llokkii

Is this what you are looking for? I haven't fished with a lot of swim baits but I did a search and found this. There are blanks you paint yourself the third row down on the right called paint it yourself. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/River2Sea_S-Waver/descpage-R2SW.html Seems kind of pricey though but Im assuming that most of the swimbaits are going to be around that price...Hope that is what you are looking for

Been years since I've been on here, so I'm pretty sure not many people remember me. Not as a result of burning out or having a lack of ideas, but rather my real world job has had me busy putting in 60+hours a week for the last 3+ years....I'm just plain worn out. What free time I did have has been consumed with honey do lists and the occasional fishing trip. I have several drawings I have come up with over the last few years. Ideas that keep me awake some nights. Thoughts on how I am going to make these and what is the most efficient way to do it. Most are crankbaits, some spinners, jigheads and I have a few soft plastics I want to design. My goal is to expand my "lure lab" into a full fledged shop like Larry Dahlbergs. And since Im still working so many hours, Im shooting for an early retirement/semi-retirement as soon as I get my house paid off. I paint blanks as well, but I actually started for a different reason. I wanted to learn how to paint better and know I would be able to put on a great looking custom coat on each bait. While my painting has improved, it still has a long way to go before I am super happy with it. The baits I do paint I sell to local guys for a few bucks and use that money to buy a few more blanks or paints. Im hoping that one day, Ill actually get to retire and can do nothing but fish, bbq, and make lures all day every day lol. Another thing with the blanks. I actually use them to help me get new ideas too. Lip angles, lip sizes and shapes, body styles, internal weighting, etc. Throw in watching videos from solarbaits, Marling baits and others, and I've come to the conclusion that no matter how crazy a bait may seem, putting in the time and effort to design and create it will eventually pay off.

Some days they are magic, others they are miss. I used to think that cloud cover was the primary factor in that but the northern pike and walleyes of the Missouri River have taught me otherwise on numerous occasions. Personally, I love the pattern. I even make my own version of it on the cranks that I pour with resin. I'm just adding an extra color (red) and I have a definite placement preference in terms of paint. I am finding though I have much better luck with that pattern in late summer and into fall. Easier for the fish to see and they are all about getting as much food into their belly before it ices over. I think firetiger is THE color to have late season, but then again, that seems to be the case for the waters I tend to fish. Can't claim that as fact for other waters, especially on your side of the pond. All the waters I fish are slightly eutrophic or late mesotrophic due to the rivers course of flowing through farm country.

In my neck of the woods, I don't see a lot of huge pike, but those bigger gators I do manage to catch are always caught on foiled baits. I have never caught one with a glittered bait, which is kind of weird. Since I fish the Missouri River sections between South Dakota and Nebraska, I don't typically see clear water like the lucky guys up north. I would assume based on past experience that while glitters have their place, I think the foils are going to take the lions share of northerns. Cannot speak for musky as I've only managed to scrounge up a tiger in a local reservoir on a big spinnerbait. I will say that I do catch a lot of bass with glittered baits. Again murkier water here but their preferences seems to change daily.

I think those look pretty awesome!. Love the stencil you used. Great job.

Thanks Bubbadoyle. I'm definitely going to try the Pledge the next batch of baits I dip. I like the ratio of good baits to that bait that wrinkles a little bit. Since most of these baits are for me, I can live with a minor wrinkle or two but if I can get that paint to stop wrinkling on certain colors, I'll definitely be a happy guy! right now I am avoiding certain colors and patterns because I know that those colors will wrinkle regardless. I appreciate the feedback!

Thanks. I hope I find something that works so I can post it back here. You guys have been a ton of help to me and I am hoping I can return the favor. Keep those lines wet!

That was my first thought too, so not only did I only spray one light coat of white on my crankbait, I used my heat gun on it immediately after I was finished. I then let it air dry inside at 73 degrees for a week and then I used my heat gun on it again before letting it air dry another two days. I kept my GST at room temperature in the same room as my crankbait. (I thought any temperature variations might be a culptrit. When i was ready to dip,I took everything outside, dipped it and the cracking/wrinkling was immediate. I use an Iwata airbrush and that coat of white was light. Its only one of three colors I have issues with. The rest are just fine. Weird. I'll find a solution. Hopefully soon. I have about a dozen baits I am going to have to repaint and clearcoat because of it. Hoping the Pledge with Future does the trick.

I've tried shooting a thin coat of Createx gloss on them. I still ended up getting wrinkles, but they were smaller and more compact than the larger cracks that showed up on the baits I didn't spray with the gloss. White and orange and pearlized blue are my banes right now. Thinking I might try switching to a different primer to see if that helps, followed by dipping in Pledge. I'll be dipping some baits here at the end of next week (I hope) so I'll check it out too. I will also give the gloss Createx another shot. Can't hurt to see if I get different results.

I still experience some issues with the paint wrinkling, even with taking the same precautions as it sounds you do. I'm going to be trying to thin my createx paints with pledge with Future to see if that doesn't put a stop to the wrinkling. Either that or dip the baits in Future and let it fully cure before I apply GST. Do yourself a favor and apply the GST outside.

I've been using GST since I first came across that thread. I've found that if I dip my baits quickly in the GST, place them on my lure turner and then use my ceramic heater to blow warm air over them for an hour or two, they get rock hard and cure better. I do all of this outside as to avoid any off-gassing issues. I've also found that as a result of doing this, the lures are less likely to have an "odor" to them. Since I haven't used the AC1315 yet ( I still have half a gallon of GST) I can't say for sure if this would work or even help, but someone might be able to give it a try and see. I have kept my baits with other commercial baits and haven't had any issues yet, but I'm in my tackle boxes almost daily. I also keep my soft plastics stored separately (most of the time). I have issues with Createx white too but only on baits that seem to have smoother bodies.

Very cool idea.

Wow!. That looks freaking awesome! What type of wood did you use?

Welcome kevin. Glad to have you here.