Painting Lures

What is your preferred (brand) of paint when you paint lures or blades? Do you use aerosol spray or is air brush more preferred? Is your paint a UV type or glow type paint?

I do all my stuff rattle can style and then spray with a UV top coat. Since I haven't found glow in an aerosol, I buy my bodies / blades in glow and then add my other non glow colors to it.

I mainly use either vinyl lure and jig paint or powder paint. All are top coated with a seal coat that's like an epoxy. The powder paint is sprinkled on the lure (metal blades and lead jigs) after heating them up in a toaster oven. I apply the regular paint by either dipping or a brush. On some lures I then add 3-D eyes. The lures are then dipped multiple times in the top coat...seals the whole lure and gives it a professional smooth look. If you use Holoform tape (fish scale look with transparent area's between so the lure color shows through) over the paint, be sure to first spray the lure with an light acrylic coating and let dry before the top coat application. If you go straight to the top coat epoxy the edges of the tape will come up due to the epoxy working it's way under the tape. Also, if you use a felt pen to add any features like tiger stripes or dots be sure to spray a couple VERY light coats of the acrylic coating to help hold it in place. If you spray too much the felt pen application will run. There is also a product called Quick coat lure dip that is very transparent and works well to add a different look. It's a dye that you can dip lures and blades in and also dip hooks to change their color. On bare metal blades it allows the metal to shine through. I've read that the Pro-Cure bait dyes can be used to dip hoochies in to give the skirt of the hoochie a different color...

Pink and white fingernail polish.

Alot of the kokanee jigs I purchase are custom poured lead and I do the finish work myself. For those working with bare lead, here's a tip...
Before the initial paint application, soak the lead in vinegar. This etches the metal so the paint will get a good bond.thumbsup

Last year I used a lot of finger nail polish, works good and lots of colors. My wife owns a salon so I get them cheap! My wife gets them at the supply house & sometimes on close out for a $ or $$.

There is a lot of styles with silver, gold, red ,green flakes in the polish. I add clear polish on top.

thumbsup................Kokonuts

Silver Bullets said:

Alot of the kokanee jigs I purchase are custom poured lead and I do the finish work myself. For those working with bare lead, here's a tip...
Before the initial paint application, soak the lead in vinegar. This etches the metal so the paint will get a good bond.thumbsup

Click to expand...

If vinegar is a good etcher, what about muriatic acid? Its used alot for etching concrete in prep for painting as well. Or would it be to harsh on metals?

Better off just buying an "etching primer".

Roger, some of my Lyman paint jobs.

[/URL]

Good job Dave. That treble has to go. These small lures look & function better with single hooks. Are you painting blanks or over old colors?

Some of both Roger. Before it was recently sold, I used to talk with the owner and his wife regularly. I eventually got them to send me primed blanks. But I also sand down colors that didn't produce as expected and make my own patterns.

You guys ever remove those screweyes on the Lyman's and run your leader to where the lure slides like a Wee-Tad to give the fish less leverage and be able to use a 2 hook set-up?

Super D,those are some sweet looking plugs.What size are the blanks and where sells them? My brother-in-law started air brushing lures a few months back and he is getting really good at it,so I may be able to get him crank me out some.

trollmonkey said:

Super D,those are some sweet looking plugs.What size are the blanks and where sells them? My brother-in-law started air brushing lures a few months back and he is getting really good at it,so I may be able to get him crank me out some.

Click to expand...

They come in 2", 3", 4" & 5". Look at the website www.lymanlures.com I was special ordering primered only bodies.

Thanks for the info Super D,I'll check them out.

Hmm, those are pretty cool. Something very satisfying about painting your own lures, kinda of like reloading my own cartridges.

Maybe its just me 'cause I like to modify everything....I'd like to try running the line through one of those little plugs, so it can slide up and down the line....

Silver Bullets said:

You guys ever remove those screweyes on the Lyman's and run your leader to where the lure slides like a Wee-Tad to give the fish less leverage and be able to use a 2 hook set-up?

Click to expand...

HEY! Nobody answered this and I have the same question worthy12 as I ordered a couple lymans and they should be delivered any day now. Any help would be appreciated. I think Silver Bullets, like me, will be using these mostly on Kokes rather than trout.movie89586

You will have to drill them through to use like a wee tad or a j-plug. It will work. I've worried about drilling the hole and using them at depth where water intrusion might create pressure and cracking so I haven't done it. GVF, one of the members here, makes his own plugs for resale and drills them through. He has some of them listed on the Kokaneemart site.