Keithscatch

I don't think all states do this as I have never caught one nor have heard of anyone catching one. Texas apparently doesn't do this or even Florida???

Thanks Jasone.

I just wanted to post these as proof that you can use unconventional paintjobs or techniques to repaint favorite lures of yours. The first one is of a Luhr Jensen Sugar Shad. It used to be gold with a black back. I repainted it because the original paint job was rubbing off in many places. I like these lipless crankbaits allot so I thought I can make it the color scheme I want. Hard to beat red lipless cranks late winter through spring. I used spray paint in cans and allot of patience. I had to mask off the lure in order to control where the paint went. Then I touched it up with little sprays to make a blended look. I did use a black Sharpie to touch up a few things. I also used it to make the black dot in the eye. The yellow eye was painted using acrylic paint and a brush. I wish I had an airbrush as I would be able to control things a whole lot easier. But I gotta do what I gotta do using what I have. I got the fish scale pattern using a baitfish dip net bought at Wal Mart. This second one is a Bill Lewis rattletrap. See a theme here? Yeah, I like red lipless. I did these during the winter so... What did I use on this? Take a guess?....Probably not..haha. I used nothing but Sharpie permanent markers. Not a single drop of paint on this lure. Oh, I did prime it first with a silver Sharpie pen. That made the surface rough then I sharpied the color till it dried then repeated till it dried then repeated and repeated till the color red showed up like it did. Then I drew the same basic Rattle Trap craw pattern on it afterwards with black. *Side not this pattern caught several fish and due to the poor top coat I used it didn't last and now the "paint" for lack of better word is chipping off. Wish I had consulted tackleunderground first before I used spray epoxy. I would have used epoxy in the 6 minute drying or 10 minute drying. Here it is: So go ahead and repaint lures or carve them first and then use whatever you have at your disposal to create cool looking lures that are not on any shelf anywhere. (Pictures)

Looking good so far. Hey there are no such thing as hard and fast rules. Do whatever works for you. Look forward to seeing pics of those soon.

Matt, I didn't start this thread but it was started for me by Glenn. I agree with that as we can discuss this on our own thread.

One more suggestion. Use a Zoom Ulta Vibe Speed worm weightless. Reel it in fairly fast just fast enough to make it gurgle on the top like a Horny Toad. I think you will find this to be a better option then a Horny Toad. Hardly lose fish on this rig and believe me when I say this hardly any weeds interfere with this. It is slim and slender and comes through even the thickest of grass.

Agreed and COMPLETELY DISAGREE. I agree with the first part of this sentence. Harvesting of smaller fish is indeed a great philosophy to develop large bass in abundance. (Then again C&R lakes such as the Stick Marsh keep getting in the way of this philosophy) The second portion of this statement is what I have a problem with. Citing people's articles as if it is a fact is no evidence that keeping bass over 10lbs is a good thing for the lake. Like Chris, I cannot swallow that pill as I believe it to be utterly false with absolutely no proof or evidence to back that claim up.

Chris, I wish to God more anglers thought like that as we all might be able to land fish like you do. I think you would agree that California probably has the highest C&R rate for trophy bass. That might explain why it is so common for people to catch 18lbers there. (common as in a couple a year not like one every trip )18lbers are hard to come by in most states because so many refuse to let them go when they are 10lbs, 11lbs, 12lbs, 13lbs,14lbs etc... That is why I like the Stick Marsh as it is totally catch and release and when I move there in a month I will be sticking some big fish there too. ONLY because the meat hunters can't hurt that lake.

Whatever wood you want to use. Balsa is preferred by most as it is very easy to work with and floats very nice. Cedar is another that many use or even basswood. I would stick to the softer woods as they are easier to work with.

Cool, thank you for claryifying. Do we wait till the 14th or 15th to challenge or be challenged?

Well, thanks for claryifying the fish's health in the second shot. Looked like the bend fish get when they have been dead for a while. Believe me the fish Lake Fork Tackle does do not show up well on their site. I agree their site doesn't do justice of the quality of work they do. When I mean better then the original keep in mind that I have seen some shoddy skin mounts that were painted poorly. They still have to be painted. Then look at them in 10 years and compare that to a 10 year old replica. No comparison in my mind. MIne is 10 years old and looks like it did when I got it. Just dustier Tex, bro, I post comments like this much like you preach about the Lord. Same with me. I do so in hopes that someone might in fact think about it and next time decide not to keep such a magnificent animal. Sorry to see people justify it..I guess just different sides of the issue. TM, I am sorry that releasing an 11lber is crazy to you. But an 11lber can turn into a 17lber possibly. It just has to live long enough and eat enough. Letting go 6lber and 8lbers is no different then letting go 11lbers. Maybe that 11lber is the 6lber you let go before? or the 8lber? never know. Anyway, no offense meant, not trying to belittle you or make you feel attacked. Just simply offering you another viewpoint to think about that's all. If that offends some folks then what can I say. Not going to apologize for my passions and releasing big bass is one of them.

