BobP

I drill a hole through the bait, put in the bb's and cap the holes with round pieces cut from a pop can with sissors, which I superglue onto the sides. This puts out max vibration since you have the rattles hitting the metal caps which are covered only with paint and clearcoat. For best results, make the caps about 1/8" oversize and cut a slight depression around the hole to fit them. The aluminum is easy to sand so the caps disappear under the finish.

Like Mark, I've always thought that it's the flat forehead on rattle baits that serves as the "lip" to impart action. In the river to sea examples, it looks like at least one of them uses a flat chin instead.

If you spray water based acrylics, some of the overspray becomes acrylic dust which will accumulate in a spray booth. The dust will contaminate later crankbaits unless the booth is cleaned regularly, or it needs to have an exhaust system and a filter. For me, it has been enough to paint in my garage and use newspaper to mask the bench I use. If you are spraying solvent based liquids, that's a whole other matter. Several TU'ers spray solvent based paint or topcoats and use booths, usually home built.

Dahlberg basically melted pigment into the plastic bait by dusting the mold before the plastic was poured in, so I bet any pigment including acrylic latex might work OK. Of course, paint with water content might be a real problem but any dried pigment would probably work.

It's worth reading the article by a Pure Fishing scientist cited in the "Ghost Crankbait" post above. It says that bass have only green and red cones in their eyes and can see shades in those colors best. They struggle to see shades of blue and violet and probably see them just as "something dark". Unlike some other fish species, they have no cones for UV light at all. Do UV enhanced baits emit UV light rays like glow-in-the-dark paint? If they do, it wouldn't be detected by bass. But if they fluoresce when hit by UV light and if it's a green or red paint, that might make a difference. But my question is this: if the paint fluoresces in UV light, wouldn't we also be able to detect that? So color me doubtful on UV plastics and UV enhancers in paint. Show me valid testing that proves higher catch rates and I'll buy it.

I've given up trying to predict which paint schemes will work best in what kind of water. Bass, bass fishermen, and many bass baits are just too unpredictable. But the classic theory is that translucent baits work better in clear to lightly stained water because you don't want the bass to have TOO good a look at your bait. Some go to the extreme of fishing clear plastic baits that are entirely unpainted. Bass can hear and they can feel pressure waves so they have more senses than just color vision. You will not run a crankbait near a hungry bass undetected. Your hope is that it gives off enough correct sensory clues that the bass will evaluate it as food. Color is just one of several. As far as depth goes, I think color schemes become less critical as the depth increases and colors begin to get filtered out. Is there a depth at which color doesn't matter at all? I don't know. But 95% of crankbaits are used in water less than 12 ft deep and I'm pretty sure color can still be a factor at that depth.

Yes, it penetrates water. Blue and violet UV penetrates the deepest. How deep that is depends on the amount of turbidity (stuff that reflects/absorbs UV) in the water and the angle of incidence of the UV rays (in other words, the time of day, cloud cover). Do UV formulated plastics show up better at the depths they are usually fished? I don't know and can't find any testing - including by the bait companies that are marketing UV plastics, but I suspect there is some effect. Do bass eyes detect UV radiation and are they attracted to baits reflecting UV light? Do prey bass prey species reflect UV light? Again - dunno! Am I willing to pay a premium for UV baits? Not yet. I do fish glow in the dark painted lures in very deep situations, like jigging spoons 50 ft deep, with good results. But that's an altogether different animal.

The size 2 split rings are the size most medium size factory bass baits come with. Don't know about oval rings.

To each his own. I've experimented with Solarez a few times now, dipping or brushing, and have tried it both as an undercoat and a topcoat. I'll continue trying and reading this thread to see others' results but so far, I'm less encouraged than when I started. First I thought "how neat to find a durable topcoat that you can apply and be ready to fish in 3 minutes". But I never build and fish a bait the same day so cure time is not important to me. I'm a journeyman level painter at best but I do like a smooth, clear, glossy topcoat. So far, Solarez is not providing it. Moisture cured urethane or epoxy does and I know how to get the finish I want with both, so I'm using Solarez only as a waterproof undercoating until one of you wizards works out the bugs. Maybe as warm weather comes around, results will improve. It seems like the guys who really like Solarez are using it in warmer environments than my 50 degree garage. Here's hoping.

Depends on the thickness. I use 1/32" G-10 for bass baits. For cutting it, the easiest and fastest by far is metal snips. I use Wiss straight cut compound metal snips, about $12 at Home Depot. Cut a little outside the line, then take it down to the exact line with a Dremel fine sanding cylinder. Some guys who build large batches of baits prefer to stack lip material with adhesive, tape on a template, and cut out the stack with a band saw. My maximum batch of baits is 6, so it's just as fast to do them one by one.

I haven't seen any unpainted lately, but you can buy "Rapala Original Wiggle Warts" right now from Bass Pro Shops on sale for $3.29.

I think the red head should be shot free-hand with the red faded out for a more natural looking transition to the rest of the lure. Taping it off makes it look like a saltwater lure.

No! Customers? I don't got to show you no stinkin' customers!

