Can you catch fish on an unpainted head.....yes! Does painting improve the performance of the bait, certainly. Playing with color schemes is essential to finding what colors work best together. Painting eyes on a jig may catch potential buyers, but adds nothing to the baits appeal to the fish. Fish are drawn to color of different shades and combinations based on water clarity, cloudy or sunny skies, time of day, what type and size prey they are feeding on. I like to powder coat my heads, then apply clear sparkle fingernail polish to add some flash. It has been proven time and again that color matters on not just shirting, but jig head as well. You can take that to the bank!