mark poulson

Ted, I use Zap's Zip Kicker. I bought the 8 oz refill bottle, and use a leftover piece of .051 sst wire, just long enough for the lid to screw on with the wire inside for storage, for my drip rod. Ben Siegel (Rayburn Ben) turned me on to it. He suggested it would let me use just a drop or two where I needed it, instead of wasting a lot by spraying it. He was right again! One drop usually does the trick. Here's a link to it at Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pacer-Technology-Zap-PT29-ZAP-Zip-Kicker-Refill-8-oz/148387039

I've found that multiple thin coats of Createx, dried between coat with a hair dryer, really speeds up the painting process for me. I started out using solvent based paints (rattle cans) but the fumes were too much for me, even though I painted at the edge of my garage with the overhead door open. That's what drew me here to TU, and turned me on to water based airbrush paints. But I've seen some baits painted with lacquers, and they are amazing. The finishes look so deep, it seems like they are already in the water, so, if you can figure out a system with lacquers that works for you, I'll be very jealous! Good luck.

Good luck. Name you next 10 lber after me!

Forgive what may be an obvious question, but have you ever thrown a Whopper Plopper for those fish? Larry Dahlberg actually designed that bait for muskies. I think it would be the perfect surface lure for shallow, aggressive/defensive fish: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River2Sea_Whopper_Plopper/descpage-R2SWP13.html Here in NoCal, big bass and stripers kill those baits.

Yeah, that happened to me, too. That's why I started coating with the super glue. It's not perfect, but it helps. I've also found that heating the bait and then letting it cool back down before I coat it helps, too. I think it helps any left over solvents offgas. Lastly, I have begun using Rustoleum white primer (rattle can) as a sealer. It fills in the surface defects from sanding, and gives a smoother surface to paint over. I let it dry/cure overnight.

I also use nail polish on my PVC trimboard baits sometimes, and there is no need for a sealer with that, since it's thicker and doesn't get absorbed. If I'm airbrushing my bait, then I finger on a couple of coats of runny super glue first, to harden the surface a little, and to keep any solvents still trapped in the PVC from bubbling up if I overheat it while drying the paint. PVC isn't without it's problems, but it's perfect of how I like to build and paint.

I use the accelerant with my med. Zap super glue, and it doesn't seem to get that white powdery stuff on it.

Thanks. I started using an artist's brush because the heads are so small I couldn't get the kind of detail I wanted with an airbrush. I'm sure there are people here who can, but not me. And, like you, I find the setup and cleanup with the airbrush a pain, and frustrating because I can't get the results I want. I've found the drying time with the artist's brush is just about the same between colors as with airbrushed colors, and I can generally get one coat coverage with opaque and iridescent colors. Transparents take a couple of coats. A couple of swirls of the artist's brush in clean water, a quick squeeze with a soft cloth, and it's ready for the next color. Once I've got all the paint on and dried, I hit the baits one more time with the hair dryer on high, and then coat with the clear nail polish. They are hard to the touch the next day. I like to hit them again that next day with the hair dryer on low, and then they are ready to fish the day following. I know there are UV gel nail polishes that set in UV light, so they could theoretically be ready to fish the same day, but I haven't tried them...yet! Hahaha

The Dollar Tree near me carries LA Colors Rapid Dry topcoat, and I think it is very low odor. Maybe it's because it's rapid dry. Or maybe I just don't smell things very well anymore. Hahaha

A muskrat sized bait? You'd need a tuna pole for that size lure!

Dollar Store clear nail polish works, too, and it's only a buck.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

I've never seen either a pike or a muskie in person, but, from what I've seen on the internet, those are some really well armed big fish with a serious anger management problem. I am amazed that a lure could survive an attack by one of them.

Ted, I have to ask you, do you drink coffee? I tried to do your tap the spoon powder coating method, and I shook like an aspen leaf in a hurricane. How do you keep your hands steady?

I tell myself that every time I screw something up. Hahaha

Here's a picture of two of them with skirts, and the triangular blades that Smalljaw turned me on to.

I'll take a pic and post it here.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but this is so simple and easy I wanted to share it....again? I prime my spinnerbait heads with Rustoleum Etching Primer (thank you Cadman Ted). Then I paint them with Createx airbrush paints, using a small artist's brush instead of an air brush. Once I've dried the paint with my hairdryer, I add some eyes, glued in with super glue, and then top coat with clear nail polish. If I hit the nail polish with the hair dryer after it's initially dried/cured, so it isn't moved by the hot air blowing on it, the polish get hard much faster, and I can fish the spinnerbait the next day if I want. It makes trying new paint scheme fast and easy. Here are 10 I did yesterday. The ones on the bottom are powder coated with glo white and glo chartreuse.

I find that a benchtop oscillating belt sander is really good for rough and fine sanding and shaping. https://www.fefall.com/oscillating-edge-eb4424-belt-sander--ridgid

I use the regular split rings I take off of crankbaits to put on heavier/stronger split rings. The key, for me, is to find a ring whose wire is just small enough to pass through the swivel hole. Once it threads on and reaches the gap between the wire ends, it won't rotate any further, but that's okay. The swivel lets the blade spin anyway, and I don't lose big spinnerbait blades anymore. The swivels I get from Barlow's have a hole for .035 wire, but even a little smaller will still work.

You should either work in front of a box fan that blows past the hot plastic to an open door, or wear a respirator that is designed to protect you from solvent fumes. Once you screw up your sinuses and/or lungs, it's too late. Been there, done that.

B-Rad, Everything I know about bait making I learned here on TU, from other members who generously shared what they knew. Think of this as encouragement to continue to paint and grow. Of course, it can also be seen as a cautionary tale. Bait making has grown to almost match fishing as my passion, so you are forewarned!

Since there is such a small temperature window between melting it and setting it on fire, is there some kind of well controlled heater to use to melt it?

That is a beautiful lure!

I paint because it's fun, and because I make my own lures.