Posted by Dwain Batey on Feb 7th 2020
The case for custom painted lures
The case for custom painted lures
Who needs custom painted lures?
Can
you catch fish on a $6-$10 mass produced crank bait? Absolutely, but
are they always the right tool for the job? No, a good custom painted
lure is only slightly more expensive, and can fill holes in your
crank bait box that mass produced lures just can't. Custom painted
lures come in a much wider variety of colors, and more importantly
they can be colors that are much more region specific, or maybe even
lake specific. Where a mass produced bait may offer a few different
craw colors, we have dozens. They may only offer a couple of red
colors, where we have dozens of different reds for example. Not only
are there more colors, but I still hand paint each one with a much
higher level of detail than you'll find from the big manufacturers. I
am not just an artist, I have been bass fishing since before I can
remember, and I am currently fishing at the highest levels of kayak
fishing.
What does that mean for my baits? It means that I don't just paint pretty baits to make people buy them, each bait has
a specific reason for each color used and how it's layered. Close attention is paid to contrast and how the colors are placed to make the patterns trigger fish, not just anglers to buy them. As an artist I could paint with even more detail and realism, but my years of fishing have taught me that photo realism is not the target, and mass produced baits that have tried this have never been as effective as a bait with more contrast between the colors and other subtle things that trigger bites. I always say that a custom painted lure when used right may only put a fish or two extra in the boat each day, but it could mean a lot in a tournament and they could also be larger more weary fish that really add up.
Why do they cost more? The bodies
of practically all hard baits are made in China, as our ours, but I
have selected only the best blanks I could find from a trusted
manufacturer, and they've also worked with us to produce custom molds
like our Crevice Critter that have key changes to make them even
better than similar style baits. These are bodies that I trust to be
as good as anything on the market, and use myself when money on on
the line. I take those blank lure bodies and airbrush them in my
custom patterns, of which we currently have almost 200 of. Using only
the highest quality paints from House of Kolor and Taxidermy paints,
then I use a proprietary clear coat that is thin and durable to make
sure your custom bait lasts a long time and does what it's supposed
to.
Where can you find our custom painted baits? I also happen to build websites, and just redesigned our entire site for a faster and easier to navigate page for you the customer, at https://skirmishbaits.com/
We've even got a special, your first order on the new site get 10% off your first order of $100 ore more with the code 10off100 used during checkout.
Give us a try, and get some of the best tools you can have in your hard bait box!
Thanks, Dwain Batey
Co-founder/Painter
Skirmish Baits
Here are a few of our color patterns, but click the link to view everything we have on our site all ready to ship.