Yet Another Wart Thread..

[mixermarkb]

Ok guys. I'm finally gonna have some of my old warts repainted. I've been on a mission the past couple years to not go too crazy with color selection on baits. I'm trying to keep with as small of a selection of colors as I can get by with. What colors would you have a wart painted? In normal storm colors, I'm a fan of phantom green, green craw, natural green craw, and brown craw.

I'm thinking something like a PBJ craw for sure, and I lost my last phantom green craw last week, so I'll have something close to that painted up.

What's the other colors you guys love for TRL and the Bull?

Thanks,

Mark

[dtrs5kprs]

Red for up the rivers, especially the Kings. The old V209 (naturistic) or the V029 (flo. red / black back and squiggles).

Watermelon, or the old V38 for the rivers, but with less color.

I also like an orange craw, like the Bandit or Strike King orange craws, but that one always was a painter. It was an old Bomber model A color.

Can do some fun things with various watermelon-rootbeer brown-green pumpkin bodies and flake. Green pumpkin body and belly, chocolate brown back, purple squiggles with purple flake in the clearcoat is nice.

Actually starting to think about moving some of my stash. Prices are ridiculous right now, makes it seem like a good idea. Just can't quite do it. My wife about fell over when I mentioned it the other night.

[abkeenan]

Dave,

Funny you say that as I told my brother prices and warts are so high right now I was thinking of thinning the heard...but he said keep them as he thinks the prices with continue to rise. Not sure about that but it also made it easier for me to NOT part ways with my stash. lol. I am like a hoarder with these things. If you've ever watched "Hoarders" on TLC and they say "It was a great deal" on something they didn't need, that is pretty much me. If I see a wart that is a decent price even though I certainly don't need it I will buy it. Its a problem but now prices soaring on Ebay that is keeping me from doing it so much. Its also funny how each year whatever won the Bass Master Classic sells like hot cakes all over the country. Brandon Palaniuk (Finished 2nd) had good success throwing a phantom green craw Mag Wart in the Classic and that has contributed to the higher prices and if you go look at Tackle Warehouse they are now out of Mag Warts in both Green and Brown Phantom...so funny.

Sorry for the high jack there,

But if I were getting some done I would get them done in colors you can't find. Why get something painted in an exact old pattern that you can still purchase in that color? I personally like all the craw color patterns, V37, 62 and 63 and especially the V209. I am not as big as fan of the V210 and V38 like a lot of the guys here, just never have really done well on them. My uncle is strictly a V40 guy and that is all he throws and always does well on it. Lots of guys like the rare Missouri Craw SP-90 so that might be a color you would want to get painted and replicated as they are not only hard to come by but also cost upwards of $100 a piece now.

[Guest]

a co-worker brought 4 really old tackle boxes for me to dig thru.

I got 2 wiggle warts, 3 Wee warts and 2 Pee Wee warts.

The pee wee is an interesting bait, have any of you wart lovers ever used the pee wee?

As for colors,go for the hard to find or very effective colors.

I dont like to experiemnt new colors on old baits

The phantoms are hard to duplicate unless you find a way to strip the paint.

Ive noticed the old warts with painted bills have a white colored plastic underneath.

I think the clear billed baits can be stripped.

Does anybody know how to strip the paint off clear baits??

[dtrs5kprs]

a co-worker brought 4 really old tackle boxes for me to dig thru.

I got 2 wiggle warts, 3 Wee warts and 2 Pee Wee warts.

The pee wee is an interesting bait, have any of you wart lovers ever used the pee wee?

As for colors,go for the hard to find or very effective colors.

I dont like to experiemnt new colors on old baits

The phantoms are hard to duplicate unless you find a way to strip the paint.

Ive noticed the old warts with painted bills have a white colored plastic underneath.

I think the clear billed baits can be stripped.

Does anybody know how to strip the paint off clear baits??

That is the trick with the phantom colors. It can be done. Easiest to start with a body that is visibly clear (lip). Some of the others are hit and miss as to what is underneath when you get to taking paint off. Several ways to get rid of the finish, some are not much fun. Have to be careful not to overly change the bait underneath the paint.

Think a big secret to the phantom's effectiveness is the light colored bottom. Looks about as much like the segmented belly of a craw as anything else you will see. If that bait jumps off a rock or piece of wood it is showing a fish that belly color.

Some pet phantom colors:

The orange craw, a version of the old "bone" craw that is hard to find, and a rootbeer / on bone with orange belly (a simple version of V63 if you get the colors correct), and a hot bellied red for muddy water work:

Have fun with it.

