mark poulson

Michael's Craft Store sell Apple Barrel paints, and one of their colors is Moss Green. You have to thin it with Windex, but it's a great color.

Summitlures, You only need some wood, a few hand tools, and your imagination. I started out using rattle can paints, and they worked. They are not as durable as epoxy or some other finishes, but, as long as I stayed away from rocks, and T'd my trebles so they didn't wear a path on the belly, the finish held up fine. And touchup was easy. Since you're on a tight budget right now, I'd suggest starting with one piece, walking/gliding lures, like the Lunker Punker. They are easy to shape with a sanding block, and, depending on the wood you use, don't take a lot of ballast to get them to walk. You'll need some kind of a drill to predrill the line tie and hook hanger holes, and for any ballast holes. You can get 30 minute Devcon 2 Ton epoxy at the local lumber yard, and you can have the wood you buy (I started with doug. fir clothes pole) precut to length at the yard if you don't own a saw. You can use smaller diameter dowels for smaller lures, but, at least at my local lumber yard, the smaller dowel stock is birch, and is harder to shape. But it will work, too, as long as you seal the lure well before it gets wet. Simple paint schemes catch fish, so you can start with solid white, solid black, and solid mossy green. Those three colors will catch fish on a top water lure whenever the fish are looking up. After all, they only see the profile, and the general paint scheme, when they're looking up at a lure that's framed against the sky, which is usually brighter than the water they're swimming in. Like diemai said, the fish won't know the difference if you're using an air brush or a paint brush. Someone long ago said, "Action catches fish, paint jobs catch fishermen".

Kinda like some of the people I do work for. They'd rather be hit by a Rolls Royce than missed by a Volkswagen.

I've read about people using paint brush bristles. Probably the nylon bristles would hold up better, but I don't know if they can be colored.

Well I'm glad you're back in it, for sure. Do you make bass lures?

That trout will be the ticket in the late winter. Look for where San Diego Water and Power drops off their replacement power poles, and steal one to throw that bait! And stop by Mission Bay and pick up an Accurate two speed reel to mount on it. Maybe you can make a deal for a used setup from a sword fish guy. Seriously, I made a 12" surface trout that weighs well over six ounces (it's the five piece trout in the gallery), and it's all I can do to throw it with my 8' Shimano Crucial extra heavy swimbait rod. I'm good for about a half hour of that, and then it's back to the "featherweight" 10", four ounce swimbaits. I don't even through trout lures after May, because they stop stocking, and the bass get onto the shad bite, so they ignore the trout unless you hit them on the head. I have gotten bit on 6" crappie and bluegill swimbaits, but that gets slow, too, when the bass are on the shad and crawdads in the summer and early fall. Now late fall is a different story.........

You've really got it down to a science. Good for you. Your lures look great, so you must be doing something right.

Nice looking bass! They really like what you're making and throwing. Good job.

Great baits. Channel cats. Hmmm. I've caught them while bass fishing, but never thought about using them to catch bass. Great idea.

Benton, I'm only going by what Downriver said. Sounds like maybe you're not experiencing problems because you may be going heavier on the hardner, or you're just magic! I've found that any DN in my initial mix of D2T screws things up. Maybe it's just me. Interesting what he said about increasing the hardner decreasing the yellowing. I may try that just to try to keep it clearer. Downriver, It's really great to have someone who actually works with these chemical, and unstands the processes involved, here to comment and teach. Understanding why stuff works the way it does is priceless. If you do a search for "epoxy" on this site, you'll see there are endless questions concerning why and how. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Cherry, maple, oak...... Man, you must like work! I don't use hardwoods because I know how hard they are to shape. Of course, balsa is technically a hard wood, but you know what I mean. That's why I settled on poplar and pine. I think those woods are plenty strong, and buoyant, without being too light, and they're much easier to shape. I do have to add ballast to all of my lures, but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make. My hat's off to anyone who can carve a hard wood like cherry as well as you do. Good job!

rofish, I think it will be a lot less work moving my lures that painting my boat cover. Seriously, I paint and coat my lures in my garage, with the large overhead door open. In the summer here in Los Angeles, the temps. have been in the 80's, and my garage has a black roof, open framing, and no insulation, so it's hot in there when I'm painting. I have a fan going, but that just moves some air. It's still hot. And the temps on the lakes have been in the 90's, so there's not a big temp. swing there. Since I can't heat the lures to the 120+ boat cover degree temps. while I'm paint and top coating, I think I'll just have to learn to remember to cut off my lures and move then after every trip. It's easier than repainting them all the time.

That's a slick idea! I found that the white primer had stuck both to the epoxy/paint section, and to the lure, so it had to be the weak link. I think I just put it on too thick, and didn't give it a chance to really cure. Operator error. Man, I hate when there's no one to blame but me! I will be keeping the lures out of the heat. Direct sunlight heat seems to be okay, but baking under the boat cover just cooks the lures.

rofish, I wonder if it was the Minwax Wood Hardner that I used as a sealer this time. Maybe it off gasses for a longer time than their Polyacrylic Sealer that I had been using. Or maybe I put the primer on too thick, and it still had some solvents buried in it. Whichever it is, I sanded the damaged section down to the primer, reprimed it with two light coats, hit it with the hair dryer, and am letting it hang in my garage which is up to 75+ degrees al;ready, and it's only 10:45 in the morning. I will hair dry it again before I start my painting, and really well between coats, and let it sit for a day before I put on the glitter and topcoat. Mostly, I'll keep the lures out from under the black boat cover in the summer, where temps get up over 100 degrees every day. Fingers crossed.

