Blade Baits

I’ve been using bfishn tackle’s 1/4 blade baits for the last season with some good success and really enjoy them. however, i’m a guy that, when i can, make my own tackle for the enjoyment of catching fish with something you made. Are all blade baits “created equal” i’ve never fished the popular “zonar” (i think) that’s pretty abundant in most lock and dam tackle shops in sizes 1/2 oz + but no 1/4 5/16. Are there any molds you guys recommend or a cheap place to buy unpainted in bulk. (unique painting is the best part imo) do zonars (or anything else for that matter) offer a different action than bfishn tackles? thanks guys.

click on link >>> Blade Baits

Janes Net Craft has blades and Do-It molds

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/Search/blade%20bait.aspx

http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Blade-Baits/V-Blade-Baits.html

They are easy to paint.

There are several different shapes and actions…

Under “Groups” at the top of the page, is a sub-topic of Tackle Works. If you haven’t joined yet, send a request. A few of us DIY guys share a lot of info in there on making blades!

We called them sonars. I found a guy that sold me his dads old ones. I bet i have 100 of them, I put excaliber hooks on them and gave them a new paint job.

I am curious to you dip in powder paint or air brush on the powder , i like the powder but for me i have trouble multi-colors or even two at that.

I air brush nearly everything now rather than dipping. Badger 160 abbrasive air brush, tiny compressor, @ about 6# of air.

After you apply first coat do you reheat to apply second color i have not had much success with more than one color

I’ve been just rattle can painting mine lately and they are holding up pretty good. High quality metal spray, and a gloss clear. I rough up the lead with some 60 grit first though.

Oddly, out of all the ones I have purchased and made myself.. a plain brass blade and lead body has produced the best results this year.

Quote:

---

I’ve been just rattle can painting mine lately and they are holding up pretty good. High quality metal spray, and a gloss clear. I rough up the lead with some 60 grit first though.

Oddly, out of all the ones I have purchased and made myself.. a plain brass blade and lead body has produced the best results this year.

---

That brass is a good color until it oxidizes!

Some I base coat high reflective white and bake before the next color and others I do not. It all depends on what effect I want in the bleeding of colors. An example of this is my metallic Sapphire Blue. If I bake the yellow chart/ beneath it, it comes out deep blue. If I don’t bake the Chart, it comes out as a metallic dark green. In the pic, the green in the front blade is the same blue as the one on the far right

How long does it take to oxidize? These have been in the boat for 4 years now and are still shiny.

Don’t know. But if you pee on them, it will speed up the process

Alright, so one more reason not to urine in the storage bins. Do I really want to ask how you know this?

Seriously, I have not had any problems with any oxidation or corrosion. They have been fished, laying exposed in wet conditions, and stored away in the humid boat. They are still shiny as can be, except the lead has dulled.

I bought them unpainted to paint my own but last week I started using just a plain one since I was losing painted ones one after the other and actually started getting more hits. Doing just as well, better one day, was plain brass with just the lead painted dark red. The whites really loved that one

Quote:

---

Alright, so one more reason not to urine in the storage bins. Do I really want to ask how you know this?

---

I thought everyone knew that urine accelerates patina. If you want nickle, brass, or copper to look aged in a hurry, you pee on it. That was two years worth of graphic arts in college – money well spent
I’ve got some that are just as pretty as new after a few years and some that are all patina. Why, how knows??? Exposed to something? But I have noticed that once they get that patina, they don’t work as well for me

What is more productive as the water warms up, cast and retrieve blade bait or vertical jig, seems to me casting working back to the boat would be or dgagging.

I wouldn’t compare it directly to water temp, but rather the fish’s mood. Vertical, pitch, retrieve, aggressive, long pauses, shorter snaps, long sweeps….all have their place and time