Using a clear coat on hard baits/lures to avoid paint loss ?

[WaskaCrank12]

It seems quite a few reviews that I have read about hard baits/lures talk about how great a lure looks when new yet after a few catches that hard bait/lure loses it's paint. It seems some brands, such as Lucky Craft or others, have many reviewers talking about this.

If this is the case with a bait/lure -- do you make a pre-emptive effort to use clear coat (or something similar) to avoid the paint loss ? If so what do you use ?

Also curious if putting some something like this on the bait/lure will significantly change the action of the bait/lure ?  

Certainly some marks/paint loss will occur if a bait/lure is doing it's job (catching fish) -- this would be more about if a bait/lure is losing paint with minimal usage.

Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise/experiences.

 

[MediumMouthBass]

In my opinion (crankbaits specifically) catch more fish for me after they have had the paint beaten up by bass biting them than the ones just out of the box.

 

It seems like quite a bit of work doing this to $4-8 lures. Especially if it might get snagged, broken off, bit off, stuck in a tree a week later, etc....

And after holding lots of bass and feeling their mouths and then looking at my thumb i dont think clear coat will make them last much longer either.

 

But if you want to do it make sure not to get it onto the split rings, and i dont think it will have a severe impact on its action, since its just an extra layer.

 

Or you can just buy the protectors for swimbaits to prevent hook rash and just cut them to cover the main parts of the crankbait (or other lure) you think a bass would bite. This would be my choice if i wanted to do this. And it would probably last longer than clear coat too.

[FishTank]

Some of my best lures are missing paint. I don't think it's ever crossed my mind to put clear coat on them. I would just keep using them until they stop catching fish. Besides, in the muddy water I fish, the action of the lure is just as important as the color, if not more. 

[KP Duty]

I have cleared a few balsa baits that had rash/hook holes, but it was mainly to protect the balsa.  Baits catching fish with most of the paint gone show that action is more important than finish.   

[Bankc]

The paint job catches more fisherpeople than fish.  More than half of my crankbaits don't even look like real fish.  But the bass seem to love them anyway.  

[fin]

I have clear coated some new lures with fingernail polish. It only takes a few seconds and dries in a couple minutes. The smell sticks around for days though, so you want to let it air out, don't put it in a box.

 

I use it mostly on lures with a lot of smooth chrome or holographic foil. They tend to get chipped easy. I don't stress over lures getting a little beat up, but I also don't believe that beat-up look gets more bites.

[JediAmoeba]

On some of my swimbaits I will lightly brush on 2 part epoxy thinned with denatured alcohol. 

[slowworm]

^^^ This.  I use Devcon 2-ton thinned to a paint like consistency.  Though I only do it on the lure blanks I airbrush myself, as the airbrush paint I use is water based and I need to protect it. 

[Dogface]

I have two concerns about clear coating lures with epoxy or something similar. Does it affect the weight and balance of the lure? And is there a scent or taste of the chemical that fish can detect?

 

BTW I have some beatup paint-challenged lures that keep catching fish. The reason is not the finish or how pretty they are but the action of the particular lure. Some lures for some reason just work better than other identical lures.

 

 

[Bankc]

48 minutes ago, Dogface said:

I have two concerns about clear coating lures with epoxy or something similar. Does it affect the weight and balance of the lure? And is there a scent or taste of the chemical that fish can detect?

 

BTW I have some beatup paint-challenged lures that keep catching fish. The reason is not the finish or how pretty they are but the action of the particular lure. Some lures for some reason just work better than other identical lures.

 

 

I wouldn't worry about it.  The weight would be minimal and the weight applied would be nearly equal all over, so the balance would remain pretty much the same.  And while fish would definitely be able to smell and taste epoxy, especially if not fully cured, most of us use crankbaits that smell and taste like whatever plastic box they were stored in and whatever we had on our hands when we tied it on, and they still catch fish.  

[fin]

6 hours ago, Dogface said:

And is there a scent or taste of the chemical that fish can detect?

With nail polish, the smell eventually goes away (unless the lure is sealed inside something), but it does take some time. I've never had a fish complain about the smell.

[Dogface]

On 4/12/2024 at 5:30 PM, fin said:

 I've never had a fish complain about the smell.

 

But how many have you interviewed?  😉 

[fin]

Hundreds.

 

I've had lots of complaints from catfish, but I don't speak their language, so I don't know what they're croaking about.

[Shadow1]

I go the opposite route . . . I will take a sponge pad that is used for dishes (the ones with the rough pad on the opposite side) and lightly scuff my jerkbaits up.  After I scuff some of them up, I will take the Spike it pens or a sharpie, rub some of it on the lures, and wipe with a paper towel.  It gives the baits a more natural flat mat look for me.