Countershaded lures

[Norm M]

I was going through my tackle earlier and discovered I was down to the last 5 of my countershaded crankbaits. They were designed by Tom Seward for a company he was involved with called Crankbait Corporation some years ago. I haven't seen a company that offers lures painted in such a fashion,maybe the old tackle guru Ken Darga knows of some. Shoot, maybe we have someone who is handy at repainting crankbaits and could redo some for me.

 

For those of you who don't know what countershading entails basically it's dark on the bottom and light on the top the opposite of how nature designs fish. The lighter back on the lure provides a contrast to the darker bottom of the river while the darker bottom of the lure provides contrast against the light water above it. The fish are naturally colored to blend in with thier background while this paint scheme allows the lure to stand out. I generally only break them out anymore on my home flow when the water gets clearer than usual as that's when I feel the contrast is most visible and effective. I used to use them more often but seeing as how the supply has dwindled I'm saving them for the best of times.

 

Now for my idea, we have a multitude of flytiers and Jonn designing swim jigs, both types of lures that would benefit from this type of color scheme. How about tieing up a fly or a swimjig that is dark on the bottom, light on the top with some flashy material midsection in the old hippy tie dye colors like orange, purple, green,yellow,etc. You could call it the Counter Culture. If it became a commercial success giving part of the proceeds to the ISA Conservation fund would be cool.

[Guest rich mc]

reverse coloring works withcrappie and tube jigs. a blue over white does great during the day but toward evening reverseing it helps them see it.

i will have to try it withsome clouser minnow fly patterns. rich

[kend]

Tom Seward, the last I've heard tell, is a lure designer for Worden's Lures.

 

Some avid bass anglers were modifying their favorite lures---

painting various patterns, with a lighter colored top-side and a darker colored underside.

 

The one that I found most productive, was a whitish or pearl top-side and an "orange" underside.

It worked well for lmb, smb, pike, and salmon.

 

There are a couple of pearl over orange patterns on todays market.

Bomber Lures and Bill Norman Lures, are a couple OEMs, that I recall at this time.

 

Rapala now has a "glass-like" minnow immitators.

They feature a light or whitish top side with orange underside.

 

Some anglers use color adhesive backed tape material,

on crankbaits, minnow immitator baits and spoons.

 

There are fish scale patterns and several shades available---

in greens, whites, blues---that are really slick.

 

The reflective characteristics are very realistic looking.

 

Spoons with the reflective tapes are very common with Great Lakes anglers,

targeting salmon and trout.

 

Some avid walleye anglers, rig a minnow or shiner, on a jig----belly "up".

Others rig the minnow or shiner, sideways.

 

I've experimented with the, as mentioned above, on many ocassions, and had successful results.

[kend]

I have often used spider jigs, dressed with a pork trailer, with the "light colored" underside "up".

 

White jigs and trailers, are very productive.

When fishing these lures, I generally swim them with a steady retrieve---

akin to fishing a spinnerbait.

 

It resembles a fleeing baitfish.

 

[Norm M]

Ken ,

 

Are those rapalas the new xrap shad raps? I do have some bone/orange cranks left but they just have a little orange on the bottom.

 

The upside down minnow trick is a good one, used to combine it with a Bill Binkleman floating jig and have the minnow struggling against the jig to right itself. When i rig a minnow sideways, I generally tail hook it to give it just a little different slant as well.

 

The upside down pork was the way I always rigged it, just thought it looked better that way.

 

The trialive color pattern that Mr Twister had on the Sassy Grub lends it self to this application as well.

 

I think I still may have some reflective tape left from the old days, may have to check out what's availible today.

 

I really liked the articles Tom Seward wrote for Fishing Facts and the graphics were top notch as well. I cut them out and have a nice fat folder full of them. Worden's is the last place I heard he was at as well.

 

I like a white twister on a white spinnerbait in lieu of the skirt for that fleeing baitfish look as well as on a jig.

[Norm M]

reverse coloring works withcrappie and tube jigs. a blue over white does great during the day but toward evening reverseing it helps them see it.

i will have to try it withsome clouser minnow fly patterns. rich

 

 

Rich ,

 

Do you think it would work on a wooly bugger too?

[kend]

"Spike-It" dye for plastics, is very handy.

Various colors are available, in liquid form in a bottle, and the pencil stick form.

 

I store various color dyes in a tupperware container, along with some Q-Tips.

 

EX

White tube with a red head and ''black" eyes.

 

Chart or orange underside on a white tube.

 

Pumpkin tube with chart tipped ends---(crawfish claws have lighter tipped ends).

 

White tube with chart striped sides, and black eyes---(emerald shiner)

 

White tube with green and brown---(mottled crawfish colors).

 

White tube with blue---(shad fall pattern).

 

Pumpkin tube, with chart dyed underside.

 

White tubes are very universal, to make several different colored objects.

 

Also, very handy are white worms, grubs, Senkos, and white skirted jigs.

 

Let your imagination run.

 

I keep a tackle box stocked with several sizes of white tubes---

1/2", 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5", 3", and 3.5",

for a variety of fish species.

 

Works for me.

[Norm M]

Ken,

 

I've heard lots of different guys talk about coloring thier soft plastics with the dyes and pens, would they stick to crankbaits?

[Guest rich mc]

wolly buggers wont work as the tophackle feather is wrapped around the body serving as top , sides and bottom. clousers have separate material for the bottom andtop. unless it was all white and colored with markers . rich

[kend]

Ken,

 

I've heard lots of different guys talk about coloring thier soft plastics with the dyes and pens, would they stick to crankbaits?

 

The "Spike-It", I've mentioned above, is for plastics.

It's a very thin viscous material, so as to penetrate into plastics materials, such as worms, or the like.

 

Applying it to a hard bait, will only give you light shades, which will be acceptable in most cases.

 

A separate dye material is available--- "Spoons" only---it adheres well to metal.

Using it on hard baits will affect the finish, and may render it useless.

The chemical reaction will affect most painted finishes.

 

Some dye colors, that you apply, will add shades of colors to hardbaits, which can be a plus.

Ex: chart on white---tones down the reflective qualities in white or pearl.

I've found this to be advantages, when using in to mimic certain shiners.

 

Permanent markers pens, available in a wide variety of colors, are available.

These products, have an odor, when first applied, but wares off after some time.

I use these, only on ocassions, but I always apply a scent to the lures, to mask the offended odors.

The odors will cause the fish to reject the lures.

 

Works for me.