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Home made/painted lures-flies

299K views 2K replies 86 participants last post by  BigfishMike 
#1 · (Edited)
Guys,

I'll bet that some of you tie flies, or in some way, play around with/modify/tweak/customize/revolutionize lures-spoons-etc.
And I don't mean a pro who does it for re-sale, and I know we have a few gifted lure makers aboard.

I mean just a weekend warrior who is into it and likes to see what he can come up with.

I know guys who add skirts, spinner blades, glow, mirror tape, etc.
Regular Dr. Fishin' Frankensteins. The tinkerers....

If you DO, it would be cool to see what keeps you busy between trips or in the winter months.
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The last few years in Rivers Inlet, all kinds of salmon were being taken on a "Wonder Stripe" spoon.
I get that it looks vaguely like a "Wonder Bread" wrapper, but I don't remember ever seeing anything
native to the Pacific Ocean that looks pink, white and blue, and is a natural food of salmon.

Be that as it may, I started to experiment a few weeks back with my new toy, the airbrush, and
did up a bunch of variations on the damn thing. I added enamel dots using pencil erasers of various sizes
dipped in paint, and here's what I came up with.

I sent one to a buddy in Washington, and he bagged a 28 lb and 41 lb Chinook,
and enough coho to not pay attention and eventually re-tie it, and he ended up
surrendering it to the fishing Gods. He has asked for several more.

I'll add some 'gills', stripes, etc and fart around with combos.

It's a bit like tying flies, I suppose. Head out to the 'lab', get a few photos in front of you for guidance,
crack a beer and let it rip.

Some look better than others, but it's a lot of fun to see what you can come up with.

I've done a bunch of other color combos and will add pics later.
Doing some pilchard patterns now and they are looking pretty good!!

PLUS, after buying blanks and paint, they still only cost me about 40 cents apiece.

And I'm not about to give fish enough credit for being able to tell the difference between mine and any other.

The white in the center is actually a powder paint, applied first and with heat, and the colors are sprayed-on enamel. The white is "Glow", by the way...apparently a tasty combination.

If anyone wants one for free, PM me. I'll send up a bunch to one guy and you figure out the rest.

And of course if a pro wants to chime in, so much the better!

Cheers!:cheers:

Nail Pink Nail care
 
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#3 · (Edited)
PM me.

But gimme til after the weekend. Wife doing a girls road trip this weekend,
so I can paint like mad in peace, not shave, drink right out of the orange juice bottle,
hang my clothes on the floor, feed the dog steak, etc.
:thumbup::cheers::D8)


My "Cop Car" and "Army Truck" versions are also looking nice...
Plus..."Devil Dancer", pilchard patterns, and others taking shape.

"Party Girl" gonna slay tyee in August.

Will pm u back. Will send plenty pal. A few for the boys included.
 
#6 ·
Been doing the same for a considerably long time. Plugs and spoons. Will again be running a large run of plugs this winter (~ 250 or so) once the hunting season is wrapped up. Chiefly pilchards.

I'd be interested in seeing the pilchard pattern for the spoons you produce. :cheers:

I'll load up a pix or two of the plug pattern once I get rolling on them...

Cheers,
Nog
 
#7 · (Edited)
Likewise Nog.

I have 3 or 4 different sizes, finishes.

This is as much to keep me doing something while there's 5' of snow outside, and the temptation is to do nothing, and I really enjoy it.

I'll do a couple of different pilchards---some straight enamel, and some a powder paint-enamel mix.
I like the way the powder paint sits right down on the metal!

Q--Do you just paint and go? Or do you clear-coat 'em?

As soon as I get the right combo down on scrap, I'll make the push on the spoons, and post 'em.
I hope you like what you see.

Glad to see (read) you up and about, and that you got in some hunting.

