BobP

Not sure what you're gluing together exactly, and that matters. I use Devcon 5 Minute to glue split balsa baits together. It also works on lips and screw eyes BUT it will turn brown over time so you don't want any squeeze-out on the surface of the lure. Devcon 2 Ton can be used for lips and screws also but it hardens slower. If you want something that's really strong and will fill any voids without dripping out, try some Rod Bond paste epoxy. It has a very long work time (2 hours) but still cures out in 24 hrs. I use it when I have to install lips and screw eyes in a batch of baits and don't want to be mixing little batches of Devcon 5 Minute every 5 minutes. If you remove a lip and want to fill in the void, an epoxy putty stick works well and cures hard in about 5 minutes. The putty stick is also a good fast solution for dressing over body holes where you inserted ballast.

I use #2's on all but the smallest bass baits and think it's more or less the standard size on commercial baits too. Some of the larger baits like DD22's may use 2X strong rings, but they're usually still #2 diameter.

Great looking bait, Husky! Smaller baits like that are becoming very popular for inshore redfish and trout. They'll catch little ones AND the big ones when fishing shallow inshore waters here in NC!

Createx and Smith Wildlife brands are my faves. I always squirt them straight into the gravity feed cup of my airbrush. I paint colors over a white basecoat and I prefer transparent versus opaque colors for anything I want shaded. I seldom mix paint just because I'm too lazy to bother!

You can mix a batch of Devcon 2 Ton epoxy and thin it up to 50/50 with denatured alcohol. It will cure just as quickly as unthinned Devcon (less than 24 hrs). Works very well and the epoxy gets absorbed into the wood surface while leaving a glossy coating on the bait which you may want to sand lightly to de-gloss before painting. Alternatively, you can dip the bait in an acetone/propionate (aka prop) solution. If you clearcoat your baits with Devcon, also using it as a waterproofer keeps things simple.

I layer them at random with no problems at all.

If your poly is working OK for you, why not stick with it? I use Dick Nite moisture cured polyurethane on blade baits and spoons and it works great. Very clear, tough and glossy. If you're looking for a tougher clearcoat, it might be worth investigating.

I do them with transparent acrylic airbrush paint over bare metal or holographic scale tape. Clearcoat with Dick Nite polyurethane and they seem to hold up OK. As long as the clearcoat lasts, the paint will stay in place. I've also coated spoons with Devcon 2 Ton epoxy but the Dick Nite is clearer, thinner and easier to use (just dip'em and hang'em). If you're doing an all-over paint job, a white metal primer would promote adhesion but be sure you let it dry thoroughly before painting.

It all depends on what size/kind of baits you paint and what is most convenient for you and your painting techniques. I use the locking hemostats like Mags does to hold the lure by its lip. When I finish a color shot, I dry the paint with a hair dryer and hang the bait on a nail above my work bench by a small bent wire hanger inserted in the line tie. Other guys prefer to clamp lures into the handle of an Xacto knife.

I'm not entirely convinced the spots on shad are false eyes to confuse predators since the spots are often small and indistinct. It could be related to maintaining position in a school or reproduction, etc. Or all of the above! The only thing that matters is whether bass more readily bite a shad with spot than without. Some guys report bass refusing a bait until they put on a spot with a Sharpie pen. But that's just anecdotal evidence (i.e. a fish tale) until someone comes up with more rigorous scientific evidence. I personally believe the spots can't hurt and sometimes may help, so I put them on.

I've seen baits without spots that caught fish, and baits with them that did not. And vice versa. A hungry bass may eat anything alive that it can get in its mouth. When they're not hungry, a bait resembling natural prey may get them to eat opportunistically. I usually add them to baits patterned after minnows or sunfish but I don't go crazy with size or position. I think of it as one more feature that makes a bait look more natural.

Glitter - you can buy paint-on acrylic glitter at any hobby center in various colors and particle sizes. I squirt a little into a shot glass, thin it down with an equal amount of water and brush it on where needed. That way, you can control the amount of glitter and where it's going.

I also use Dick Nite but unlike PB, I dip it. There are handling and storage requirements for DN that need to be strictly followed because it's a moisture cured polyurethane that will begin to cure if exposed to moisture laden ambient air during storage or handling. Do a search on it for handling recommendations. It was designed for coating spoons and does a good job on lures painted with acrylic airbrush colors if you're careful. First, make sure the paint is dry and is free of any dust or other particles. I dip the crank in DN and hold it over newspaper to let the excess drip off. Don't drip DN back into the storage container! I let it drip until the drips slow to almost none, then put it on a turner. Just hanging the lure up to dry will work OK too. The solvent gases off within an hour or so and you can touch the surface in a few hours but it will be about a week before the moisture cure has finished. If you want to recoat, wait 24 hrs. Not a bad idea to have multiple dips but I feel one dip gives sufficient protection on bass baits. I don't recoat unless I find surface imperfections in the first coat, which I sand with 400 grit to remove and wipe lightly with denatured alcohol. When cured out, DN is tough, very glossy and has a slick surface that deters hook rash. It tends to soak into the paint and adhere to the underlying surface, which means good adhesion compared to epoxy. I prime with white acrylic airbrush paint, so don't know if there are any issues between Krylon and DN. Tip - if you want to try DN, click on the banner ad you often see at the top of this page. It will take you to a section on the DN site where you can buy at a discount - or even get a sample of Dn to try for the cost of shipping. Again, read and heed the handling and storage comments you'll find here on TU!

