Tiderunner Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Had someone ask me to make them some crayfish baits. I'm at a loss as to what colors to use in a laminated bait to make as natural looking bait as possible. Looking for suggestions for colors, glitter etc. I can make the usual stuff the big makers sell, but I'm trying to make "au naturel". I'm thinking natural craw on the top, and some lighter brown under? Dark green pumpkin up top. orange brownish under? These will be used in northern New England rivers. If not natural, what colors would you make your crayfish baits? Or if not a laminate, what single color? I have Blue Craw colorant, but I've never seen a blue crayfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishermanbt Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 A “natural” crayfish can vary in color from region to region. They also take on different hues throughout the year as they molt and spawn. Try a google search for crayfish in your region to get an idea. The standard crayfish if you will, I’d go with a laminate of pumpkin seed over a tan (I use DeadOn grit color and tweak it with other colors as needed). I’d also look at MF motor oil, MF chartreuse pumpkin or MF green pumpkin brown. You could further drive yourself insane by incorporating some brown highlight to the above. As for glitter, black for sure along with red and/or orange. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Young Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 Ask him what color crawfish he's talking about because like said above there can be a huge amount of difference between certain strains & regions where their from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 We think alike, These are some of the colors I was thinking of using. I never thought of the DOP Grit for the underneath, but that's pretty much the color I was thinking. I just got a big order from DOP, now I'll have to send a new one. I was wondering how I could use the MF Motor Oil in. I have a good amount of the "old" color. Has just enoug sheen to maybe be used on the top part. I also have MF Crawfish. Which really is pretty much the same as Caramel. I do understand the regional differences, even the differences in species here in New England alone. I'm just trying to make maybe what you could call an "average" color, if one exists. My molds duplicate the Yamamoto Baby Psycho Daddy. And a question. Where do I find brown highlight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted March 9 Author Report Share Posted March 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishermanbt Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 (edited) “Where do I find brown highlight?“. That is a very good question. I got mine in a lot purchased some time ago. It is MF brown neon powder color 940BN. Edited March 9 by Fishermanbt Correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 This is what I think of when I think crawfish..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I-35Lunkerz Posted March 13 Report Share Posted March 13 I made some “craw” colored neds last summer using root beer dye with black and red flake. Thought it turned out pretty good. Add a little red highlight powder for grins and it made it look more like that very orange craw color with some shimmer to it. The highlight baits are on the right in this pic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted March 15 Author Report Share Posted March 15 I may use blue craw with blue highlight for the top. And Lurecraft crawfish for the bottom. If that doesn’t work,then dark pumpkin with blue highlight. And the burnt orange underneath. RootBeer. One of the most popular colors and I don’t have that one. Never did yet I don’t know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 On 3/10/2024 at 1:41 PM, alsworms said: This is what I think of when I think crawfish..... Whose craw is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 19 hours ago, mark poulson said: Whose craw is that? Not positive because it was on my Facebook feed, but I think Big Bite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Isn't that the 702 craw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 16 Report Share Posted March 16 1 hour ago, Driftwood said: Isn't that the 702 craw? I feel like the 702 is a little thinner, but I could be wrong. I was talking more about color. I think this is as good as it gets! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Posted March 16 Report Share Posted March 16 Yeah, that is a good looking color combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apdriver Posted March 16 Report Share Posted March 16 3 hours ago, Driftwood said: Isn't that the 702 craw? It looks like a 702 to me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 16 Report Share Posted March 16 16 hours ago, Apdriver said: It looks like a 702 to me Yeah sure does......and those are some awesome colors as well!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkin Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 This is the chart I use as a reference guide when someone asks for a "crayfish" colored bait. Allen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 18 Report Share Posted March 18 2 hours ago, Munkin said: This is the chart I use as a reference guide when someone asks for a "crayfish" colored bait. Allen This is very cool. THANK YOU!! Now I can imagine trying to match some of those colors. No thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted March 19 Author Report Share Posted March 19 On 3/15/2024 at 10:01 PM, Apdriver said: It looks like a 702 to me The top photo looks as though some kind of highlight was added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted March 19 Author Report Share Posted March 19 I made two different colors. One was blue craw with Pumpkin Brown added, and blue and a tiny bit of green highlight, with the bottom color a burnt orange. The second one was MF Crawfish with brown pumpkin added to deepen the color, and again the burnt ornage under color. The burnt orange was made with Lurecraft orange darkened with brown pumpkin and MF brown. Both types came out kind of nondescript. Took them out of the molds, tossed them into a water bath. and when I went to take them out I could see them in the water. how the colors both seemed kind of natural. One was a deep brownish, yet seemed greenish with the blue craw. The crawfish colored one seemed to be almost a deep olive. Very natural looking. In the water both colors looked so completely different. I'm pleased with my results, but feel I could improve the colors. Maybe a drop or two of straight green? I didn't use any glitter because I wasn't sure what color to use. Maybe brown? Copper? Orange? Maybe I'll do a motor oil craw, and add sparkle blue flake? I got time to play around. Yet. It's not like I've never had experiments fail before. I'd take photos but doubt if they'd come out showing what I can see, especially in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBuff Posted April 5 Report Share Posted April 5 Craws for me are the most enjoyable bait I've ever made which stems from my days of tournament fishing. At each event I fished I would walk the bank and turn over rocks in search of getting a craw or two to use in deciding which color trailers I would use for my jigs. As mentioned above there are so many sub species and color variations making them is never boring. I found the greatest challenge is imitating the molting version which involves semi milky opaque and translucent elements. I only hand pour so I have options as to how many colors I can integrate in the laminating process needed to create the illusion ranging from 2 to 4 with 3 being the most common. If I'm really energetic I'll pick up a few lake rocks and bring them to the shop for color matching since they molt to their surroundings. I put them in a glass bowl of water then start to match in plastic, I do dibble in making my own skirt material so this is beneficial for that as well. How I've always viewed making a craw in how I'm going to fish it first and what the fish is going to see while I fish it. 99% of the craws I make have a an opaque white/pink or peach belly/bottom. The colors I mix and match the most often are Amber, GP, Red, MF Blue Craw and Scuppernong. Flake colors most commonly used .015 black, orange, red, blue, copper, .035 gold, red, copper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted April 6 Author Report Share Posted April 6 This is the most awesome colored craw I have ever seen. I doubt you could get any more realistic if you were using live crawfish! I cannot make out what colorants you used. Any chance you'd care to share the recipe? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBuff Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 On 4/6/2024 at 9:14 AM, Tiderunner said: This is the most awesome colored craw I have ever seen. I doubt you could get any more realistic if you were using live crawfish! I cannot make out what colorants you used. Any chance you'd care to share the recipe? I'd share a recipe if there was one, I made these from sprew mixes of various amounts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted May 14 Author Report Share Posted May 14 On 5/12/2024 at 11:37 AM, JBuff said: I'd share a recipe if there was one, I made these from sprew mixes of various amounts. I do something like that I get black or a color that reminds me of clay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBuff Posted May 14 Report Share Posted May 14 (edited) 13 hours ago, Tiderunner said: I do something like that I get black or a color that reminds me of clay Every bait maker has come up with "the big waste of time mix". What gets me is when I make the same mistake a year later. The moments that you hit it spot is the driver, they remind you why it is that you do what you do. It can be integrating snake skin, an 8 layer laminate or color. During my time at the box store I had 3 customers that went in together and ordered 750 bags of Zoom Dirt brush hogs. Clay might be a great color it's funny really it's the ugly baits that work better than our perceived perfect match. Edited May 14 by JBuff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
