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The Custom Craze! Why Not DIY?
Like many other fisherman, the equipment on my boat probably costs as much as the boat itself. From rods and reels, to terminal tackle and spinner blades, it all adds up pretty quick. Many of us would balk at paying 15 bucks for a decent set of jeans but don’t bat an eye about paying $12.95 for a custom painted top of the line crankbait.
Do custom crankbaits work better than a simple color scheme put out by one of the many major bait companies? That question is always left up to the fisherman himself. What I can tell you is that I hate being out fishing and NOT having the ONLY bait that is catching fish that day! That being said, many of the companies out there that are custom painting simply lack the originality to come up with new color schemes. Many of them are content to copy one another and slightly tweak their recipe to make something look like a new bait. I’m often left to wonder if these guys even fish with their products.
Today there are so many companies out there painting baits that all of them start to look the same. How many different color combinations of pearl do I need? Then you have Barbie, and bad Barbie, wonder bread, clown (the original from the 1980’s looks nothing like today), and pickled everything in twenty different color combinations. After we get past the colors, then we have different sizes that work on different days depending on the appetite of the fish. In the end, we could spend thousands and never even touch the surface of the lures that are painted that we “must have”.
The funny thing in all of this is, we as fisherman know exactly what we want. The problem: nobody makes exactly what we want. What if I told you that with a couple of bucks you could turn those old crankbaits relegated to the “used to run” section of your tackle box in to productive baits that no one else has? Before you run out and spend hundreds of dollars on an air brush set, a small compressor, and tons of different paint colors, gives this simple project a try.
The first thing you need to do is remove all of the hooks. Although it can be done with a fingernail or any other pointy object, I recommend utilizing split ring plyers. After removing the hooks, you need to remove the shiny surface of the bait. Although it is not necessary, you can remove all of the paint and bring the bait down to its original plastic make up. For this, I utilize 150 and 220 grit sand paper.
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After removing the exterior it is recommended that you remove all paint dust and residue. Denatured alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol works best. Once clean, it is now time to mask off your bait. I use simple painters tape on the bill and scotch tape around the hook loops. You do NOT need to mask off the hook loops but I like to do it to avoid cleanup later.
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You are now ready to put on your base coat. For base coating that will be painted over, I prefer a standard spray paint with a flat finish. You can also utilize a pearl paint if the majority of your main body will be pearl.
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After spraying a LIGHT coat, I like to heat set my paint. This can be done with a heat gun, hair dryer, or, what I like to use: A torpedo heater. Make sure to keep baits away from the direct heat or you WILL melt them!
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After the first heat set I like to put on a few additional coats until I get the base color the way I want it to look. I heat set between light coats. Once complete you can spray your next coat or apply some kind of masking. In this photo I used a piece of laundry bag.
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There are hundreds of colors of paint on the market. These are just a few of the colors that I used:Neon Orange, Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Flat Black, Flat White, and Chrome.
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Make sure to make LIGHT coats and heat set between coats. Once you have the desired look, remove your masking to ensure it doesn’t soak up paint and bleed.
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For straight colors, I apply a bottom coat.
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A top coat
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And a nose and tail section.
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I always heat set between light coats. The spray coverage is determined by how close you hold the spray can to the bait. Once the paint is complete, I allow it to dry for 24 hours before applying my finish coat.
Once completely dry, you are ready for your finish coat. Although the bait looks rather dull in appearance at this point, the finish coat will put a high sheen on your bait. Although I’ve tried other forms of epoxy, the best that I have found is Devcon 2 ton 30 minute epoxy.
You mix the resin and the hardener together, add some glitter if you desire, and brush it on the bait. Make sure to get a good even coverage. You can usually do two or three baits before the mixture gets too hard to work. I use pinch clamps to hold the bill of the bait after applying my finish. This allows it to hang at a downward angle in the event any finish coat starts to sag as it will move towards the back of the bait before drying.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. The worst thing that happens is that you have to sand it off and start over. You can create tons of different templates that will spray anything from dots to ladder backs, rib bones, and gill plates. Glue on eyes are available from several different companies and can be applied with super glue before applying your hardener.
The next time you have a battle scared crank, one that is too ugly to fish with, or one that has been designated for assignment to the minor leagues, consider this DIY project. You may just surprise yourself at how good you are. Besides, you might just come up with “The Next big thing” in custom colors.
