spidergrub6

Thanks for the ideas guys. It seems to me that pretty much all topwaters are a pearl belly with whatever pattern over the top. But since I am selling these baits I am trying to catch the fisherman rather than the fish. And we all know that they are waaay pickier than the fish;). I am thinking about doing the sexy shad pattern since it's in vogue right now and also maybe baby bass or some other natural patterns. Lapala, you bring up some really good ideas on targeting a larger market place but since my school is actually an outdoor project oriented charter school the baits fit in pretty well with a lot of what we do and I've gained full backing from my teacher. What do you guys think of firetiger or table rock shad for something a little brighter? I'm just trying to hit as many bases as I can in only four patterns.

Hey Guys, it's been a while since I've been on here,didn't have a chance to do any bait building over the summer. I was just wondering if any of you bass fishermen ou there could give me some tips on the best colors for Zara Spooks, poppers, and prop baits. As a school project a couple of friends and I are going to be starting our own topwater company to try and raise money for the school. Kind of a fund raiser except actually selling something useful:) I'm planning on staring out with four color patterns for each model. Any help you guys can provide would greatly appreciated:yay:

I love using spider grubs for the local smallies and end up with baits where the top half in ruined on one and bottome half on another. So I just cut the torn part off of the baits and use the good parts from two bad baits to make a good bait. Just use a lighter and carefully soften the connecting ends of the baits then press them together and melt around the seam and dunk in water. Works for me and saves a lot of money.

Here's what worked for me very well. Do a pearl base coat then spray the top half of the bait a basic yellow color (you can very the yellow color based on water clarity). Then hold scale mesh over the bait and spray with a watermelon green color. I then took the watermelon green and added black and brown to it too dull it down and make it darker. This color I used to spray the V shaped bars and to do the back of the bait. A little bit of orange accent on the throat and you've got yourself a winner. You can very the intensity of the colors and accents based on water clarity. Generally pailler for clear and more contrast for stained.

Thanks for the response! So basically if I don't have a navionics or similar digital topo map of my lake it will just show an outline of the lake on my chartplotter but no topo lines so it will still show where waypoints are in relation to shoreline contours and other waypoints? This would be all that I need because I don't feel like spending 200-400 bucks on a map chip. Dang those things are expensive. One more question. I want to put a fishfinder at the front of my boat and mount the transducer on the trolling moter foot. I see that there are transducers for this but I don't know if it will work with my motor becuase it has the skeg in on the very front of the motor. It's a Minn Kota Edge bow mount and I don't know if mounting the transducer between the skeg and prop will cause interference or not.

After being frustrated this summer by my lack of consistant success beating the banks I've started thinking about updating to a new fishfinder to fish deep offshore spots more effectively. I am thinking about maybe getting a unit with GPS mapping capabilities but am puzzled about one thing. None of the local bass holes that I fish are big or famous enough to be on mapping software, at least I don't think they would be. So is the whole mapping capability useless to me then if I don't fish any of the big national lakes that would be featured. And with GPS how do I mark waypoints on it if I don't have a digital map of the lake that I'm fishing. Or will an arrow just point me in the right direction as I move across the lake. Sorry if these questions are confusing but as you can see I am thoroughly confused:huh:. Also how accurate are these modern GPS units will I be able relocate within 10 feet of a waypoint and does price effect this or are all units just about equal in accuracy. Thanks a ton in advance for any help on this matter. I just don't want to blow my hardearned money and then be dissapointed.

I don't think that the professional builders have found anything too teeth proof yet. I was fishing a Bomber model B for smallies and the northern were just destroying the paint job. Not even big fish. So I think you just have too deal with the low durability or use plastic baits. Personally I like using scarred up baits cause I feel that I will catch something then.

Janns Net Craft makes a frog mold but it's more like the Yum Buzz frog.

Now having another problem. When I finally got the pearl thinned down enough to spray somewhat well the amount of thinner caused the white undercoat to dissolve and wash away and now wood is showing in some spots. Do you guys know if you can use createx in conjunction with a lacquer? I'm thinking of using createx for the pearl and lacquer for the rest. If I spray lacquer over the top would it react?

Thanks guys. Yeah I will try to thin it down a little more but I was just wondering if maybe the pearl paint has particles in it that would clog an airgun. I thought of the misting after I had already mixed it in and it is a lot better idea. I used a lot of the pearl in the bone color and barely got any affect at all. I will just keep doing and learning. That's why this hobby is so much fun.

Hey guys, just had a quick question. I am starting to paint all the baits that I made this winter and am using Janns Net Craft lacquer paints which I am so far very happy with. One thing though is the pearl paint- have any of you guys had any trouble spraying this in an internal mix airbrush? I haven't tried straight pearl yet but I mixed some into a bone color paint and it seemed as if it was causing the airbrush to sputter and not spray well. Something else may have caused this but I was wondering if the tiny particles in the pearl that give it that metallic look were clogging the gun. Let me know if any of you guys are experiencing this. Thanks

As far as painting the detail patterns on lures don't count on it. I thought I was gonna do the same thing but it's much better just to use a stencil and you'll achieve a way better look. Badger, Paasche, and Iwata seem to be what everyone is using.

A lot of people seal with just an epoxy right away but I get a way better finish by using a sanding sealer first. When I apply the sanding sealer it is absorbed into the wood and causes the grain to rise then I just sand the bait all over again and with the sealer it sounds down extra smooth. Then when I apply my epoxy sealer it is not absorbed unevenly into the wood and forms a super smooth painting surface.

Janns Net Craft sells the do-it molds and they also sell the drop shot line ties that your looking for. Janns is my favourite source for supplies, real easy to work with.