Swamp Johnny

Thanks Rock. I'm thinking of buying 10-15 bags......

Anybody have any experience with this Soft Plastic?

The fish don't know what brand of gear your using. As long as your bringing in quality fish at weigh-in nobody remembers what rod, reel, or boat your driving. They only (really) want to know where you've been and what your throwing....(lol). My old fishing partner became one of those guys.....(sad to say). He thought a $35,000 Ranger would make a huge difference in his catch ratio. He went out and bought Shimano Cores, St. Croix Legend rods, boxes upon boxes of high end tackle.... The problem? He had to work even harder and longer to pay for all the stuff. SO, pre-fishing became secondary. What happens when you stop doing any real pre-fishing? Guys (like me), with a crummy old boat, 10" worms, Pflueger Asaro reels and Vendetta rods beat you! (Lol)

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

I could do the job for you. Shoot me an email and let me see what you've got......

Also, you might want to put another coat of epoxy on those eyes. They might scratch off after a few fish.... (Two layers is the norm with epoxy. A single layer can work, but, if you happen to hit a few Pike.....well, you know what happens when a Pike hits a Crank!

Nice paint jobs Christian! I really like the Bluegill. Awesome job for your first two lures!

#1. Yes #2. Everyone was "a novice at one point looking to get better". You've got to start somewhere! I started fishing (seriously) when I was 12 years old. I was lucky to have a family that was fishing oriented. Tournament fishing isn't as hard as you think. Here are some tips to help you excel quickly through the ranks of ANY Club atmosphere: A. Learn the water your going to tournament fish- (Sounds simple- it isn't!) You've got to be able to eliminate water, NOT find great hotspots. Sometimes the best fishing is 100 yards from the ramp, sometimes 30 miles away. If you don't want to Pre-fish, (or learn how to Pre-fish) then you need to ask yourself WHY your tournament fishing. Most Club fishermen who come in the top 1-3 at any given Club tourney spent the time to properly Pre-fish- they didn't goof off or "just go fishing". They worked! The easiest way to find out "what it takes" to win on any lake is to look at past weights for that Club and lake/water. If, for the past 3 years you needed approx 18LB's to win on Lake A, well, thats your target. And remember- If you can't pull (at least) 12-14LB's on ANY given lake, then, you need to work harder. (Don't get me wrong- some days are extremely tough. BUT, ANYONE that is serious about tournament fishing and can't consistently pull 12-14LB's from their local lakes needs to rethink their strategies and techniques.) B. Have reliable gear- To Club fish you really only need 4-5 outfit's. Anybody that tells you they "need" all 12-15 outfit's on tourney day didn't do their homework. Come tournament day you should know EXACTLY what you will use and have a few (2-3) alternate outfit's ready, JIC. Remember- Having reliable gear doesn't always mean expensive new gear. For Club or local tourney fishing, having a shiny boat that goes 75 MPH, a deck full of $250 a piece outfit's and owning every single lure known to man (in triplicate) doesn't mean.....well.....anything. At the end of the day, it's the fisherman that wins, not the boats, outfits or lures. C. Learn 4 lures- DON'T get bogged down in lure selections. Learn 4 main "bread and butter" lures. Make sure those lures can cover the three main water columns- shallow, mid-depth, deep. (Typically these lures are a Jig, Texas-rigged/Wacky-rigged Soft Plastic, Tube, Super-Shallow and 10 FT or more Crank- you could add a Spook Jr and/or Sammy) LEARN those lures and how they interact and react with different diameter line, wind, fall rates, ETC. And remember- there is (really) only 2 color's- "Dark" and "Light". You don't (really) need 700 colors of worms to win a tournament. Having the "hard-to-find methylate, green glitter, purple-tailed worm with painted on eyes" probably won't put any more fish in your boat than a basic Red Shad worm. BUT, learn to make ON THE WATER lure modifications when having those "painted eyes" DOES make a difference. How to tell when to modify? Let the fish tell you by how they strike the lure. D. Don't let other fishermen influence your instincts- First, you must attain instincts. To get instincts see "A". E. Try new techniques- Constant learning is vital to any endeavor. Once you start relying on that one "special lure" you love to catch all your fish on, you've diminished yourself as a fisherman. Don't "romantisize" your lures, outfit's, boat, ETC. Does a knowledgeable carpenter sit around fretting which hammer to use???? Heck NO! He just "knows" because he's spent enough time actually USING his tools- it becomes "muscle memory" or instinct. If you follow these guidelines you'll have a good grasp of what must be done to excel at any Club tourney. (Pro level fishing is slightly different- but similar!) I hope this helps you???

