PondBoss

Not sure I agree with your assessment about airbrushing excellence. From what I can tell and have heard a lot of people have little to zero artistic ability when they get started. I know I personally have zero artistic ability, but can manage a pretty decent bait after only trying a couple of times. I totally agree with your thoughts on paint. You will be better of using paints that are ready for airbrushing right out of the bottle. I learned pretty much immediately that trying to thin those cheap acrylic paints is just not worth the added hassle and frustration.

Spider Wire Stealth for general use 30lb Invisibraid for sight fishing also 30lb. Spinning gear is Stealth 12lb or Invisibraid 15lb

I'd use the rod that I already have. 7'6" MH Ethos

Meant to add the rod that I use. 7'6" MH H2O Ethos it'll do the job

Mr Swim Jig, that;s exactly what I was wanting to hear. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use it soon.

Big fan of the Yo Mamma from Big Bite. Always have a couple on deck.

I say go for it, I use my deep diving cranking rods to C-rig with all the time. Maybe my rods are just versatile, but who knows. They definitely do the trick for both applications. When I think about it the techniques maybe totally different but the applications are very much the same. For both you need a long rod, although the length is needed for different reasons. One is needed to move line, the other for casting distance. For both you need a bit of tip, and back bone. One have enough rigidity to set the hook firlmly with a sweep, the other to not snap chunking a huge crank. They maybe different, but should suffice to pull double duty.

So far this year I've been doing really well with White craw baits from a few different manufacturers, and the drop shot with a white finesse worm. Totally shocked by the drop shot since I've never caught a fish on it otherwise, but it's giving me confidence in it now. Also following those up with a wacky rigged Senko or Trick Stick. On my T-rigged baits I've been using a red tungsten 3/8oz weight pegged. Rod, reel, line have depended on where I'm fishing. Drop shot set up 7'3" Ethos ML spinning rod Shakespeare reel 12lb Spider Wire Stealth with 8-10 Fluoro leader. Wacky rig either 6'10" or 7' MH Ethos BPS Carbon Lite with 30lb Stealth IKE approved VMC wacky hook.

If you have to use a Fluoro leader I guess it's not that much camo. lol

I've never tried this stuff, but I had a gift card to burn and thought why not. Has anyone here used it? Tell me what you thought. It says it's super abrasion resistant and casts well, but how is the stretch? I got 2 330yd spools one in 14lb and the other in 20lb. I figured if it's not great than I have backing for a life time, and if it's great then....great! The camo color is interesting to say the least and I'm amxious to get it on the water to see how it looks. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Watch as many videos as you can. I watched hours of youtube videos before I started. I'd like to think I make a half way decent bait. Don't be intimidated by some of the aweseome work you see. They all started out just like you. I think you'll find it's only as hard as you make it. I've been doing simple baits 2-4 colors and the hardest part is finding the right clear coat. lol Take solice in knowing you;ll get better. I see huge improvement in my second batch of baits over my first. Last but not least be patiant. You'll be using water colors, so if you screw up, a little warm water is all you need to creat a clean slate.

Funny you said that, I posted on Facebook and immediately my friends and family were like I'll take one. lol Filling orders already

Thank you so much, I too can't wait to get farther down the road and see what I'm able to learn and improve on.

I'm using Createx paint and a few other random colors from random brands that I found at Wal-Mart. They are really inexpensive, but getting them to shoot right is a pain with getting the right dilution. The Createx paint is awesome right out of the bottle. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do as far as clear coat, I've had mixed results. Still on the look for a clear coat that won't let my bait be destroyed after 10 fish.

Personally I like to use 7.0 and faster reels for topwater, but maybe that's just me. I know working those baits you mentioned produces slack to make the bait work right. I wanna take that slack up as fast as I can.

Bomber Square-A is one of my favorite baits of all time. Wake baits, I have a few of the H2O wakes and they are great. Also the Bomber shallow-A

Thanks very much

What needs to be better?

Got the blanks from wlure.com it's in China takes a few weeks to get them, but shipping is free and the blanks are pretty inexpensive.

This is my very first batch of baits to paint with an airbrush. I learned a lot and hope to get better. What do you guys think? Any constructive criticism is welcome and tips.

I didn't paint any of these baits that I want to remove the paint from. A buddy of mine had a bunch of cranks from China that he gave me. So I assume they have clear coat on them over the paint. One of them I did paint with a water based paint and warm water does nothing to it.

yep same here they are either 5ct or 8ct packs

I has using a drill to bore out my jig mold since I got the wrong one on accident. I guess I drilled a pinch to big because now all of the lead fills in the hook eye. How can I fix this mistake?

What would you use to strip the paint? I'd like to turn some of these into ghost baits so removal would be great.

H2O Xpress has everything you need, and at the prices you want or less. You won't find a better product for the price.