Has anybody ever done this?

[Shad_Master]

I will be fishing a tournament on a lake that I have never seen before -- won't see it 'til it is time to launch the boat due to scheduling problems.  The lake is reported to be very muddy with blue-green algae.  The color of choice is black -- I have black spinner baits, black jigs, black chatter baits, black buzzbaits and black worms.  What I don't have is a black crank bait.  I made a quick trip to the local sporting goods stores (Scheel's and Dick's) and couldn't find a black crank bait.  I was thinking of taking a crank bait and coloring it black with a Sharpee pen.  Has anyone done this?  What do you think?

[Deuceu72]

you might think about throwing chartruse as a color as well if the water is dark and murky.......Colorado blades on your spinnerbait will also be a big help as they move more water.........you might also try a loud crank such as a rat-l-trap, but as for coloring, I do it all the time. I usually use the "dip-n-glo" markers myself. I havent used a sharpie as I'm not sure what the bass would think of that scent. Good luck in your tournament!!!

[Matt Fly]

Shad,     done that to my blades and skirts before and had no problems with catching fish.

White with chrt back would be good color or parrot colored crank.

Standard black and blue jigs in the vegitation with ratttles is a standard.

Good luck and Hookem good!

Matt

[Shad_Master]

Thanks guys, I hadn't thought about the scent from the Sharpee, maybe I can hang it on the radio antenna on the way to the lake to air out  ;D.  I will post a report in the "outings" section if the results are good -- if you don't see one you will know.

[FatBoy]

You might want to try posting this question in the tacklemaking forum.  I don't read that one very often, but I've seen posts there about using markers to color baits and even draw different patterns.  I believe I remember someone saying that the smell goes away pretty quick.

[gatrboy53]

even though bl. may be the dominant color in a lake due to water clarity i wouldnt throw everything bl.,reaction baits are better w/ some contrast color such as chartruese or parrott.even jigs i would add color,blue or watermelon or even red.good luck,mike

[DR_Bass]

Yeah don't only use black, certainly there are other colors that work.  It's not good to get caught up in a color like that.  Just make sure you try and fish the moment.

P.S. - Ive used a marker to alter the color of spinnerbaits and cranks to make them look more like the forage the bass were feeding on.  I picked up the idea from KVD at the lake Amistad tournament early in the year.

Good luck in your tournament bro.  

[GAMEOVER]

Go buy a Rapala DT-? Sure Set (you want every advantage you can get in a crankbait for tourny time) series crankbait (the number will represent the desired depth if you dont know) then go buy some black spray paint. Take off the hooks then tape up the lip and eyes with tape. If youd like it to be more glossy get a can of clear coat. Apply the paint then let dry in a dust free enviroment unless you want dust flakes in your paint job (not recommended). Apply a few layers of clear coat, you do that by spraying the clear coat on letting it dry and repeating the process again until you get that desired finish. I never have done this but I know it will work. For best results you could take a piece of sand paper and sand off the color as well.

Also solid black is superb on any bait but you have way too much black stuff. The key to success is variety (under your circumstances). If you want solid colors though (because all solid colors will stick out more) you could try an off-white "creme" color. That would look good to and is a proven old school color. Good luck to you and your tourny if I havent replyed too late.

[CJ]

Know guys who use sharpies,works fine.I like fire tiger,chartuese black back,or parrot(as matt stated)in muddy water.I would go with Colorado blades on chartuese and blue skirted spinnerbait.But I would probally concentrate on dark colored plastics with good action and definatley a black and blue jig.Just some subjestions.Also you may want to try shaking a jig or worm.Give it alot of action without moving it far.  Good Luck  Cj

[Brian_Reeves]

I'm with CJ.  Make sure you got a black and blue jig with an action trailer.  I like rattles and strong scents (megastrike, spike-it, powerbait) on jigs when the water is a little turbid.  As far as using a sharpee, I have done it and the stink goes away pretty quick.  I've only used them to draw dots or vertical lines though.  I've never colored the whole thing black.  If you do that, dip it in some spike-it to garlic it up and cover up that aweful smell.  You don't want to turn your bass into drug addicts ;D  Good luck on the tourney and hope ya bring in the big bucks

[Keithscatch]

I am a Sharpie magician  ;D Been using them to color lures for years. I always carry black with me. I color my lure and my line. I own a set of 12 different color Sharpies and have "painted" entire lures using nothing but sharpies. Here is one I did:

You can also go buy yourself a can of spray paint and tape over the bill on the crankbait and paint it solid black.

[Dan:]

that's amazing man  

[Shad_Master]

Thanks for all the replies -- a few did come in a little too late for consideration, but though I would give you an update.  I did search around in my stash and came up with a silver/black back CB.  Started the day with these set ups:

- Black buzzbait

- Black spinner bait

- Silver/black back CB

- Black/blue jig

- Black 7" GULP! worm

Started out the day on the buzzbait and got nothing - my partner hit a short (<12") right away and had a blow up from a bigger fish without a hookup.  Worked along the shore line and then moved out to the first drop off with the worm.  Got my first fish on the worm in 2-3 feet of water.  Moved around the cove and got another one on the worm.  Started working an old tree line just off the channel (6 to 8' of water) and my partner stuck a 19"er on a black/blue jig.  Pulled out my jig and caught a 19.75"er about 50' on up.  Worked to the mouth of the cove and started back down to where we caught the "bigguns" and stuck a 12"er  on the jig as I was swimming it back to the boat.  Everything quited down for the next 3 hours and we moved to the other end of the lake, caught a 14.5"er off a brush pile in 8-10 feet of water on a Blackberry Zoom Worm.  We then went back to the treeline and my partner picked up two more on the Black GULP! worm.

I ended the day in 3rd place and my 19.75" was big fish of the tournament.  All of my fish came on black, the 2nd place stringer all came from a Black/chartruse jig with a chartruese trailer.  However, the 1st place stringer came on a green pumpkin jig with a gp trailer and a green pumpkin ring fry.  (Go figure).

[dink]

Proof:  Green pumpkin is a good color anywhere, anytime.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

gotta love those natural colors...tough to beat. I do like the sharpee idea, i will have to remember that.