bassnbrad

Yep That nailed it THANKS. I already had that site bookmarked, but coming up in a list view would never have guessed that. Need to buy the book I reckon...lol Lots of good ideas for lure colors there. Thanks again and tight lines, bb

Hi, First let mw say your baits look great already, and wil look forward to the airbrushed results. I would strongly suggest getting, if you do not already have, 3 Quick connects and the airbrush air hose. The hose is very supple and allows easier movement. The adapter on my compressor is 1/8 npt and the gun is fine thread. With the Quick connects the guess work is taken out, and you can switch out guns easily if you are not building a manifold. I Rinse my gun at each color change and it makes that so much easier. With thinning the paint you would probably want to use the manufacturers suggested thinner. If it is water based you can use water, but I would suggest Distilled water. No Impurities that way. When drying your baits I if you are working with wood baits the heat gun would be ok, but on plastic bodies you run a risk of damaging a glue joint if you overheat. I use a hairdryer only, and like mark I dry on low first to set the paint then hi to dry. I went through too many paint jobs before I realized I was rushing them too fast and the moisture was reeking havoc with my Top coat... Hope this helps. Tight Lines, bb

There are wallies up in the panhandle, but I have never seen one this far south. I have caught alot of different species of fish from Texas to Kentucky To Florida, but this is the first one like this I've seen. Here is a chart I found but who knows... http://travis.uslakes.info/FishingChart.asp

Caught this the other night in a cast net while fishing Lake Travis with my grandson. The picture was taken at night so the colors are not too discernible. The stripes are tannish brown and the gill plate had a bluish tint to it... Thanks, bb

This one you will have to figure out by going and picking up the rods and geting a "feel" for them. I concur about the Crucial, inexpensive yet covers a wide range of baits and uses. My personal favorite Stick skipping rod used to be a 7' All Star with about 4 inches of the tip broken off and retipped. Sensitive Plenty of backbone to get the fish out from under the docks yet enough give when a big fish headed to deeper water. Nonboater went to net a big fish for me in a tourney and ended its fishing days though. Could not get too mad though, That 10.23 turned out to be a $500 fish.

Web sites still up and Cabelas still selling them... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Fishing/Soft-Baits/Creatures%7C/pc/104793480/c/104772780/sc/104285880/Reaction-Innovation-Sweet-Beaver/704921.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Ffishing-soft-baits-creatures%2F_%2FN-1100345%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104285880

Like everyone else said the stuff is great. One thing to keep in the back of your mind, Also like everyone else said it has no stretch. That being said I would disagree with the backing off on the drag. I do that for all of my mono's and did it out of habit. Big mistake on my part. I fish a lot of soft plastics and drape the line over my index finger for feeling those light bites. Well first bite tourney morning I set the hook on a heavy fish and the drag gave a little, Well that little it gave with the tension of the fish made the Power Pro just like a saw! Sliced my finger in the crease almost to the bone... Made for a long day... Still use it when fishing the grass, and have had no ill effects on the rod guides.

At first glance BBB's (Flea Bay) topwaters may seem expensive, but if you read on you would notice those prices are for 5 lures, not 1 and with free shipping. Also if you email Bryan direct with the numbers you want he will usually work with you on the pricing...

Here 2... http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=unpainted+topwater&_sacat=See-All-Categories#item335fae1399

Here is one site with a popper. He is a great seller and very fast shipper. http://bustinbassbaits.com/programs/shop/browse.cgi

Kris, Thanks. As far as Removing without messing up the scale pattern, I use very light coats for each color and I flash dry with a hair dryer before going to the next color, and dry completely before opening my scale book. Light coats and drying between makes all the difference in the world.

Thanks Nova, means alot coming from you. Yeppers the "book" method works great!

Luckily I have a great wife who does not mind me using her "Shower Poof's" among other household items. The less expensive poofs from wally world are ok for bigger baits, but the pattern stretches a little too big for regular and smaller cranks. She searched around and found a little bit more expensive one ($2.00) that has the perfect stretch and pattern. I wrap mine from time to time but only if I want the scales on the back. Most usually I just use the stretcher as shown below. People have different ideas for the scale pattern the easiest I have found is, take a old screen you do not use ay more. Cut it to the desired size and reassemble using the corner brackets. I made up two the same size and cut one section of the "POOF" out and stretch it between the two sections making it where they close like a book. I hold this closed with a heavy duty rubber band. This holds the bait in place while I paint and keep it hands free of the lure till I'm ready to do the final details. Also pictured is a lure I just finished tonight I hope you can see the scale pattern as the pictures are just from my phone. The lure is still drying so I had to hurry the pictures sorry. Hope this helps, bb

This is one that I had saved for a interesting mix to try. Formula: 1.5 oz Isopropyl alcohol 5 oz water 1.5 to 2 drops of Glycerin Mix it up in an 8oz squeeze bottle. Mark it with a sharpie for the ratios. Sprays like heaven when mixed 4:1 (4 parts solution to 1 part paint) At this moment I am using primarily the cheaper metalics and bases from Hobby lobby and thinning with Sterile water. Works great for learning. I would also suggest checking out the site below, there is a lot of interesting information and tutorials. Above all else I would suggest learning how to clean your gun, it helps a lot. Hope this helps, bb

Are you drip drying or on a turner?

I understand the Keeping as small as possible... GOOD LUCK! This is more addictive than throwing the danged lures. Absolute must haves are a Brush Holder ( nothing more frustrating than having your NEW airbrush sliding off and hitting the ground), A Inline water/air filter, it is not even funny when you are almost finished shooting a bait and have this sudden burst of water blown all over the side of your beautiful bait, and some type of flash dryer, ie... hair dryer, heat gun etc... and lastly some way of holding the baits while painting and drying, I use heavy duty paper clips alot as they can be bent to various shapes that you may need from time to time. Everything else will come as needed

This is a bait I recently made up... Subdued yellow belly White sides with upper and lower black dots and a light pink lateral line Green to Dark green back. Hope this helps, bb