Did Ma 'Noggin get her elk? Moose? :cheers:
 
#10 ·
Q--Do you just paint and go? Or do you clear-coat 'em?
Always Clear Coat! makes the paint last a LOT longer! ;)
Especially when you have a Winner Pattern! The teeth marks will shorty overpower the paint if you don't.
Did Ma 'Noggin get her elk? Moose? :cheers:
Antelope. Yes, Boone & Crockett actually!

Looking forward to seeing your spoons!

Cheers,
Nog
 
#8 ·
these were my top producers this season (the hook was just to show my buddy what to buy for big halis). the hammered green was phenom...it was given to me at a hali derby, cant find em anywhere :( Fish hook Bait Spoon lure Fishing bait Fishing lure
at one point in Aug the blue betty was killin coho at forty feet, then dropped it down to eighty for springs, the alligator hootchie was a 33ft success.. the pilchard spoon was magic towards the end of the season...cheers
 
#9 ·
Nice!

I'm still up in the air about the little spinner-looking blade on the spoons.

They don't really spin....maybe they're designed to look like a flapping tail?
I've always removed them if they were attached.

Maybe I'll leave a few on to test-

I like that green/spotted pilchard color --maybe I'll give that a go.

Thanks C.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Makes sense. I bought a spray can of it...
it would take til the cup finals
to do 'em all with the air brush.

Volume, at that point.

And I must acknowledge and be appreciative of
your optimism about any of my creations acquiring bite marks...
especially enough to compromise the paint!

Thanks Matt.
 
#12 ·
Here are a couple of anchovy-type---- I stress "TYPE" here--- as there are so many variables.
I DO know this...these killed chinook in September in Puget Sound.

The base is a high-gloss white, and the color is glitter applied to the tacky base coat.
The spots are hand applied enamel.

I could go ape on the glitter colors too, as every color in the rainbow is available.

Initially buying an airbrush, then powder paints, and now glitter crap, and this whole lure painting hobby has
mushroomed into a real operation.
And it will serve it's purpose...no slacking around on the couch doing zippo during the winter months!

Plant Fashion accessory
 
#20 · (Edited)
Workin' on it, Adonis.... patience!! 8)

Got a takeoff of the Devil Dancer curing.
White-black-red ....frickin awesome! Manly!!!

This is NOT one of mine....I'll be copying it.

It's worked worked well on deep feeders early in the year,
and buddy Dave came up 3 oz short of a tyee
with it in May in Rivers Inlet, down about 100'.
Automotive lighting Auto part Automotive tail & brake light Automotive side marker light



AND... I'm doing a slick version of the Cop Car,
which killed for me in BC and Sitka last year.
It was an Apex, not a true spoon, but something about it drives salmon nuts.

Green/Red Army Truck getting done tonight.

Also a gold colored blank spoon, with the "bloody nose."

Looks a bit like the original Super Duper trout lures.
Gold body, red head, a little black detail. Manly...MANLY, I say...

Cheers:cheers::cheers:

ps Caught a tub full of Coho on the Wonder Stripe...you know....the 'girly' one??! they wouldn't leave it alone....:thumbup:
 
#17 ·
Ken,

Every time I get ready to pack 'em up,
I do a couple of new ones that (I hope) will kick a$$!!

I have a care package for you and the boys.
Some "Wonder Thunder", Anchovy, and Cop Car spoons for each of you.

Looks like I'll see you for beers/food/stories on the 5th, so I'll hand deliver them then.

If I can't make it, I'll post them.

The longer you wait, the more you'll get!

Cheers bud.:cheers:
 
#23 ·
Have never fished the salt but interestingly enough there is a series of beaver ponds right behind where I caught those shakers where they spend their 1st year. A great little spot that would be bulldozed relentlessly if it was in a suburban neighbourhood. In fact the beavers that keep trying to damn the ditch at the end of my street to increase coho habitat have that happen to their homes every few weeks.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I love the territory beavers create. In both Little and
Big Cottonwood canyons here there is a magnificent trail of trout ponds
behind a string of beaver dams.
Wilderness Nature reserve Tree Jungle Plant community


From our yard at 5000' all the way up close to 10,000.
Moose, deer, elk, bear, puma just minutes from home.