Trout fisher, We are not talking about "a fish" we are talking about a TROPHY FISH. Keeping a fish now and then is fine and probably helps the fishery. Keeping mature, trophy sized bass is bad for the fishery. Besides, that fish was likely caught multiple times over it's long life. This person was blessed with a amazing fish that beat the odds numerous times over by reaching this size. Most do not reach this size even in southern states. Why shouldn't the fish be released back into the lake? As much as I love to catch big bass I like to see others catch them too. Like Fish Chris on this site has said many times. He forgets the times when he has caught 50 bass in a day but never forgets when he has caught trophy sized fish. While I am not in the same league as he is as far as catching fish like he has, I can concur though with my own experiences. In fact, if someone showed me a picture of one of the many 7lb+ bass I have caught I can tell you exactly where I was, what lure I was using, what the weather was like that day, I can even see the strike or the moment it happened in my mind. I will never forget those moments. Why would we want to deprive those memories from someone else just so we can keep the fish? That is what I just do not understand. I can understand this mentality more 20 years ago when taxidermists didn't have the technology and skill to re create a replica of the fish. Now with this technology and skill and craftsmanship equal to or in many cases better then skin mounts why would an angler want to keep the fish? I realize the state allows large fish like this to legally be kept so this is not a legal issue with me. Just makes me sick to see it and I can't help it. I wish it didn't bother me but I would be lying if I said it didn't.

Question about this. Isn't the challenge idea for someone to challenge someone else in something the other person is not good at or at least uncomfortable with? So I see so many saying they won't do this or that. To me that sort of defeats the purpose doesn't it? I mean that is the challenge should you choose to accept it. Also, I see several mentiion they were skipped. LBH, where are you on this bud? This is your baby so make sure no one is skipped. That would suck. I think I understand that we challenge the person who posted after us and the person who posted ahead of us challenges us. Is this right? If I am challenged with a certain technique shouldn't I use ONLY that technique when I go fishing? Last time I read where so many ignored that and fished the way they always do till they found fish then picked up the rod with the lure on that they were challenged with to use and cast that to the area that held fish. What is the purpose of that? If I am not comfortable throwing jigs as an example and are challenged to fish them shouldn't I only fish with a jig that day? I am just trying to understand this process better. Thanks.

Here is the tutorial that I followed and sure did help me. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5190 Also, I had to use a 1/2 inch drill bite on the lure I used. I had to buy it since I didn't have one. But make sure the drill bite is as wide as the weight you are using. I would suggest going with a small weight. That was the one mistake I did. I used too heavy of a weight. Try a 1/8 ounce egg sinker. Of course it depends on how big the lure is. But I would suggest a belly weight mainly to keep the bait righted while sitting in the water. Baits laying on their side just don't look good in the water. Good luck.

Good points George. For those who think pets and animals do not have some sort of emotion or feelings apparently just don't observe them all that often or interact with them much. Apparently they do not have cats for instance. Cats certainly do have emotions and do often play and exhibit all sorts of emotions from excitement, playfullness, scared, admiration, acceptance, rejection, loneliness, scheming, revenge, happiness, sadness, etc. it is always amusing to hear somoene project a notion onto the behavior of an animal when it plays as it is only establishing it's dominance...HELLO, how do YOU know that? Are you one of them? Did they tell you this Dr. Dolittle? How do you explain a dog's ability to judge the character of a person? They seem to sense when someone is a bad person and just don't like them. Yet they can observe a person who is not a threat and will go right to them. They sense fear and all sorts of things in people. Horses can do the same thing. Animals are smarter then people give them credit for. I just hate for people to transpose their opinions onto an animal as if it is fact because some guy has been able to train dogs a certain way etc. I think God created animals and gave them all the ability to reason to some extent and the ability to have emotions to some extent or thy would be living robots and they are not. Some men have lowered them down to just a bunch of cells so thay they don't feel bad when they kill them or abuse them or whatever. I am a pretty good judge of men's character too by how I observe how they treat their animals. If they are rough with them and abusive then they are also this way with woman and children. Just from my experience. If folks don't want to accept that it is ok as it is their opinion. I just don't share it nor will I.

