Can you subdue the glossy shine on a crankbait?  In advance of an upcoming trip to a clear Canadian smallmouth lake, I bought some nice looking crankbaits.  Purchased online and they look a bit too glossy in my opinion.  Since I bought pairs of each style, I’d like to use a safe product to take the shine down some on one of each pair.  Has anyone done this and what’s a safe finish to use?  Thanks.

Sand em with ultra fine sandpaper. You should hardly thin the clearcoat enough to make a difference in terms of durability. 

Ive used steel wool lightly applied pressure, also a green scotch pad works also.

Try a car finish compound or even toothpaste. Both are mildly abrasive and should not remove any paint just the gloss.

 

I'll be looking for your results. I have often wondered about high gloss vs a flat or matt finish on plugs. 

Brake cleaner 

Rubbing compound (very lightly)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

46 minutes ago, KDW96 said:

also a green scotch pad works also.

Yup, go easy though it works quick. I like to finish it off polishing with brown paper bag (old woodworking trick). Oh, and don't be lazy, take off the hooks, trust me...

 

ps: I wouldn't do it for SM, they like loud bright colors.

A wet lure is still shiny and so are live bait fish. If you are more confident takeing the shine off then buff with light steel wool with baking soda paste, rinse in warm water.  Avoid any chemicals that can damage the plastic. 

Tom

Yeah...catch a bunch of fish on it, they'll knock that shine right off...the paint too

1 hour ago, Sphynx said:

Yeah...catch a bunch of fish on it, they'll knock that shine right off...the paint too

Especially if you catch a few Esox without losing the lure...

Put them in a container with some sand. Shake until you get the desired matte finish. 

Test one first, you could try flat clear spray paint…. You can get it at Lowes or Home Depot. But try just one first, to see if it bleeds the colors. It already has a clear on it , it’s just gloss clear and not flat

 Quick & easy, just a lite dusting should do. 
Let us know what you do try and how it works.

David Fritts hangs them from his rear view mirror and let the sun dull them .

8 hours ago, VolFan said:

Put them in a container with some sand. Shake until you get the desired matte finish. 

This sounds like an infomercial. 

If you know someone who reloads ammo, you could throw it in the tumbler with the walnut shell media.

Thanks for the variety of good advice.  Since I have two of each depth style, I'll try something to dull the finish on one set and compare shiny versus flat finish.  I'm bringing my pedal-drive kayak on this Canadian trip and will slow troll on the way to the fishy areas.  The lake has smallmouth, walleye, and northern pike.

 

I've used toothpaste to polish away the shine.  I didn't see any difference in lures getting bit or not though.