carphugger

Yeah, they are line through with the hook on top. They do kick pretty good. The whole body wobbles. I haven't gotten bit on the big one yet, but the smaller one has an amazing hook-up ratio.

Thanks! It's kind of hard to explain the process, it's not painted though. I basically brush glitter on the inside of a skin that goes over the whole bait.

Thanks!

The only thing to watch out for, is I'm not sure how you would pour silicone into silicone. If you used a release, you may not be able to paint it afterward if that's something you would want to do. You might need to make a silicone positive and then make a hard resin mold to pour into, or make your molds out of some sort of non-silicone rubber. Not sure. I make my molds out of HDPE that I carve with a cnc machine so It's not an issue.

It's ecoflex 30 from smooth-on. It's 00-30 hardness which is below shore A. That's the softest silicone that I have found that isn't tacky once cured. It's a little stiffer than standard plastisol, but if you make your tails a little thinner they still kick really well. It's more durable than plastisol (I've caught several dozen fish on another bait I made without tears or anything) and I think it's a lot safer and easier to work with. I glued the eyes on with G.E. silicone *I clear caulk. You can get it at most hardware stores, but it has to be silicone I, not silicone II. It's the only silicone I have found that will stick. You could also use that to repair a bait if it did tear.

thanks everybody! The fish was modeled on a computer in Blender (3d software).. I'm a motion graphics designer by trade. Then the mold was cut out with a cnc machine. That's where the high scale detail comes from. I'm pretty happy with it.

It's paint. I didn't airbrush it though, I used a brush with airbrush paint.

Thanks!

this looks sweet!

These look really good. What are you using for a topcoat? Is that what's in the can at the bottom?

Thanks! It actually holds a fish really well. In fact, I've got 100% hook up ratio on it right now! Though, I've only had one hit on it. Ha. I do have a couple others that are similar and they do well. I figure, the huddlestons are rigged that way, so why not a hardbait. I was tired of getting hung on rocks and logs when fishing beds- then disturbing the beds to retrieve my baits.

wow, that does look good for a first go. love the bagley-esque profile- bet she'll get hammered.

I'm new on this site, but wow that's a sweet bait. Plan on making a few bluegill baits myself. Now I have a target to shoot for! Hopefully mine will turn out 1/10th as good.