Thanks. Every time I think I've got it wired, something new and exciting happens, like a topcoat splitting. Oh, well, back to the drawing board. It's too early for beer.

Let's see. Fish all day, and then go to your place for some "lure making". Hic! ) Sounds like a plan!

Man, that sounds sweet! Lure turner, and rotisserie chicken at the same time. Get a beer cooler, and a slop bucket, and you'll never need to go into the house again! Seriously, it sounds like you found the perfect setup.

bahlzar, What are you making your lures out of?

Rookie, He says he's been carving for years, since he and his Dad fished together. I don't know how detailed his carving is. I don't think he does duck decoy, full blown, detailed carving. He does the shapes he wants, and plays around until he gets the action he wants, and then it goes to the manuf., who details it. When Dave Roberson and Rob Cummings of Orso Baits were in the prototype stage with their split tail lures, they had no detail. And the finishes looked like bones. Mostly white, with some grey and black. But they were really focusing on the action, and they got bit on the "fossil" baits, so they must know something. I think Bill is the same way. He often says most baits will work if you present them the right way, in the right location, at the right time. That's his BBZ idea. Not just a bait, but a system of how, where, and when you fish whatever you're fishing. If you go to BBZ.com, he has all this stuff there, and is much better at explaining it than I am. I'm just a Jewish carpenter who loves to fish. He's a fireman who is part fish.

DSV, That's the difference between a hobby and a job. When you get paid to do something, and are expected to perform, it kind of takes the fun out of it, unless you can find a way to make the process fun anyway. If you charge enough and get it, maybe you will get a kick out of making lures that make money, and that will be a turn on. But you may find you'll be looking for ways to speed up the process all the time, to increase you profit margin, and to get some free time, because you really don't like making lures for money under a time constraint and filling orders. That's the trap of building lures, or doing anything, commercially. And then there's the need to service what you sell. Goof ups are okay in hobbies, but not when you're getting paid for something. If the finish or hinge fails on a bait you sold, either you take it back and fix it, free of charge, or you'll have a bad reputation, and no sales, in no time. I'm not saying these things to discourage you, but just to let you know what's ahead. If you can make a go of it commercially, and still enjoy yourself, good for you.

Downriver, I examined the lure under sunlight, and it really looks like something in the paint scheme bubbled on the top of the head under the 110+ degree heat under my boat cover, and caused the epoxy to bubble and crack. The white Krylon primer is what's left under the peeled section, so I think either it was too thick, and not fully cured, or the opaque black that went over it wasn't fully dried, so water vapor developed, causing a bubble and cracking. The Auto Aire alum was put on the belly and lower sides, and then the black went over the middle and upper sides and back. Then I put the auto air over the sides and shoulders as a scale pattern. The paint scheme come off with the Etex Lite epoxy, all the way down to the primer which is still on the lure. Anyway, I'm going to redo the front section (gotta love removable pin hinges) and repaint it the same way, only drying it better between coats. And I'm taking my lures off after I fish them, and putting them in the garage, instead of baking them under my boat cover. Live and learn.

Dude, They would have to pry that bluegill out of my cold, dead hand before I'd sell it. It's beautiful. Do yourself a favor. Ask an older person you know and trust, who works with their hands for a living, how much your time is worth, and figure out how much time you have in that bait. Then figure out how much it's worth to you to have to make them, instead of doing it for fun. That's how to price your lure. If it becomes a chore, for which you ultimately feel burdened and underpaid, you'll probably get discouraged and stop doing them. That would be a shame. You do beautiful work. P.S. I'd love to be able to do a photo finish like that. You're very talented.

I am not "ashamed" of "my wall of shame". It was just a name I picked out of the blue. A better name might have been, "wall of learning". I learned something from every bait I made, good and bad. I'm just today going to refinish the front section of one of my jointed baits whose finish cracked. On close examination, it looks like the bait had a bubble develop under the paint, but on top of the primer. I think the primer was too thick, so it off gassed in the heat under my boat cover (100+ degrees) or the water based paint still had some water, even though I heat set it. I may have made the coats too thick, so they only skinned over, instead of drying all the way through, and the trapped water vaporized, causing a bubble, pressure, and, finally, cracking and peeling of the topcoat, with all the paint down to the primer coming with it. Pure operator error. I hate it when I can't blame someone else! So I'm still learning. With this bait, it's patience and thinner coats, and adequate drying time. With others, it's perfecting joints, or body shape for max. action, or what woods not to use for what baits. Fun, no matter what. I have the good fortune to know Bill Siemental, of BBZ fame. On the West Coast, he was one of the original swim bait guys, and actually helped develop most of the different swimbaits that are now the industry standards. He actually carves his own prototypes, so I was talking to him yesterday about swimbaits, and he said he really enjoys solving the problem, and tweaking his baits to get them just the way he wants them. Sounded just like the rest of us! So the process is what's fun. And catching fish on them when you're done. "Life is a journey, not a destination". I enjoy the ride.

Downriver, Do you have any experience with Minwax Wood Hardener? I used it for the first time as a sealer on a wooden lure, and the lure cracked when I left it in the heat. I used Krylon white primer over it, then Auto Aire water based aluminum, opaque water based Createx, water based Wildlife Colors iridescent violet, Krylon spray glitter, Krylon spray clear with UV inhibiters, and then two coats of Etex. The top of the head split and peeled, down to the primer, which seems tacky. I wonder if the sealer and primer didn't bond, or if the sealer still had solvents left in it. The Wood Hardener is some kind of a polymer that restores rotten wood to structurally sound. Looks like I'll be stripping and redoing at least the head of that lure. And I guess I'll have to put the rest of them in the garage between trips, to keep them from getting too hot.