Love the fresh. We get cutties, rainbow, brook n brown.
 
#25 ·
Some examples of work in progress, and there are a few steps involved:
Nail

Base coats, color application, (spots/gills/other detail with a brush still to come) clear coating.



Eyebrow Eye Cosmetics Material property Eye liner

The first and second steps (of 4 or 5 total) on the "Cop Car".
Base coat, then first application of color.
They'll get a thin clear coat, and then more color, then detail and final clear coat.
These will be bitchin when they're done.





These were based on the original gold/red Super Duper trout lures that have killed for me in the past.
These are 3-1/2" with all hand painted detail.

Still awaiting a final clear coat.

Many hours, many beers...:cheers:
 
#26 · (Edited)
So we have a gorgeous fall afternoon Saturday, and I was supposed to finish up round 1 of my spoon fest.
It's supposed to get to 21 degrees, so buddy Troy scams us a tee time at Willow Creek Country Club...So first things first.
Golf with the boys.
Here are the guys on the 1st tee, a handful to be sure--626 yards par 5. Beautiful day.
We are standing at around 5000' altitude, with the Wasatch Mountains (the western wall of the Rockies) behind us going up to 11,000. The ball REALLY flies up here.

By the way, 3 pars and a bogey in the group. Nice start.
Sport venue Golf Golfer Hill station Golf course

So after a score of 84, (I'm VERY happy with that...the greens were as fast as gym floors) it's time to head to the "lab" and get busy with the spoons.
As an aside, most golfers will say "That 84 could have been a 78"...in truth, my 84 could have easily been a 92. I have never putted on greens where you have a 6 foot putt for par, and a 35 footer coming back for bogey!
So I'll take the 84 and run away.

Saturday...College football on the tube, cold beers flowing, some KILLER 'Pat Travers' on the wall-shaking stereo (surprised that many Canadians don't know of their countryman...one of the best rock/R & B guitarists, arguably, EVER from North America, actually, from ANYWHERE--- no arguing possible about that...)
"Hooked on Music"-- "Boom Boom...Out go the Lights"-- "Rock n Roll Susie", "Crash and Burn"--
"Life in London"---"Hammerhead"--"Speakeasy"--"Gettin Betta' "
Pat is the best.....But I digress....

The lab is ready, and so am I.....

Sunday...NFL on the tube, wife is shopping, lab to myself!!!!!

Some last minute hand detailing and several passes of the Clear Coat, and Round 1 is complete!

Some look better than others, some look like a kid made them.

But I'm convinced that action is about as responsible for a strike as color, so with the cold beer on tap, football games on in the man cave, I let it rip and polished off the first batch.

And I gotta say that whether or not they slay tyee, it's a helluva lot of fun, and I can't wait to drag a few of these around. They are all 4-1/2" except for a few 6".

Those that I have promised some to, they will post this week. I'm not making any more until I thin out the herd.
Nail Nail care Collection Artificial nails Fashion accessory
 
#27 ·
nice work mike, winter is upon us here and the golfing here is rite soggy to say the least, been lookin at equipment so i can start doin the same at home but mostly on river and lake spoons, found a bunch of sites with compressors and what not, but i really have no clue what im lookin for,lol....holmes*
 
#30 ·
Some craft stores have felt pens with really serious ink.
I have tried using a Sharpie on lures, and it washes off or fades really fast in salt water.
An option is enamel paint applied with a fine point brush...
 
#36 ·
3.5" eh? No WONDER that's not a tyee! LOL:D

I see this as a great opportunity for my powder paints, as opposed to enamel.
Just heat the spoon with a heat gun and sprinkle the powder paint on.
It immediately bonds to the spoon, and I'll make it happen.

Thanks for the color tip!

Will post it as soon as I do it up.

Cheers Sarg.:cheers:
 
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