My first attempt at a custom Rapala (Glidin' Rap)

[unipsychofishman]

So this was my first time painting a Rapala although I have made a few lures from scratch and painted them before. This time I used spray-paint (metallic-silver and gold as well as olive) as opposed to brush-on acrylics. I had a bit of a time crunch at the end and so used red permanent marker for some of the details so it is a little faint but it worked out alright.

The olive green smudged a little on this side and the eye wasn't drawn very well but the metallic-gold scales turned out better and so it still looks alright.

It was difficult to get good pictures because it was so reflective which is a problem I am more than happy to have

[jmcfish10101973]

very nice and love the coloring keep it up

john

[unipsychofishman]

Thanks. I would love to get some proper tools, finishes, and paints and do some more of this some day. Encouragement is welcome anytime.
(and it looks better in person, better yet in a fish's mouth)
I'll post some pictures of the first fish I catch with it this spring.

[unipsychofishman]

Well as promised here is a picture of the first fish I caught with it. It is a very small pike but considering the established pattern was nothing like this I did alright to get it to bite it at all.

[jmcfish10101973]

hi it is so great to catch a fish on something you make and love the photo great job.

john

[qbert]

Congrats on your success!! Hope to see that thing in a big boy's mouth later this year!!

[unipsychofishman]

Here's another (poor quality) pic of another small pike with the Glidin' rap...



so using the same colors (because they closly match the colors of pike around here even in reflective qualities - the Olive green is pretty much exact!) I have painted an original floater (F-18) with a pike pattern. I'm not really a fan of the factory pike pattern anyway and I think this one looks great!

[rivercamelfisher]

Looks great mate a nice lure

[omigosh]

Does your lake have any muskie? That last fish with the poor quality pic almost looks like a tiger. The markings are quite different from the first first pike you have pictured. Might just be the pic and my overactive imagination.

[unipsychofishman]

No, actually we are a long way from any muskie (i'm in western Canada and they are really only in the Eastern provinces). It is also just the time of night at which I took the picture that gives it that coloration because, as far as I can recall, it was of typical color.

I had noticed when looking at pictures of the pike i've caught over the years (for getting an idea of what the patterning should look like for the lure) that the markings are highly variable between individuals even at the same location. I've caught some that are completely spotted and others that are almost exclusively striped but the majority have a combination of these patternings. Because of that I came to the conclusion that so long as it had coloration and markings even somewhat similar to the average pike it would be fine and so I wasn't really picky at all when painting.

My Dad actually caught a pike at a lake that we had been exploring for the first time which had us both wondering if it wasn't a muskie because it was a very silvery-grey, almost white color and had the prominent red fins and the markings were also quite barred. Later in the day though I caught a very odd-looking walleye both in build and coloration and so we chalked it up to location and water clarity (the water was extremely milky looking, almost white) I've also found that deep-hooked pike and pike that have been fought too hard also may get increased blood-flow to the fins which can make them very red and this guy was caught long-line trolling so it is a plausible explaination.
(sorry for being so wordy all the time, it must be tiring)

[omigosh]

You are very correct when talking about the fins getting red after or during stress. I used to have a business where we raised koi. That was one of the indicators that we used. If the fins were red, the fish were stressed.
Have fun! Nothing like the feeling of catching a fish on a lure you made or customized.

[keesvanderlaak]

Just a tip on getting your paintjob really come to life... clearcoat it and then pollish the thing with turtle wax..
Works great!

[unipsychofishman]

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

[bujingyi201]

Bye bye spammer.

[keesvanderlaak]

no... not again... get lost spammer!!!

you are poluting a perfectly good thread

[sippin]

Amazing. I'm starting to make customs. How you do scales??? I use a net.