TheSilverFox

I'm still reading. If your comment is directed at me and my comments about his basic paints then undoubtedly you're missing what I'm talking about. I'm not gonna sugar coat my opinion of a paint job. I never said they were bad... just basic stuff we all do. I never commented about his history of working on baits for companies. I have no opinion of that. I am speaking directly about our basic paint jobs vs these highly detailed stenciled and foiled image baits. There is no comparison in my opinion. No offense to hughley or anyone else on here... just my thoughts. I don't expect all to agree with me.

I'm not saying he hasn't done well and I'm not saying his work isn't nice. I'm just saying in my opinion painted baits will never catch as many fishermen as these newer baits. The industry is evolving and soon painted baits will be a small portion of the market... very small. I don't believe these baits will catch anymore fish than painted ones when done on moving baits but the fish are not the ones buying them.

There ya go. Nothing I paint or nothing hughesy paints is ever going to catch as many fishermen as those. They look awesome, well done Saltshaker. I have no problem with you doing this. If I didn't like or couldn't get the results I wanted painting I'd give it a try or buy from you.

I can't get the gallery to work on this thing. Sucks

Saltshake.... why don't you post a few pics of your work and let us compare.

All are painted for me or repaints for me so I'm not sharing anyone else's scheme. Basic stuff that everyone does.

Found another perch/fire tiger cross that I painted. These pics are in my paint room after they come off the wheel and taken with my phone so quality isn't always top notch. I'll see if I have any others that I did with my camera. Painted eyes... didn't have anything bigger than a 6mm but I painted it for myself so...

I think you have the idea I'm trying to blast someone and that's not the case. As I said his baits look good but they are standard colors like many of us do. I don't take pictures of most of it since it's usually a repaint for someone. Most of these guys would get ticked off if you showed "their baits" to anyone. I posted one on here when I had some bubble trouble that I thought may be a brush issue. I have a bait I painted for a guy to resemble the hot steel bait I'll post hanging. I painted the originals for myself and he saw it so I don't feel bad sharing rapalas color... and it's not perfect by any means but similar.

I haven't seen your work.... didn't even know you did image stuff so I can't comment on it. I will say that most of the image stuff I've seen is really nice. If you want to throw a shad color or bluegill color its for sure you can get it right with the image baits I've seen. Painted baits just can't match them... and on a jerkbait I'd say they would be hard to beat.

If his patterns are anymore than basic patterns then I'm missing something on his website or you guys are not comparing them to the cranks I'm talking about in my original post... nothing against him at all, it's just my opinion of what I've seen. Some of the guys will make you think it's a photo image with paint and some are photo image and paint. His nor mine compare in realism with those. I have no doubt that his lures are fish catchers but they look no different to me than some of the other painters I've seen, including mine. I'm not saying this to try and bring him down or anyone else but give someone new a gun and some stencils and they could duplicate what we do with a little practice and instruction. If I hurt someone's feelings or pride, I'm sorry.

yeah but your paint jobs are basic.... stuff everyone does. I'm talking about the guys who spend hours on one bait making them as realistic as they can.

I use the Paasche VL for everything... even with the #3 needle. If I'm doing any kind of detail I use a stencil of some sort. I've thought about trying a top feed brush but just haven't seen anything I do that I can't do with the Paasche. I will put some water in the cup and with a qtip wipe it around and dump it out. Then add more water. When I'm cleaning the brush I jack the pressure up to 60 to 90 psi (you read that right) and spray a little water out. Then I stick my thumb over the cup and hold pressure. The gun will start to spit. Let it spit a second or two and lift your thumb. Then do it again. Then backflush for a second or two. The gun comes out clean as can be. When I pull the needle it looks like a new gun inside. The entire process may take 30 seconds. I still open it every night to make sure it's clean but since starting this, I've not had to do anything extra. Even thick pigment white comes out clean doing the above. The ease of cleaning and the spraying makes me keep it for everything.

I like a round bend this time of year since i have so many slap the bait that I miss with triple grips. I put eagle claw hooks on some baits like traps... stronger hooks that i feel you need. what's another thinner wire round bend hook that's good? Anybody got a good place to buy them from? I've been buying all mine from LPO when I buy bulk.

I hate to switch... the hooks are sharp and flex a little which I like. I had a 5ish pound smallmouth break the point on one weekend before last. I had another that I just noticed was broke after I lost a fish... may have been broken before that one. Then I popped the hook out a largemouth last weekend that broke when I did it. This has been in the last 3 weeks... all from the same pack. Maybe just bad luck.