champlainbaits

Pretty psyched to say that Sean Alvarez will be using lures that I made for him when he competes in the Bassmaster Classic. http://www.mychamplain.net/forum/first-vermonter-headed-bassmaster-classic Now my fingers are crossed that they help him do well, Kevin Champlain Bait Co. twitter.com/champlainbaits champlainbaits.com

Hey Folks, I wrote a blog entry about using an old crankbait to make that leech pattern I talked about in this thread. If anyone is interested in making a great pattern in just a 20 mins or so...give it a look and by all means please share your thoughts. http://champlainbaits.blogspot.com/

I've been in love with DN since I first tried it. I dip mine and nothing really compares if you ask me.

I caught a big leach when swimming with my son. It was dark black with a bright rusty orange belly. A little black and orange nail polish and 10 mins and it was done. I caught this bass on the first cast with it Then went on to catch to more on the next 2 casts. For a couple mins there I was dreaming of winning the classic on it Then reality set in and since then it still does better than most but not well enough to win the classic with my lack of talent.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I was mostly referring to the color "patterns" on the baits but I am also interested in new shapes. I am working on a couple at the moment but for this topic I am mostly curious about colors etc. Another example of this would be looking at mother natures work to see how she does it. Most people think of this as camouflage but for animals that WANT to be seen looking at their patterns can really help inspire patterns no one has ever seen before. I created a "parrot" pattern that way that works very well on pike here. It looks like nothing that swims and has purples pinks and bright greens/blues....The idea being that if a parrot can be seen at a distance against the green forest backdrop maybe a parrot colored lure could be seen at a distance against a green weed backdrop. This may not be the best way to approach it but I'm trying to get folks talking about this because I think we can all learn from each other. I doubt any of us would come up with the same designs so I'm thinking we have a great opportunity to create something original that works better than anything you can buy. Poisonous animals (snakes frogs etc) really try to stand out. I think they would be another great resource. Anyone else have thoughts for different approaches to this?

Folks out there spend a lot of time thinking about design theory when it comes to their lures or are most trying to either copy a commercial pattern or make a bait that is photo-real? I'm asking because I think there is a lot of room for new patterns but don't really see too many I think of as "new". Here's a quick run down of some of my thoughts (you can tell me later if you care at all I created my kivveylicious and perchinator patterns for a specific purpose. To catch big largemouth, smallmouth and pike out of the clear water areas of lake Champlain. Because I was focusing on clear water areas I started by designing patterns that are on the photo-real side because the fish can see a long way in malletts bay. I didn't just create baits that look like a sunfish or a perch though I spent a lot of time working out what I consider to be THE key when it comes to lure design. CONTRAST. Sunfish and perch were designed by higher powers to blend into their environment. I don't want my lure hiding from the fish so once I had a nice pattern that looked like the fish I saturated the colors and gave the edges harder lines to create contrast where there is none in the real fish. I use a very thick (by traditional standards) black line for the back because I believe that preditor fish use the mirror of the water surface to target prey. Black stands out very well against that surface so I really make that prominent. The sides are meant to look like prey as much as possible while also standing out. I use a combination of photo real textures and stark graphical shapes (eyes, gills and black tail) to create a bait fish imitator that stands out against the weed lines I troll them by, the surface I twitch them on and the bottoms I bounce the off. This is just one example of what I'm talking about. I also created a super simple pattern last year that was just 2 colors. I made the prototype with nail polish in about 10 mins. I had and idea...based on something I noticed on the water...later that night made the prototype and the next day was hammering fish on it. It's not an exaggeration to say that I caught three bass on the first 3 casts with that pattern. I've never seen anything like it in stores (or anywhere else) I don't think I could convince any but the most experienced anglers to buy it...but it's catching fish better than any crankbait I've used. So that said...I'm really curious if anyone out there has a process for coming up with a new pattern and is willing to discuss. I think there is a lot of opportunity for expansion...and I think that's where we all are most valuable to the fishing community. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Best of luck, Kevin Braun Champlain Bait Co.

A loooooong time ago I used info. I got from this site to build my first drying wheel/rack. I still use it today...infact I just used it tonight I thought I would mention that it's a card board box that supports a rotisserie that I bought at k-mart. I think the entire thing cost $18.00. If anyone wants more detail let me know. But I'm also curious what other folks are using? Oh, and I changed my business name to Champlain Bait Co. We moved our shop to Burlington VT. This past summer. Thanks everyone for all the awesome info. Oh one more thing...Dicknite every getting his clear coat back? I really miss it.

I had exactly the same problem and wouldn't sell my baits because of it. Now I use DN and never have any problems. I let mine cure for a couple days before final assembly and shipping and have not had any complaints yet. I also fish my lures all the time and so far DN holds up to hook rash, fish, docks and bridges as well or better than any commercial bait I have. That's something to consider...if you look at the baits you buy you'll be surprised at how fast they chip, peel, lose eyes etc. Anyway that was my long way of saying I think DN will be the end of your search for a clear coat. It was for me.

Yeah I had one that I posted this morning deleted too? Was just trying to show off the final version of my baits

Thanks for the feedback. They are photo baits with a twist. I use photoshop to design the patterns (I have a perch one I'll be posting soon also) and then use process I developed to get those designs onto the lures. In the end they are a combination of paint, ink, and printed design. Then I add a sparkle layer and then clear coat 2 times with Dick Nite's stuff. The "twist" I mentioned before is that they as part of the process I give them much more contrast and change some of the colors to make them more visible than a real fish. At this time I only make the standard 3" version. I have others in the works. I also have some original patterns that are high visibility patters. This sunfish, and the perch pattern work VERY well in the clear water sections of Lake Champlain. The High vis ones I made for less ideal visual situations and for when the fish are super active.