Venutian_Lures

I went through 2 NEO's with nozzle issues and have never touched them since. Whatever nozzle is on the NEO is absolute garbage. I had 2 NEO's in 6 months break in exactly the same way. I was experiencing issues of the brush not wanting to spray, bubbles in the cup, paint and cleaner shooting out from the threads in the caps. I soaked it in IWATA airbrush cleaner, cleaned every little spot I could access and reduced my paint to nothing. It wasn't the paint or anything I was doing wrong to clean it, it was the airbrush and nozzle itself. I looked closely at both brushes each time this happened and the nozzle was cracked down the middle on the first one after painting with it for a week. The second one lasted a few months and this time the end of the nozzle was crimped. From what I have no idea. Will never use the NEO again for anything.

I use a tip given to me by a guy that paints models of airplanes, cars etc. I wipe them down with lighter fluid before and after the paint has been applied to remove any oils and dirt from the baits being handled. All my blanks come pre-sanded, haven't had to touch any up that way as of yet.

Pretty much what everyone else has said! Invest in a nice little airbrush. When I first started I got this crappy little thing that was actually a pack of 3 different types of airbrushes that cost around $50 for all 3. Before 6 months were up all 3 were broken in some way. I got an Iwata replacement and the difference is insane. A quality airbrush can make you, a bad one can break you. Just keep that in mind. Same thing with paints, I stand behind Iwata + Wicked Colors combo every day of the week. You can see the difference in the baits from my old setup to my new. Learning new skills aside, the quality of my baits due to my setup change has improved DRASTICALLY. Also Iwata has FANTASTIC customer service. When I noticed my gun had a cracked nozzle about 2 weeks after using it, I called Iwata to see if there was anything they could do, which I figured they would say was my fault and I'd be out another $100. No questions asked, no receipt from original purchase of the airbrush needed. Just an "I am so sorry, we'll send you a new one...". I got a brand new airbrush in box with a hand written apology from the woman I spoke with on the phone 2 days after that phone call. Five stars for Iwata.

Thanks for the reply! I've checked out a few basic videos on how to tie on deer tail etc. I got a bunch of fly tying tools for Christmas so I'm ready to rock there. I just didn't know if there were certain things I shouldn't use or that needed to be treated with something since they will be "wet flies" or jigs rather. I'll look into the saddle hackles!

I buy from HooksUSA, they specialize in bulk orders. The smallest pack they do is either 100 or 250 hooks.

I airbrush all of my jigs the same way I do with crankbaits. I always apply a white base coat and let each layer of paint dry before adding another. I usually end up doing 2 coats of the main color I want my jig head to be. I also paint the entire thing from head back through the collar and plastics keeper. I add glitter if wanted in my clear coat. I use a thick coat of D2T on my jigs, which is the only difference between my crankbaits and jigs; I use a different clear for the cranks. I've never had an issue with the paint not wanting to stick on the jig head, no customers have ever come back complaining either. I threw a 3/8oz last week in some super rocky stuff and all my paint was accounted for, not a scratch on the jig head either.

Never had any issues with mine. I use VMC 3X strong short shanks from HooksUSA. I buy them in bulk packs of 250 hooks but you can get up to 1000 I believe.

He is! I'll talk to him about doing it on a larger scale, he usually only makes enough for a couple friends but his stuff is good. Last time I bought from him he only had 25 of each body type.

Fluro Orange by Createx is great. VERY bright, I use it on my Fire Tigers and it's blinding.

lol I'm good friends with someone who makes the molds and blanks, so I probably have the easy way out with lure body pricing

Not sure if this has been answered somewhere else, if so please excuse my lack of poor searching abilities. I have never tied a fly before in my life, and have only recently taught myself how to fly fish. I was wondering what types of fly tying materials to use for tying in conjunction with silicone skirting material? If there are right or wrong feathers/materials to use, and if I need to use any type of sealer or treatment since these will be tied onto football head jigs that sink to the bottom. I already have self harvested deer tails from hunting this year that just need to be processed and dyed. would like to know what other things I can use and how. Preferably looking for some long, thin feathers to sort of act as "trailers" or antenna's that are tied under the silicone skirt and intermixed with deer tail. Thank you!

I started off with Createx and Wicked Colors. I think I bought around 200 colors. I use them all. Don't limit yourself to one style of paint or you'll run into problems in the future. Have nothing but great things to say about Wicked Colors. Expensive yes, but worth it.

Never ordered from him personally, his bodies are more expensive than the guy I buy from by .80-$1 per bait. Which is primarily why I haven't bought there. Nothing against Dakota, if you're painting for yourself price isn't as big an issue, if you're a business or plan on selling them, I would go with Predator or a few other places with better pricing.

I like the way they look with the overspray on the inside of the shell lines vs the other way around that you're describing. However I do my craws completely different. I get my base shapes and colors down then I turn my PSI down and line the shell with my airbrush freehand while feathering the back and inside of the shell lines with a smoke detail black. I used to hand paint them in with a paint pen. For some patterns I still like the crisp line, but I much prefer softer and rougher craw shell lines now. You could try masking tape vs stencils. That's how I started off making craws. Just make sure that you've run the tape across your skin a bunch of times so it doesn't stick to the bait and rip all the paint off. It's a complicated process to explain how to do it, but I found it easier than trying to work with stencils and it teaches you a lot about airbrush control.

I personally use the same paint I paint my cranks with, which is Createx. I paint them the same way too. Prime with white, then layer the colors. However I do a few more coats of paint on my jigs and a thicker coat of D2T. I was wondering about the UV Gel Nail polish type paints, you could paint the jig real quick and then hang it in the little UV cure light contraption. Not sure how well it would hold up, or how hard that stuff gets, but it popped into my head as an alternative to try out.

I tie jigs simply because they are one of my favorite baits to use personally, along with spinner-baits. I also get really excited about skirt color combinations that I think of randomly throughout the day. I do it more for the artistic freedom of creating your own product and making it look how YOU want it to look. Pretty much the same thing goes for the crankbaits. I love cranks, I love painting. I also hate spending $8+ on a store bought crankbait (or any lure) just to have it fall apart or fail in some way with less than a weeks worth of use on it. Making baits myself, I KNOW how it was made, what exact products and hardware was used, can test them myself and adjust/problem solve issues if need be. I've also had a TON of expensive jigs come apart literally after 2 days of fishing with them. I was sick of them falling apart before they had even caught a single fish. So I make my own now, and I haven't yet found a hand tied or quality banded jig in stores. Or perhaps I'm just not looking hard enough. My bait making is more of a hobby than anything else, and although I will and do sell things when people want them. The jigs I sell at cost plus shipping, because they were never intended to be a "star product", I just like showing them off when they're finished. If someone likes them and wants them, cool! If not, more for me