It is easier to start with shallow running cranks that have the line tie on the body of the lure. You won't have to worry about mounting the line tie on the surface of the lip or how far out to place it for best action.

Hughes Custom Painted Baits has probably repainted more lures, for longer, than anybody. Tim Hughes occasionally posts here on TU and mentioned that they use media blasting to remove paint....so you're in good company.

You can heat set the paint freehand with a hair dryer if you're doing a few baits at a time. I do it after every paint shot so I can move on to the next color asap. Two things to look out for. First, the air stream from a dryer can push paint around on the surface so start out with a gentle stream. Second, you can cause wet paint to crack if you dry it too quickly. If you look at fresh paint at an angle under light, you'll see it lose its gloss as the water in it evaporates under the low setting of a hair dryer. When the gloss is gone, you can turn up the heat/speed and finish it off in a few seconds.

In my experience, voids under epoxy are usually areas where the clearcoat has separated from the lure because of bad adhesion or repeated extreme temp changes. Epoxy is pretty inert when cured. Some chemicals and dyes can leach through it but lots of saltwater baits are coated with it and do OK.

Can't see exactly how it's done, but you can buy a rubber skirt holder called a "Cone Head" from Staminainc.com that does the same thing. It's designed to hold a skirt so you can run it down your fishing line in front of a jig or other lure, or in this case, slip it over the treble's shank.

I can see where it's "suboptimal" for TU site management when they have paid ads from an airbrush company or other advertiser and a question is asked like "what is your favorite airbrush?" or "where can I get a good Whatever". The responses aren't all going to be extolling the virtues of the advertiser's product. But that's life. The TU moderators need to allow different opinions, including about equipment. Otherwise, there would quickly be no TU. As long as a post isn't an attempt to sneak in and market something for a profit, I don't see where it strays from the tenets of the site. If that includes an endorsement of a particular product by a happy but uncompensated user, and where to get same, so be it. The TU moderators do a terrific job in navigating through this particular mine field, and my hat's off to them.

Yeah, I guess, if you're talking about the holo tape like Witch Tape sold for spoons and blade baits. The practical problem is that it's stiff and won't conform or stick well to anything but a flat metal surface. For crankbaits, you want something thin and supple that can be smoothed out so the margins won't be obtrusive. JMHO

Sure you can! Most hobbiests use nothing else. If you are talking about acrylic hobby paints like Apple Barrel brand (among others), or even better - acrylic airbrush paint like Createx, Smith Wildlife Colors, etc. They shoot well, clean up with water, and don't contain toxic solvents. The airbrush acrylics have flow enhancers and smaller pigment grains f/u/w airbrushes. Whether you can use cheap hobby paint depends on your airbrush. If it's a Paasche VL or a Badger with large tip, hobby paints are possible but still not as easy to use as airbrush paint since you must always thin them with water. If your airbrush has a .2mm tip, don't even go there! A 2 or 4 oz bottle of airbrush paint lasts a long time and the ease of use is definitely worth the modest extra cost.

Gunnie, yes it does. On a bass size lure, finish including one coat of D2T adds .02-.03 oz to the bait. That not much and it won't affect topwaters much but on a suspending jerkbait it might. Of course, the temp of the water you're fishing also affects suspending lures. A bait that suspends in 80 degree water will float in 40 degree water because the water density has increased - so everything is relative. What you don't want is a suspending bait that sinks in cold water because it will sink even faster in warm water. Excess buoyancy can be corrected with Suspendots, heavier trebles, etc. And JMHO, a slowly sinking bait isn't always a bad idea;) BTW I don't see a need to put 2 coats of D2T on any bass bait. It's pretty thick stuff.

I've used aluminum HVAC tape from a local home center and the silver and gold craft tape sold for stained glass artists. Both adhere very well and I've had no problems, but I like the craft tape because it's thinner and smooths down better. IMO, the most sure fire method is to coat the foil with epoxy before painting, which improves paint adhesion and covers the margins of the tape. I use D2T since it contains no solvent that can disolve the adhesive at the margin of the tape and cause it to lift. If you can get gold leaf to adhere and look right, my hat's off to you! The few times I tried it were a mess.

I don't know if there are many tricks but when I want something different from "normal" I use transparent colors and layer them vs mixing paint. That tends to produce more visual depth, especially using metallics and pearls. Many Createx colors are sold in both opaque and transparent form. Like Riverman says, don't hesitate to wash off stuff you don't like and do it over. If you heat set your acrylics as you go, you can often "erase" a mistake if you rinse off the bad paint you just shot before it sets, leaving earlier paint intact. Even if I have to wash all the paint off, it's better to fix it than let it go. Bad paint will haunt you and eventually you'll have to remove the entire finish and start over. Might as well do it before you apply the clearcoat!

It would help to have more details; what did you use to adhere the foil? And what paint do you use? If I have foil that's not sticking well, I want to fix it before paint and clearcoat because the entire finish can separate from the lure later and come off in sheets. That's especially true on wood lures that expand and contract due to temp changes. Your pic suggests it's a plastic popper. Epoxy can hide/cover/correct a lot of faults but it has its limits.