Need Help... Bluegill Patern Recipe

[Matt Moreau]

Hi Guys,

I have been attempting a bluegill for awhile now and while i get decent results they are not exactly what I want or up to par IMO. I did a search and looked in the Hardbait Cookbook but couldnt find what I am looking for. If anyone wants to lay out Mix portions and steps that would be greatly appreciated. That way I can figure out what I am doing wrong. My usual mess starts like this;

1. 3-4 coats of white base

2. Createx gold all over heavier in the shoulders and lighter near belly

3. Tiger stripe scaling with a rootbeerish color done over mesh all the way up to the top

4. Blend top and shoulders with a darker color black usually

5. Some light blue around the gils and maybe some purple

6. Createx flo orange the belly

I am a novice Airbrusher so any ideas and help is appreciated!

[Fishwhittler]

Pics would help.

[Matt Moreau]

Pics would help.

Well I can post some pics of ones I have done later if you are looking to critique my work...

Really I was just curious as to what color combinations and the process that you guys apply the paint. I am just a novice at this and appreciate the support, guidance and hospitality everyone on here has shown.

[CL Rods]

Do a search on paint schemes for bluegill and or sunfish.

Here is one version, base coat white, pearl white, back and part of side sprayed with Pearl Ex interference bronze in translucent base, portions of bait sprayed through mesh with a blend of blues over the bronze and pearl white belly, top - shoulders and sides a mix of Createx & Auto Air golds sprayed through mesh over the bronze, back and front belly is sunrise yellow sprayed through mesh and then oversprayed slightly with the mesh off, front belly then has pearl copper added, light & dark brown blend for bar/stipe accents sprayed through a template, gill accents are done in Faschange Blue using 1/2 of a medicine cup to create the curve, pectoral fins are yellow ochre and translucent brite yellow sprayed through a template, gill tab is just opague black using a template, back is then accented with a very faint hint of brown/bronze and topped with Gem Ruby and an ultrafine gold glitter in translucent base. Apply the 3D eye followed by two coats of clear. Every now and then I'll add black glitter for a slightly different look.

Just your basic pattern

[CL Rods]

Just remember there are thousands of deviations in nature and everyone has different things they do. I just painted up a DT10 and DT16 copy today that don't look like the above or below at all but they still look great. If you stick with browns, greens, golds, blue, white, orange, yellow and tinker using combs or templates to shoot through with or without mesh or templates...

[A-Mac]

76 Gator is absolutely right. When I was working with the Fisheries Management in Indiana, we shocked up several thousand of bluegills over a summer of sampling different lakes. I bet just in Indiana alone you could paint a dozen different bluegill patterns.

HOWEVER, one thing that seemed fairly consistent when we sampled was bluegill color saturation to the turbidity of the water. Basically, if the water is muddy the fish would be lighter in color. They would still have all the colors present, but they were dumbed down a bit and the fish appeared more white. In really clear lakes, the male bluegills would be almost black on their top half. So yeah, probably the best thing to do would be to go out and actually catch some gills and take some pics out of the lake you want to bass fish. I did this for a lake that had a unique gizzard shad hue (a little more pink iridescence)... man the bass flew in the boat after I tweaked the coloring a little bit! It will totally make a difference (at least in clearer lakes)!

And yes, I've totally seen bluegills in both color scheme 76gator presented too... but the question is, does this scheme apply to your lake?

One thing else I would like to point out, I just moved out to oregon from Indiana recently. I was showing some locals a few of my bluegill patterns and they acted like it wasn't even close... they might think bluegills are trout out here too

Edited November 5, 2009 by A-Mac

[Matt Moreau]

76 Gator is absolutely right. When I was working with the Fisheries Management in Indiana, we shocked up several thousand of bluegills over a summer of sampling different lakes. I bet just in Indiana alone you could paint a dozen different bluegill patterns.

HOWEVER, one thing that seemed fairly consistent when we sampled was bluegill color saturation to the turbidity of the water. Basically, if the water is muddy the fish would be lighter in color. They would still have all the colors present, but they were dumbed down a bit and the fish appeared more white. In really clear lakes, the male bluegills would be almost black on their top half. So yeah, probably the best thing to do would be to go out and actually catch some gills and take some pics out of the lake you want to bass fish. I did this for a lake that had a unique gizzard shad hue (a little more pink iridescence)... man the bass flew in the boat after I tweaked the coloring a little bit! It will totally make a difference (at least in clearer lakes)!

And yes, I've totally seen bluegills in both color scheme 76gator presented too... but the question is, does this scheme apply to your lake?

One thing else I would like to point out, I just moved out to oregon from Indiana recently. I was showing some locals a few of my bluegill patterns and they acted like it wasn't even close... they might think bluegills are trout out here too

So true.... I went out on my dock last night and caught a few of them buggers.. More orange than I expected. But the CA Delta is pretty murky. Lucky to have 5ft visibility so like you said brighter colors. Guess thats why red works so darn good out here!

So what colors do you guys lay first after the white? Am I close in my attempt?

[A-Mac]

Yeah. I normally will put a light gold down, then dark green (in stencil), then fade green on back, then dark blue misted over green. I try to keep the belly as light as possible (aside from the orange). But I vary this all the time mainly because I hate painting the same thing twice.

[Matt Moreau]

Whittler you asked for a pic. So here is a pic of a little crank... Sorry my camera sux. Bout the best I can do for a bluegill patern. LOL see why I need help!

Its a waker

3.5 inches long

Wood = poplar

Weigh is unknown

[Fishwhittler]

Your paint looks good to me. One thing you could try is using a darker color for the back and stripes and maybe a little orange on the throat.

[.dsaavedra.]

here is what i would do...

i would keep your body color and stripes exactly the way they are, but just spray a darker olive down the back and over the shoulders, fading it down.

also, i'd take that iridescent purple that you have around your eyes and spray that down the belly and onto the sides, instead of the yellow.

i'd keep some yellow on the chest and maybe a little orange. i'd also get rid of the blue on the nose but thats just me.

again, yours looks pretty good this is just how i'd change it.

[whittler]

Bluegills, like most fish have so many different colors, even in the same body of water, that you about have to work from a picture to get it right.These two were painted, from pictures, for different guys about 400 miles apart and you can see a very different color combination.

Using light coats of transparent paints the colors can be blended from the belly up until you get the desired look.

[crankpaint]

you might also try painting the darker colors first then spraying gold over mesh on the whole bait instad of spraying gold first spray it last?