duckydoty

Another tip. I picked up some Crank Wraps before I committed to painting the blanks. They are stick on vinyl wraps like for a vehicle only a lot smaller. They worked great for cutting stencils out of. Stick to lure, spray, peel off and put back on sticker sheet till ready to use again. Very easy to cut and place on lure blank.

Still learning a few lessons. Stippling dots worked great! Apply parr marks first then paint rest of body to tone down marks. Thin gill plate rose highlights very thin and apply sparingly. Just got some KBS Diamond Coat as a top coat and I’m anxiously awaiting trials on that for top coat but did not want to chance it on these. Just now getting comfortable with BSI slow cure epoxy. here is a still just Incase video did not work on previous post.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156579213309158&id=79399114157 Hope this video comes through. I’m a lot happier with these guys!

Ducky because I really like hunting ducks. Doty is my last name. Avatar... have no idea. Phil keeps changing it.

Nope. Biggest one I’ve ever seen in person.

Closed the dock today and decided to make 3 cast before heading home. Threw one of our new 1/32 sculpin and ginger jigs with an orange head and caught a nice 13 inch rainbow on first cast. Second cast was a zero. Third cast about 1/2 way back in felt a heavy thump and set the hook. The fish was heavy and staying down, but just not quite fighting as good as a brown usually does. Still had hope that it was a decent brown, and a few minutes later my hopes were crushed with this guy. Not a brown, but a brownie. The guys around me seemed to think it was a pretty good one. It was unharmed and put back in the water.

I have been looking at some Utoob videos on vacuum forming stencil forms. Very interesting. Wife is a graphic designer so all I will have to do is create a pattern for one side and she can make the mirrored image for the other. Transfer those to the molded stencils, then some magic can happen.

This is the first and only one. Used sharpie for dots and signature. Only a few of the dots and signature smeared when brushing on epoxy. That is the first time I’ve had that issue. Did not heat set them.

I did sign and date. That smeared a little also.

Also, another tip....... Do not heat set paint through a plastic stencil that you just spent an hour making with a paint stripping heat gun. Use a hair dryer on low heat😖

1st attempt at a juvenile rainbow. I like the way the parr marks came out. Gill plates are a little harsh. I got a little carried away with the dots and did not heat set them, so they smeared just a tad when applying epoxy coat. Did not cover bill because it was a sacrificial blank I had been cutting stencils out on.

Working on the parr mark stencils now. Laying a melted sheet of plastic over the lure body was not an easy task that I’m pretty sure left at least one blistered finger.

I told Phil I seen someone that looks just like Seth in a boat just like his, but I couldn’t be because Seth would surely come by and say hi......🤔😋

Wasn’t under his dock

Pete might be smelling what I’m trying to step into.👍

Because the browns I’m catching are regurgitating rainbow trouts instead of forage fish and I will be imitating 5-7 in rainbow trout

That’s funny because that is kind of how this whole adventure began. I started coating some lures with a fingernail polish and was getting good results fishing that lure. I wanted a smoother, more even coat, so I got the airbrush. Fingernail polish was horrible to clean out of the airbrush, so I started looking for a water based substitute and found the powdered mica pigments. Started having fun with that but did not want to purchase any more $25 lures, so I found the $2 blanks that looked similar. Now I’m just trying to narrow it down to the ones that will fish and suspend similar to the original lure I coated with fingernail polish. Definitely no detail involved in these guys.

Here are some of the tips that I have so far to help flatten out the learning curve with airbrushing lures and applying 2 part epoxy. Use high performance reducer to thin water based acrylic paints to the consistency of 2 % milk. Apply coats in light layers and heat set with hair dryer to speed up drying process. Mix powdered mica pigments with a balancing clear and reduce with high performance reducer. Powdered pigments are much more effective over a dark base layer than a light colored base. Use many more light coats of powdered pigments when covering light colored base and heat set with hair dryer between coats. Keep air brush clean! Use a windex/water mixture for cleaning. A rotating fly tying vise makes a great lure holder for painting. Blue painters tape masks off bait bills and eyes and is easy to remove once bait is dry. PearlEx interference blue is really cool stuff! 2 part slow cure epoxy is really thick and starts to set way faster that I would like. Slow the process down by mixing on a paper plate covered with aluminum foil. Add 5 drops of denatured alcohol to mixture to help thin a bit and add again if mixture starts to set before you are ready. Apply mixture to lure with brush while lure is still in rotating vise. Use gentle heat from hair dryer to thin and flatten epoxy on lure while using brush to remove excess. Rotisserie spins about 6rpm which is perfect for drying and curing epoxy top coat. Clean brush with denatured alcohol so you can use again.

So far I really like the Jann’s Netcraft TMJ 90. It suspends well and has been catching a few good browns. Problem is, they are now out of stock after I purchased 27 of them. Also they are unavailable for back order. Can not find a 90 anywhere else but have found some 95’s. Got a few painted but have not had a chance to see if I can get them to suspend or see how they fish yet.

I have started to paint jerkbaits for big browns. Now, I am completely new to this and just diving right in head first. I purchased a fairly cheap complete airbrush kit from Hobby Lobby, water based acrylic paints, powdered mica pearl pigments, and 2 part epoxy clear coat as recommended by our very own Mr. Billethead. Thanks Marty! Been gathering various jerkbait blanks from different suppliers looking for ones I can get to suspend. I’ve been trying my hand at two different color schemes and feel like I’m starting to get them dialed in. My ultimate goal is to get a rainbow trout and brown trout pattern dial in but I’m a long ways off from that yet. It has been an enjoyable way to spend what little spare time I have this time of year sucking up some AC and staying out of the heat. This post has been promoted to an article

Still catching good fish early and late on the jerkbaits up in the Trophy area. Been seeing one really big brown that has given me a few good chases between the Narrows and Lookout. Rusty midge and crackle backs are a good way to catch numbers of fish up in the Trophy area. Scuds producing well in the moving water around Lookout. The jig bite on a 1/32 sculpin and ginger has been good both early and late all up and down the lake. Quality fish are being caught from Cooper Creek on down to the Landing on the power worms and power baits. Only 2 units came on for 3 hours yesterday and the fishing was fantastic during the flow. Lots of boats came in with limits, stating they caught them while the water was running.

Pm sent

Some pictures of this last week of early morning fishing

Jerkbait bite is still good early from Rebar hole to Trophy Run. Launching boat at 4-4:30 am at Hatchery launch and done by 8:30-9 am. As soon as fog lifts the bite is gone. Still catching browns and walleye on the 90-95 mm suspending jerkbaits up there. White has been the best color. Catching some big whites, spots and them brown bass things too along with really aggressive or really nice sized bows. 1/32 sculpin and ginger, or sculpin and peach jigs fished straight lined and fast on 2 pound test will catch all the trout you can shake a stick at in that area too before the fog lifts. Evening bite has been very good on jigs from the dam down to Lilleys’ as the water is falling out. Had 4 guys out last evening and at 8 they decided they wanted to keep some fish. Jig fished the flats between Fall Creek and Trout Hollow and everyone had limits in 15 minutes. Fish early, or fish late. Enjoy some AC during the middle of the day