Some Swimbaits

[-ebby-]

Here are three swimbaits i had made a little while ago.

The one on the bottom is a giron so you can see the size of the others. The two small ones wake really good on the top when realed in slowly, but will dive a foot or two down at a moderate to fast retrive. The bigger one on top swims amazingly a very slow almost suspending drop perfectly horizontal. It has a wide s action and i can reel it in at any speed and it still has great action. I just need to paint the joints all green instead of half yellow because it looks wierd. It could also use some eyes like on the small ones but i didn't have time before i left for a fishing trip.

[BIG M]

Very cool!!!   That's good work and to get all three baits to run good is an accomplishment.

1 thing you need to work on is getting the foil wrapped all the way around the bait.    Put a clear coat on the bait to help hide the seam when you paint.

[-ebby-]

Ya i did the photo pretty quick because i wanted to get it done before i left so i could use it. What is the best to use for foil? Foil tape?

[.dsaavedra.]

Ya i did the photo pretty quick because i wanted to get it done before i left so i could use it. What is the best to use for foil? Foil tape?

i wouldn't say there is a "best" but the easiest to use is foil tape.

it is not necessary to get the foil to go around the whole bait. in fact, it kind of messes up the foil job if you try to get it to go all the way around.

if you try to cover it all in foil, the foil will wrinkle because it can not conform to curves and contors of the bait. it would be like trying to wrap a piece of paper around a golf ball without getting any wrinkles in the paper....pretty impossible.

i try to get the foil to completley cover the face of the lure (flat sides) and then just cover a little bit of the back and belly (like you have done....maybe a little bit more though).

maybe you are trying to use contrasting colors to add some attracting qualities to the bait, but if not, you should really try to match the color of the back and belly a little better to the foil image. it will really make the bait look a whole lot nicer.

i hope i'm not coming off sounding rude or anything, because i'm not trying to say your baits are bad, im just giving you suggestions for improvement

but it sounds like these swim pretty good! the action is what catches fish, not the paint!

keep at it man!  

[CookieMonst3r]

Like the others said, it's not the paint that matters it's the action. Good job on those baits.

[Cory20]

Wow those are great.  The fact that they swim is even better.

How's the action on that giron?  Have had my eye on them for a little while, as my woodworking shop doesn't exist.

[-ebby-]

The giron has a lot of action and can be worked either fast or slow and it is a pretty light swimbait. I have only used it a couple times and didn't catch anything on it. They just put out some new colors at icast to

[Far_Nor_Cal]

I have made some swimbaits and wake baits that I've been painting by hand and the paint jobs doesn't look anything like yours. Mine are just really basic. Were or how are you guys using the stuff your calling foil. Is it foil that has the fish pattern already on it. Were can I find foil for doing my baits. Thanks for the advise and info.

[.dsaavedra.]

when people say they "foil a bait" theyre talking about one of two things.

one is that they laid a layer of foil with a texture on it and paint over it, like a rapala. the bait in this picture has silver foil with black, white, and red paint over it.

the other type of "foil" is when someone prints a fish image off their computer and then glues it to a piece of regular kitchen foil (or foil tape) and then glues that to their lure. this is called photo finish. ebby's baits are photofinished.

[Far_Nor_Cal]

Thanks for the reply. I did read in another post were you said that you would print an image on either paper or tissue paper then apply it to foil or foil tape then opoxy over that. That's a great idea. You seem to be the man when it come to making these things. Thanks again for the help.

[.dsaavedra.]

no problem. feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

[IDbasser]

Those are neat.  I would like to try making some myself.

[-ebby-]

Doing it this way is pretty easy, just make sure you use aluminum foil tape, the first time i used this shinny duct tape that was very thick and it looked pretty bad, on the big one i tried normal aluminum foil but one side was non-stick and it peeled off after a couple casts wich led to me refinishing it here http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1219177312 and a used some tape that was made for lures and it doesn't look great around the edges, but i got the aluminum foil tape and tryed it on a stick bait and it was so much easier. Just start off using the right stuff and it will make it alot easier.

[.dsaavedra.]

Just start off using the right stuff and it will make it alot easier.

this is so true.

start out doing stuff right and it will eliminate a lot of headache and discouragement  

i like to use some kind of foil tape, its some off brand but its very sticky and works well with lures. easy to smooth out too.

foil tape is much easier to use than aluminum kitchen foil.