Painting lures

[medic1]

For those of you that do, what paint are you using to air brush lures and plugs. Also are you doing it like you would paint a car, base/clear, or is there another technique? Thanks

[G-Man]

Depends a great deal on the base material of the lure. Is it wood, metal or plastic? The power coatings that are being sold now create a great, durable finish and are easiest to use on metal products. For lures that get more than just a single color, you need to hand paint and I'll spray or brush as necessary. Just like any other surface, your lures need to be properly cleaned and primed for optimal results. A clear coating helps prolong the life of the paint job, just be sure it can take the water and the sun without yellowing or getting hazy. I also use a clear conformal coating made to keep moisture out of electronics which has a UV dye in it. It is a great top coat and adds that UV flash which seems to help put fish in the boat.

[racfish]

I use Enamel fingernail polish on my Squid Jigs and my Banana weights for the salt.I use the deep red alot . It looks like fish blood on a lure.

[Toni]

I use vinyl paint but I haven't tried air brushing yet. I don't have the equipment and have just painted lead jigs.

[Anglinarcher]

As indicated, it depends on many factors. Different base materials may require different paints.

There is now an air-brush for powder paint, so you heat your "metal" lures to temp and you can spray the lure. This is the only way I know of with powder paint to get a feathered or blended result. I believe I saw it on the Stamina/lure-parts-on-line site (http://lurepartsonline.com/cart.html).

A friend does indeed use car paints in his air brush to paint lures. There are some really great finishes he can do, including the holographic and directional changing colors. All three lure base materials will accept this, with the proper base coat. Sorry, he has not told me his "special" base coats, but I have to believe it can't be all that hard to find out.

Clear coats are optional, but a nice addition, and the automotive clear won't yellow. Base coats are desirable, but it depends on the paint.

Now, the real question is how good of a paint job do you need. I still catch fish on paint jobs that are pretty ratty looking. On the other hand, I BUY lures that are pretty great looking. So, are you painting for yourself or for sale?

[Anonymous]

The problem with heating up the lures is the weakening of the hooks. I think I'd take hooks off first. Then paint. Painting is good for touching up. I think lures are not very expensive these days so buying a new one would be the ticket in my opinion. The other problem with heating up a lure is possibly changing the intended action of said lure.

I really like the whole coloring ideas.Are the colors for our liking or the fish? Can fish distinguish color? I sometimes think the colors are for our liking.

[Anglinarcher]

The problem with heating up the lures is the weakening of the hooks. I think I'd take hooks off first. Then paint. Painting is good for touching up. I think lures are not very expensive these days so buying a new one would be the ticket in my opinion. The other problem with heating up a lure is possibly changing the intended action of said lure.

I really like the whole coloring ideas.Are the colors for our liking or the fish? Can fish distinguish color? I sometimes think the colors are for our liking.

I was assuming that considering this is a "hardware How-To" forum that the question was for new lures, before placing hooks.

Heating metal lures to the +/- 300 degrees F Temp needed to powder coat will not hurt action, etc. As for lures being not very expensive these days, you must make more money then I do. Some of my best lures cost $20 a piece or more.

Now, colors, yes fish see color, and they see it very well. Nevertheless, different species see color differently then others. Walleye for example are shown to see Red the best, moving through the color spectrum through the greens, but the do not see well in the Blue and Violet range. Still, because I have caught Walleye with those colors, they probably see it as a black and therefore do see it.

Trout and most minnows see color very well from the UV through Red, so the sky is the limit with them.

Bass and sunfish in general do not see UV but the rest is in their color perception ranges.

Is color just for us? NO Are certain patterns and exquisite paint jobs just for us? Maybe, but .....................

There have been too many times when I have fished where changing from one color of lure to another color of the same exact lure made all the difference in the world. At other times, it was more of a lure profile or action that mattered.

[racfish]

I was asking the color question in a hypethetical question. I find that Pearlescent pink spin n' glo works best on the Duwie and red /green on the upper Green. I use black winged spin n'glos in muddy water.I do think colors work too allthough I cant prove this theory seeing I dont speak fluent salmon or steel. LOL ..Pinks love anything pink Chums love green while kings love green/white,and coho /sockeye go for the reds,chartruese varieties.Really???$20.00 lures?? I dont spend that much on a lure ever. I buy Vibrex,Mepps,Crocodiles and Dick Nites. But then again I dont waste money on a $500.00 rod either when my Ugly Sticks works just fine.

[goodtimesfishing]

I'm loving powder paint, it is so easy. The heat gun is the way to go. It is super fast, not messy, no fumes, making up jig heads go fast.

[Anglinarcher]

I was asking the color question in a hypethetical question. I find that Pearlescent pink spin n' glo works best on the Duwie and red /green on the upper Green. I use black winged spin n'glos in muddy water.I do think colors work too allthough I cant prove this theory seeing I dont speak fluent salmon or steel. LOL ..Pinks love anything pink Chums love green while kings love green/white,and coho /sockeye go for the reds,chartruese varieties.Really???$20.00 lures?? I dont spend that much on a lure ever. I buy Vibrex,Mepps,Crocodiles and Dick Nites. But then again I dont waste money on a $500.00 rod either when my Ugly Sticks works just fine.

Biologist can take the eye of a fish, examine the structure for rods and cones, separate the cones out and then expose them to different light. The light that the cones react to tells the scientist what the fish can see. Of course we don't know that they see a color the way we do, but the reaction of the cones tell them that they see that color range.