Winter project / 3d print trout lures

Bottom line up front - what color should I paint 3d printed trout lures? What other lures should I be printing?

So, I was gifted a 3d printer a few months ago, and have been learning the ins and outs of printing various shapes with the basic PLA plastic filament. I am at a point where the kids have printed the fun bendy toys and whatnot, and finally have some time to print stuff for myself. So, of course, first thought went to finding some lure designs online to print.

I've found a few lures that look "trout-y" enough, even though they are mostly scaled down salmon lures.

I started with two Tomic style plugs, and one flatfish type that seems similar to a Brads Cut Plug - mostly because I was looking for somewhat popular designs that I could run the line through without needing to epoxy loops or wire into the body.

I can scale these up or down, but I think 2-3" is a good starting size for these type lures. The flatfish one is a out 2.5" and the plugs are about 3". One plug is set for a 45 degree line lay, and the other for 30 degrees.

What colors should I paint them first?  They are two colors now because my kids wanted to use yellow for a different project, and I was too lazy to switch back to grey or black, haha.

I'm kinda thinking one black and silver, one white and chartreuse, and maybe one fire tiger?

There are a ton of crank bait models available out there, and a handful of other trolling types lures too - anyone else 3d print lures for trout, or other species? Seems like this could be either really cool, or a giant waste of my time....

nice, which filament are you using?

Neat Stuff and thanks for sharing 

Fun!  How do you paint em'?  Nail polish?  Layers of air brush?  I would think salmon lure type colors fo' da ocean.   

nice, which filament are you using?

The printer itself is an older Flashforge Finder that needed some repair.  I replaced the hot end and powercord, and after some trial and error, it prints pretty well.  I'm using Sunlu PLA - it's cheap and gives me pretty clean prints.  This stuff is surprisingly durable too.  So far I have yellow, black, grey, white, and translucent blue... We've made some cool stuff for the kids and their friends.  I made a couple jointed swimbait things too, but I wasn't happy with the action, so those are gonna become keychains, haha. 

Fun!  How do you paint em'?  Nail polish?  Layers of air brush?  I would think salmon lure type colors fo' da ocean.   

I actually haven't painted any lures yet, but acrylic paint sticks very well to the material.  My wife and kids are pretty artistic, so we have a ton of paints around the house.  For the first few, I will probably just hand paint them.  If I find a winning design, I might get an airbrush setup.  I've never used one of those before, so would definitely need to learn some new skills there.  I've not targeted salmon in the ocean here - but I imagine watermelon, silver, and mack colorations would probably be cool for saltwater ...

Jointed swim baits. Again, wasn't thrilled with the action. They feel pretty sturdy, I think definitely tough enough for bass and trout. Probably not for striper, haha.

Top three colors IMHO are Orange, Firetiger Green/Yellow, and Shad black and white.  I'd love to try painting lures, it sounds like so much fun!

Which brand/model do you guys have?  I was gifted this Ender 3D printer and this will be one of my Winter projects too.

Top three colors IMHO are Orange, Firetiger Green/Yellow, and Shad black and white.  I'd love to try painting lures, it sounds like so much fun!

I was definitely thinking fire tiger and black and white/silver. I don't think I've use orange in CA yet.  I remember the orange body chrome blade rooster tails working pretty well in OR as a kid.

Which brand/model do you guys have?  I was gifted this Ender 3D printer and this will be one of my Winter projects too.

Ours is an older Flashforge Finder hand me down. Works great for smaller stuff, but as we start wanting to print larger things, we will probably buy an Ender like yours. I think the Ender is probably the sweet spot for hobby printers - fast, good quality prints, can print larger items, and is reasonably priced for it's capabilities.

Top three colors IMHO are Orange, Firetiger Green/Yellow, and Shad black and white.  I'd love to try painting lures, it sounds like so much fun!

I was definitely thinking fire tiger and black and white/silver. I don't think I've use orange in CA yet.  I remember the orange body chrome blade rooster tails working pretty well in OR as a kid.

Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Rapala-Jointed-Fishing-4-375-Inch-Fluorescent/dp/B00019NJTO/ref=sr_1_55?crid=DWR19DYBY4U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DcCmUEmFDhMhFaCr18OFqCwTLK8P6iKvVeh91ybsPJm_YRYQP9y5FSvi7edJFGKSGi1-qWqd5_mT_FREkwmLa4zDpdM2T-weJL5eEQmpQvUe--VToKBiFybMs6sPXC7agjj87npGiIqc0cgXs12Q2XVo8rmI0frtCOM8qYleP_yiIRoeN7glN_rfiw2sOmW2SGb_V46ZybTxD77FDJRe9-OgWWsB2oH01xKf2tUEQZij8ml64NrKTDqc5U6fFS2h2C-PN3n4OUUXW6j75KhFFx_v100GU-Ljt1QMDZ53CxrCouAqcHIZNEKi6ukMAqC4p37MwwX8lGfKEfv0IkucA3zvfP5XYCNnUTy21jnzzM8iLwGibKyfglwDRvM1OWWJI_Bhx_cpIdGjen-4n_xLJqYtpm9ZPDQzALK8u3hg4Fr-21UUwNaCdjtfTCAONZRZ.jmRw-crTb5Z6YHSQjgzxR81QRJ7lhQFO2UE-5YkbuDk&dib_tag=se&keywords=rapala%2Bj-7&qid=1734027669&sprefix=rapala%2Bj-7%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-55&th=1

I plan to cover the lures with 3D reflecting self adhesive tape.

Ooo, so many good ideas!

Something else I'm gonna try. A small inline bait holder, just to get something smelly in the water without needing to bother scenting the lure itself. Will probably put on the line ahead of my flasher or maybe on the main before my leader.

Ooo, so many good ideas!

Something else I'm gonna try. A small inline bait holder, just to get something smelly in the water without needing to bother scenting the lure itself. Will probably put on the line ahead of my flasher or maybe on the main before my leader.

Anchovy paste would work well on this 

Ooo, so many good ideas!

Something else I'm gonna try. A small inline bait holder, just to get something smelly in the water without needing to bother scenting the lure itself. Will probably put on the line ahead of my flasher or maybe on the main before my leader.

Anchovy paste would work well on this 

Good call, will have to try that.