I've speared myself with a treble so hard it buried itself in the bone of a finger. Hooked more times than I'd like to admit, fishing and messing with crankbaits in the garage. What works for me: pull it out NOW and it will be less pain, less trouble, and less possibility of infection. Then you can get back to fishing in 2 minutes instead of ruining your whole day trekking to an emergency room. There are ways to remove a hook quickly and relatively painlessly. Not all docs know how to do it, so it's worth looking it up and knowing how to do it for yourself. I'm not talking about a hook through your eyelid, but I'll take one out anywhere else, anytime. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES OR IMPACT RESISTANT SUNGLASSES WHEN FISHING.

I think the more sensitive fluorocarbon lines tend to be a little stiffer and heavier than other lines. I use it a lot, have gotten used to it, and like its sensitivity. BPS fluorocarbon has worked as well as any brand for me. It's on sale right now! You also see new braids coming out this year that are much thinner, more tightly woven, and quieter through rod guides. Sufix 832 and Power Pro Super 8 Slick are examples. I'm interested in them because I worry about braid visibility in clear water so the thinner the better. The Suffix and the Power Pro Slick have a 2 lb mono diameter in 10 lb test and they about 1/3 thinner than previous versions. If you can stand to fish a braid with a 3-5 ft copolymer or fluoro leader, it's hard to beat braid for any presentation since the leader largely solves the visibility and the abrasion problem. I often use a braid literally for years, so it is the most cost efficient line available notwithstanding the cost. Fluoro lasts longer than copolymer because fluoro is not affected by UV light and it does not absorb water like nylon copolymers. I respool fluoro only when it gets too short on the spool or after about a year has passed - or anytime it has become kinked and thus weakened on the spool by a backlash. You gotta be more careful to tie good knots with fluoro than with nylon lines. Just a FYI - Tuf-Line has come out with a new braid. If you go to www.bassresource.com and navigate to the Rods, Reels, Lines and Knots forum, there is a banner for Tuf-Line on the right hand column. Click it and it takes you to a site where you can get 100 yards of the new braid in 12 or 20 lb test for a flat price of $4.99. Pretty cheap!

Were the lures heated after the Solarez was applied but before it was cured? If so, the heat caused air inside the lure to escape into a bubble. So far, we haven't heard of Solarez itself causing any bubbles due to a chemical reaction with any other coatings, but I suppose it is possible depending on the other coatings on the lure.

Welcome back! We can always use all the help and advice experienced builders can give.

I agree with Ben but think it can sometimes be complicated, depending on what kind of paint you are shooting. It always helps not to shoot the paint too thick because it can seep under the netting and ruin the effect, leave raised net marks on the surface, or even lift paint completely off a few areas. This is particularly true with smaller netting. It always helps to use netting that hasn't been used before. Some paints form a coherent film that tends stick to itself and the netting better than the surface it is painted on. Others don't. On the sticky ones, it can be better to lift the netting without drying the paint with a hair dryer. You just have to experiment and find the paint and the amount of drying that works for you.

Yes, the epoxy will pull away from sharp edges on those rattle baits and wear off quickly. I'd wait and use Dick Nite on them. To avoid scratches on the lips, wrap a piece of blue painter's tape over the front of the lips before you clip them on. It also allows the clip to grip the lure without slipping.

Unless it's stainless, it probably will rust.

I'd say just the opposite - get the soft temper "bend and stay" matte finish "safety wire", not the hard temper bright finish "spring back" wire. I've been using it on crankbaits for 10 years and it works great.

Bsg, I don't think it's a good wire because you won't be able to tune the crankbait with braided leader wire. Guys get wire from all over - but instead of burning gas searching for it, I prefer to order from McMaster-Carr: http://www.mcmaster.com/#metal-wire/=lu29l7 I use the soft temper type 304 wire in .041" diameter for bass baits.

I don't think the haze will go away since it is a deposit on the surface of the Solarez, not a haze caused by microscopic sanding scratches in the clearcoat - but you can remove the surface haze by lightly sanding the lure. I used Solarez on a very dark color lure last week and got lots of haze. I wet sanded the lure and applied a coat of moisture cured urethane, problem fixed. I'm sure a coat of Etex would serve the same purpose and no, I don't think there would be any chemical reaction. I understand how a quick Solarez coating, sanding, and then one coat of Etex would be much faster than multiple coats of Etex. But to me, it's not a very elegant solution. Like a lot of guys, I think a high gloss finish looks nice - but I'm not willing to jump through many hoops to get one because I'm pretty sure the fish don't care. Using only Solarez and getting a haze-free satin finish would be acceptable to me. When I figure out the reliable way to do that, I'll be happy.

I've never used a bender but wouldn't you need a template to get the distances correct anyway? One thing I recommend is to use soft versus hard temper stainless steel wire. It's much easier to bend and in a small diameter loops like hook hangers, it's still strong. It's all I use on bass baits anymore. I free hand my thru-wire frames and the soft temper wire makes it easy. If the frame gets out of plane, bending it flat again is a snap. I get type 304 soft temper stainless from McMaster-Carr.