[dtrs5kprs]

Dave,

Funny you say that as I told my brother prices and warts are so high right now I was thinking of thinning the heard...but he said keep them as he thinks the prices with continue to rise. Not sure about that but it also made it easier for me to NOT part ways with my stash. lol. I am like a hoarder with these things. If you've ever watched "Hoarders" on TLC and they say "It was a great deal" on something they didn't need, that is pretty much me. If I see a wart that is a decent price even though I certainly don't need it I will buy it. Its a problem but now prices soaring on Ebay that is keeping me from doing it so much. Its also funny how each year whatever won the Bass Master Classic sells like hot cakes all over the country. Brandon Palaniuk (Finished 2nd) had good success throwing a phantom green craw Mag Wart in the Classic and that has contributed to the higher prices and if you go look at Tackle Warehouse they are now out of Mag Warts in both Green and Brown Phantom...so funny.

Didn't even think about the Classic. Sort of thought it was just the usual March wiggle wart freak out going on. Good point.

[Sore Thumbs]

Guys in my opinion it is not the color that matters as much as the action. The old wiggle warts have a distinct soft knock. The new ones have more of a rattle. The old ones also have a tendency to be irratic. They will go strait for a second then all the sudden jump to one side or the other. As for colors. I like fire tiger for mornings on clear water and slightly stained water. Red/green back with orange/yellow belly in stained. Natural looking green or brown in clear. I dont think you have get too fancy with colors. Just be in the right place and the action will take care of business. Just my opinion.

[motoman]

A bit off topic; but I thought this was interesting.

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I'm not one for Internet 'lore', but I read this on another message board about the old Warts, and it seemed pretty logical? Sounds like too tight a quality control and consistency may have taken away from the 'mystique' of the old Warts, since Rapala came along.

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"So I have sat down here and talked to a few guys who have been here longer than I have to try and figure out what the deal is with the different materials and colors. It looks like a big part of the “attraction” to the old wiggle warts was the variety of materials that they used back in the day. We have literally cut apart and analyzed hundreds of old originals and the most consistent thing that can be said about them is that they were incredibly inconsistent. The pre-Rapala Storm company was notorious for using whatever plastic, split rings, rattles, and hooks they could get a deal on at the time so it’s really hard to pin down exactly what combination is the magic one. We have cut apart lures out of the same inner pack box and found different sizes and number of steel balls inside of them as well as different clips and split rings."

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The few original warts I have all seem to be pretty inconsistent in materials too. Maybe there's something to this?

[dtrs5kprs]

A bit off topic; but I thought this was interesting.

-

I'm not one for Internet 'lore', but I read this on another message board about the old Warts, and it seemed pretty logical? Sounds like too tight a quality control and consistency may have taken away from the 'mystique' of the old Warts, since Rapala came along.

-

"So I have sat down here and talked to a few guys who have been here longer than I have to try and figure out what the deal is with the different materials and colors. It looks like a big part of the “attraction” to the old wiggle warts was the variety of materials that they used back in the day. We have literally cut apart and analyzed hundreds of old originals and the most consistent thing that can be said about them is that they were incredibly inconsistent. The pre-Rapala Storm company was notorious for using whatever plastic, split rings, rattles, and hooks they could get a deal on at the time so it’s really hard to pin down exactly what combination is the magic one. We have cut apart lures out of the same inner pack box and found different sizes and number of steel balls inside of them as well as different clips and split rings."

-

The few original warts I have all seem to be pretty inconsistent in materials too. Maybe there's something to this?

+1

If you break the lip off one take the opportunity to cut it open. Odds are it won't match two more in your box. Have found them made from at least two kinds of plastic. Also find various degrees of corrosion/oxidation/whatever on some of the balls. Could be one of the reasons for the different sound, vibration, tendency to wander. Then there is the old story of the fire.

Lots of the early companies were notorious for using whatever was to hand, and approximating dimensions and specs. Have been told a tale about some of the specs on the bass buster baits...there were none. They did not weigh the heads, just made them in "sizes" in some products.

Honestly, the "new" originals work fairly well. Also some of the knock-offs and the Brad's Wigglers. No, they are not the same, but they do not deserve the clearance bin like the "improved"-yankee created-Normark yellow box-walleye trolling (no offense RPS)-Rapala liplooking - by Al Lindner's *&^%&-ing beard baits from the change.

Colors are certainly overrated beyond the basics, except maybe in super clear water, but man they are fun. Life is short, it should also be fun. Also have painted enough warts and sticks to know that a custom painted bait is usually slightly to considerably (depending on paint, clear coat, techniques, amount of paint, etc) heavier than a stock bait. Think longer casts, deeper running, more subtle action, and other potentially beneficial effects. Pull a painted rogue vs. a stock rogue and notice the difference.

[GENTLE]

Motoman, I couldn't agree with you more, after painting close to a 1,000 of them little buggers, the only consistant thing about the old warts is their inconsistancy. Each and every bait varies from one to the next, the new ones are almost identicle, every time. That being said, I don't buy into all the hoopla about the old ones. Who cares if they run erratically and kick out on the retrieve, I don't reel mine in open water, I grind em through rocks, logs and anything else that's on the bottom, so they're gonna deflect off of objects and be erratic, new or old. But if your set on having a bunch of old warts repainted, only the clear bills can be phantom colors. I only throw that out there cause, I've had people not realize I can't make a crome colored bait a phantom.