Man nice fish you are holding there. Just wish the situation was different. Can you please help me understand why you would kill a fish like this? I mean, I really struggle to understand why folks catch a monster such as this and simply want to keep it. Honestly I try and I try but seem to come up empty each time. I mean can't be to eat unless you like eating rubber. Mounting? Well, replica's look better and last a lifetime not just a few years. Just seems the benefits of releasing a fish outweigh the negatives of keeping it. I want to congratulate you for the fish but would prefer to bend you over my knee instead.. Please consider the impact it is to remove such a fish from the fishery let alone the fact that the fish is no longer capable of spawning or no longer capable of providing the same awe and excitement she did for you for another angler. :'( :'( :'( Sorry but it always hurts me to see trophy bass taken from a lake. Nothing personal to you just it just hurts to see it. For those who think replica's do not look as good. Please check out the work of these guys. I used them for my personal best and it looks awesome. lake fork taxidermy

Man RW, you pounded me on another thread for sounding defensive and you were right...Well it is your time now to take a pounding. As a moderator to go around bashing someones post because he asked a question is the silly thing to me. You should know better dude. Think of it this way, when it is winter time these same guys up north are going to be talking about summer fishing right? So it is middle of the summer and someone is talking about winter fishing. I mean c'mon, give the guy a break. geez. Winter happens to be my favorite time of the year to fish. Of course I do not live up north either. But in Texas and in Florida it is the time to fish as you might hang a double digit at anytime.

I have had allot of days I would say are my best days. Heck they are all awesome days if you think about it. But here are a few of the memorable ones: 1) Fishing Lake Fork with a pastor friend of mine we went to a particular point in February and I caught a 7lb, 8.5lb and a 7.5 lb and a 3.5 lb bass all on the same point and all on a white Johnson Spinnerbait. He was throwing the exact same lure and never got a bite. Pretty strange. 2) I used to live on a private lake roughly 350 acres big. Still my most favorite place to fish in the whole world. Wish I still lived there. Anyway, I was out of work during the winter time so I took advantage of it and fished nearly every day for weeks. Now the water level was low and I was one of the few who could get his boat in the water due to the boat ramp. I slayed them every single day on rattle traps to the tune of 25-35 fish per outing. Nothing smaller then 2lbs either. Simply amazing. I must have repeated this for 2 weeks straight. Oh this was in DECEMBER by the way. 3) Fishing with my Dad in Colorado at Pueblo Reservoir for smallmouth. A front was blowing in and we found a small island that was no bigger then a small car sticking out of the water with deep water all around it. We caught well over 40 smallies there. I probably caught 30 of them. One was probably 3lbs as the biggest. Just fun fishing. 4) Can't forget the time I caught my PB of 9.5lbs in my favorite lake I used to live on. I caught her on a 4" centipede t-rigged. I did this because an old man who lived there at the time slayed them on that little worm. That was all he would ever use. I was using a 10" worm at the time when I saw him backing his little boat into the water. I was fishing by the boat ramp. I said to myself, he will holler at me if he sees me using this huge worm so I put on a pumpkin colored 4" centipede and cast it out and tap tap I set the hook and the fight was on. Just awesome. Caught her on spinning gear too which makes it even more fun to me.

Got skunked Saturday for the first time in a while. We only fished from 7am-11am but still my partner managed to catch 4 keepers. I guess I get skunked maybe 10% of the time. maybe less 5%. Not sure. But I do get skunked occasionally. Never at night though and more in the heat of the summer for sure. Winter time being my most productive time to fish for me. This is true in Texas and in Florida. Not much of a winter here mostly low's in the 40's water temp usually stays in the low 50's maybe dips down to high 40's. Perfect Rattletrap temps....Gotta love it. Bring on the winter.....

Nicely done KB. I too like the last one you posted. Looks very nice.

Thanks Jasone. I guess live and learn. I will try the longer drying kind next time I fittle with this. Don't have a drying wheel so I may have to improvise a little haha.

Not sure what the difference is. I will try the CD trick someday when I get around to making another one. I do have a question though. The 5 minute epoxy I used for the top coat is sort of soft. When I push on it with my finger naill it gives and I can see it bending in or denting if you will. It isn't that real hard coat like I see on other baits. Any reason for that?

Nicely done Whittler. I enjoy looking at your lures and think your site is nice too. Good work for good prices. Definitely not over charging for your baits. Keep it up.

Any power tools I would have access to I would use. No cheating. Just plain sense I used an exacto knife pictured. I wish I had access to power tools as it would make making these baits a breeze. So I had to widdle away with a exacto knife. But Balsa wood is soft so it wasn't that hard to do. If no power tools are available for you then just go buy a retractable blade exacto knife and have at it. Then use sand paper to do the fine shaping. Show it off when you are finished.

I ordered some products from a site www.proschoicelures.com and Eddie Pelfrey the owner sent me a DVD for free. He filmed a show explaining deep water tactics that was awesome. He caught huge fish all day long on a power plant lake in Texas. It was a good show called deep water structure fishing. Maybe if you order from him he will send you one too? He has great baits by the way.