, there are other options....KBS, Diamond Kote, cement sealer etc.  I personally use Alumilite UV (100 bucks for a 2 pound can) and warm it up before I dip the lures and let it drip off for no less than 10 minutes.  Then after that, I apply the drip stick, put them in the UV box and let them cure for 20 minutes.  

The goal with all of this effort before they go into the UV box  is to get the sealant as thin as possible to add the least amount of weight to the bait.  By striving to do this, you end up with livelier artificials that run much better than a bait with too much sealant on it.

Another thing you should consider before picking up this hobby.  Cost in equipment and supplies add up.  You need a good airbrush, a nice selection of paints, blanks, a spray pot, UV lights and Box, possibly a lure turner,  small heaters or a heat gun to help set the paint, cleaning fluid, q-tips, an airbrush holder, a paint box, lights, forceps, tapes, hooks, split rings, split ring pliers etc etc.  You see where I am going with this.  Painting cranks is and becomes a huge investment in time and materials. Don't make the mistake in thinking you'll start small.  It balloons much quicker than you imagine.

Will I stop doing it?  Doubtful, if only to keep pushing my painting skills as far as they can go.  If I am going to be painting original baits rather than knock-offs, better to use the knock offs for practice runs.

It is a fun and relaxing hobby, but I've seen far too many people get into it without realizing how much it actually costs to do it.  Everything seems cheap, but it isn't.  But for those that do decide to try it out and spend the cash, I will be doing some tutorials in the future on painting crankbaits so visit often.  You never know when I am going to put those articles out.

Until then...

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