Powder Paint n' Lures

Ok so this is something I said I would post a while back on the other lure thread.  Powder paint/coating really is the best method for painting lead lures that come into contact with the bottom. I use it for all of my lead heads and for small irons. The paint is applied to a hot lure fresh out of a 375F oven and then is cured in the oven for 15-20 mins after. There is usually little mess compared to the airbrush and a clear coat isn’t necessary. This finish is very tough but it does chip away with heavy use. To aid in applying the powder paint I use what's called a fluid bed.

This ridiculously simple device consists of a dual outlet aquarium air pump, a flow control valve, a ¼" male-male brass fitting, 12” of ¼" air tubing,  2” PVC female adapter, 2” PVC Male adapter and some brown lunch bag paper. The lunch bag is placed between the two pvc fittings to diffuse the air and provide a bottom for the paint cup. The air is pumped into the bottom pvc fitting to float the powder paint thus making dipping the lure easier. Less paint collects and the lure can be dipped very quickly. I prefer to mix pro-tec super glow w/ harbor freight white 50/50 for this method. Pure glow seems to not cover completely and is way too bright to resemble any natural bioluminescence. I don’t use any other colors due to the lack of shine and difficulty making patterns. The heads in the photos below are part of this year’s batch. Which brings me to the lures of this rf season. 


The red x’s indicate lures already donated to the sea. The lure marked with a green x has reached legendary status. The current count with that lure “baby verm” is 5 keeper lings, 4 keeper cabbies and many other assorted rf. Fail squid earned the name because it doesn’t flutter which was its purpose. It was still in the mold stage in my last lure post as was blade shad. The lure at the top of each pic is my unnamed experimental sinking crank bait. No the prototype in the pics didn’t swim. Too much lead for the amount of wood and bill I’m thinking. Version two is half done though a usable lure is still a ways away. The small greenish squid at the far right worked well though it did not flutter. Unfortunately I screwed the mold up so that lure is no mas. I clearly suck at tying bucktail hook dressings but I also need some proper fly tying gear. All lures except the shad spoon and lead heads are made from custom molds and wire forms. Overall I was extremely happy with my pre season lure prep though I did invest countless hours.

As far as success the shad spoon as always is magical and the blade shad is looking very promising in shallow water. Fail squid just plain sucks. OG squid is doing very well with bait pinned on. Deep dropper is currently being used as my fish calming device since my bat is MIA. Looking at pic 2 minus fail squid I would have spent a ton of money on this jig collection if I were to buy it. There is obviously lots of free time put into making the lures but the materials are VERY cheap and the quality of the finished product is high. I also enjoy the work when everything is operating as it should and when I have something new to try.     

Wow a lot of work there. Great article thanks

Wow, this is a great post ya did MH!! Very informative, as well as impressive Thanks for sharing this with us all, cheers to ya my brother 

Btw, I see that you;re from Salinas as well. Ya don't mind if I come by sometime to check this out sometime? 

Awesome going with the jigs, as well as your fishing success so far this season!!

Nothing more satisfying than catching fish with your very own homemade lures.
Thanks for sharing.

Jedmo

Nothing more satisfying than catching fish with your very own homemade lures.
Thanks for sharing.

Jedmo

speaking of....did you end up using the jigs at Shelter? did they work?

Great post, it's really cool to catch something on a creation of your own.   Thanks for the "how to" section.

you got some serious skillz!!    very nice and thanks for the details&tips!

Killer arsenal there Dude! Looks like one of those  confiscated police weapons displays. There should be a "WARNING" sign above them. Nice work, I would love to have a couple dozen of those and a slow drift.

MH,,,

Those are soooo nice. I'd pay, if I had money, to attend a class of yours. True fish catchers.