Actually, it's fairly common to have a topwater bite Offshore (in open water) with no apparent structure. On Lake George (St Johns River- Florida), schools of 1-2LB LMB Bass will follow schools of Pogy, Finger Mullet and Shiner around in open water. When they (the Bass) decide to "GO" on these baitfish (which is usually late in the day or EARLY morning) you can see them striking from a distance. Knowledgeable guys carry binoculars around to look for this activity..... I can tell you from experience- there's nothing like a schooling Bass situation! Catching 20-25 Bass on 19 casts is atypical! (Usually there isn't any size to these fish 1-2 1/2 LBs- but- it's rather fun!) A good topwater for these situations?? Typically, a "skittering", "fleeing" topwater design works best for these situations. (A Hula Popper doesn't really skitter well and works best (IMHO) with a slower cadence and when fishing tight to structure.) Pro's use Rapala, Skitterpop's all the time for these situations. They have the right "fleeing" presentation. Anyway, that might be what was happening...? Perhaps a school of bass had been hawking some newly hatched fry and when the light levels got right they opened up on them..? Sounds appropriate.... Next time you see this, you might try a 1/4 or 1/8 OZ Rattling bait. (TN Shad, Basic Shad, Etc) Use a lift/fall retrieve, keeping the lure near the surface. Hope this helps?

Yeah, if they have clear coat on them already, the only thing you can do is scuff them up a bit with a sanding sponge, remove the eyes, (have you got some 3D eyes?), hit them with some FLAT white paint and go from there. (Although, If you have the time, you can hand sand them down to the blank- but, it's extremely time consuming. (And If you use a Dremel/Sanding tool be CAREFUL! One slight mistake while sanding and it will eat into the blank itself, causing the blank to have a skuff, which, "can" be fixed with epoxy resin.....but, now you've got even MORE time in on a 12-15 cent blank) Better to scrap the ghost concept on those particular blanks and use them for practicing. You can pick up blanks at a variety of places for $1 - $2 a blank- which will require almost zero prepping before painting... Warm water and a good scrubbing should remove the water-based paint from any lure. You may have to use a bit of "elbow grease", but, it should come off.........You can try Denatured Alcohol- but, I'd suggest you go with the warm water/scrubbing first.

After painting hundreds of lures now, I think the hardest part is actually painting them. (I know that sounds silly) If you are starting from scratch and have no artistic abilities, background or knowledge in painting, actually getting to the place where you are making a quality lure that is as nice looking as a commercial /branded lure requires diligence and stamina. (Stamina?? Because you must endure some major "fails"! lol) I remember the first day I painted my first Crank. I thought it was the easiest thing in the world! Wow! Squirt, Squirt! Done! (lol) Then I started looking around at other peoples work and realized I had a long way to go, (still do!). I'd say the best advice I could give you would be,"Don't expect immediate results!". Buy some practice blanks- and practice. Learn, (and memorize) the procedures on how to make your favorite Crank, (shad, splatter, craw, Etc) before you start investing too much (lol) Otherwise, you'll end up like me- got to start a business to get some money back for all the stuff I've purchased! (LOL) Use Createx paint- it's worth it in the long run. Like Snakehead mentions- use a gravity fed airbrush. Buy some tool- (veil making stuff found in a fabric store or at Walmart) Make a stencil. Purchase some quality 2 TON 30 minute epoxy. Get some good 5mm, 6mm and 7mm 3D eyes. Most of all- Try to have fun. Try not to explode when you make a magnificent lure......and then ruin it ! (lol) Hope this helps?

What to use to remove paint??? Well, what kinda paint did you use? Water-based? With water-based paints you can run them under warm water and (using a scuff pad or rag) wash the paint off. It takes time but is the "safest" way to remove the paint, (without discoloring the bill) or affecting the seams of the crank. You can also try Denatured Alcohol. I use D- Alcohol to clean all my blanks before painting- works well. However, too MUCH DA and the glue that seals the crank together will get diminished and possibly unseal, (which isn't that big of a deal as long as your clear coat is thick). Let me know if you need any tips on painting Cranks. I got so good at it I started selling them! (lol)

I've been reading and following Bass Resource for many years and finally decided to become a member. I'm an avid tournament Bass fisherman who has fished from Florida to Minnesota. I recently started making a few Cranks here and there too. I intend to make a footprint here at BFR. I hope I can help some newbies learn more about the sport. Just wanted to check in and say HI!

I know you didn't ask about info regarding Crankbaits- but, like making Jigs and Spinnerbait's it can get VERY expensive. I started making Crankbaits because I wanted a particular color on a Lucky Craft 1.5 and could not find it. Oh, $1000 later I had enough stuff to start a business. (lol) It's addicting! Once you start making tackle it's VERY hard to quit!