I recently bought all the equipment and materials to make soft plastics and jigs. Made my first batch of stingray grubs yesterday and caught my first fish on a homemade lure this morning!
(https://i.ibb.co/CpHjvztN/image.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/0R6nPhv2/image.png)
Very nice and obviously work well. After they get torn, I guess you melt them and cast a new one?
Quote from: MACflyer on May 13, 2026, 01:20:40 PMVery nice and obviously work well. After they get torn, I guess you melt them and cast a new one?
Yup, that's exactly what I'll do. I have a lot of old soft plastics laying around my garage so I've been melting them down to use for molds. I do a lot of night fishing so melting a bunch of lures and creating dark colors is perfect for me.
Congrats! Let's see some pics!
From what I understand they get darker each round. But the concept is cool. I've considered getting into it for a while.
Admittedly I could count all the fish I've caught in salt water on anything artificial on one hand. With fingers left over. As with many things, it's probably user error/lack of effort.
They come out dark if you mix colors. And don't melt any Powerbaits, throw them away. Trust me.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 13, 2026, 02:36:27 PMFrom what I understand they get darker each round. But the concept is cool. I've considered getting into it for a while.
Admittedly I could count all the fish I've caught in salt water on anything artificial on one hand. With fingers left over. As with many things, it's probably user error/lack of effort.
That's funny, it's the opposite for me. I've caught maybe 5 snook on live bait and dozens on artificial.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 13, 2026, 02:36:27 PMFrom what I understand they get darker each round. But the concept is cool. I've considered getting into it for a while.
It shouldn't get much darker on a a remelt unless you get it too hot. The vapors from overheated PVC is highly toxic, including dioxins and other nasty stuff. The difference in temp between hot enough to pour and hot enough to be very unhealthy is not that great.
If you are going to melt and pour soft plastics, it is worthwhile to do a some reading on the risks and make an educated choice. Some mitigations include pouring outdoors in a non enclosed area, learning how to properly used a respirator with the appropriate cartridges that get periodically replaced. I did both (together), but eventually decided that my health was more important than any benefit I got from designing and pouring soft plastics. YMMV.
-J
I'm mixing them with several different soft plastics that I used for bass fishing, which are mostly watermelon colored.
From what I understand, if you keep the temperature around/under 350 degrees, then you should be fine. I use a 700 watt microwave and heat the plastic in short bursts and wear a P100 respiratory mask, welding gloves, and a jacket while handling the plastic.
Quote from: Jighead on May 13, 2026, 07:31:36 PMI'm mixing them with several different soft plastics that I used for bass fishing, which are mostly watermelon colored.
From what I understand, if you keep the temperature around/under 350 degrees, then you should be fine. I use a 700 watt microwave and heat the plastic in short bursts and wear a P100 respiratory mask, welding gloves, and a jacket while handling the plastic.
It is good that you are looking to take some precautions.
As I am not qualified to give safety instructions, I don't want to get too specific here. You will need to do your own research. But here is some stuff to get you started:
A P100 designation of the respirator cartridge means two things: First, the P means that it is an oil resistant particulate filter. Next, the 100 means that it can filter out nearly 100% (99.9) of PARTICLES 0.3 microns or larger. Not too different from the N95 masks(N=not oil resistant,95 = 95% of particles .3 microns or larger filtered) we know from the COVID days. Only particles get filtered, Not vapors.
There are also a variety of cartridges designed to filter VOCs and other vapors that a particulate filter is not effective on. My understanding is that these cartridges generally use activated carbon, so you need to store them in a well sealed container or bag of some sort to prolong the lifespan, but you will still need to replace them on a schedule. You also need to match the cartridge type with the specific chemicals that you are going to be exposed to. I think that there are also hybrid particulate and VOC filters that will last a bit longer if there are a lot of particulates present.
Slapping on any old respirator ain't gonna cut it.
Here is the 3M guide: on selecting cartridges: https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/639110O/respirator-selection-guide.pdf (https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/639110O/respirator-selection-guide.pdf)
And since air will follow the path of least resistance, your respirator has to seal on your face correctly or the fumes won't go through the filter. This means a well shaved face, a proper size and fit on the respirator and performing a leak test while you are wearing it when you first fit the mask and and later at regular intervals.
A respirator with the wrong cartridge, the wrong fit, an incomplete seal, or an expired cartridge could get you into trouble by providing a sense of false security. I would be very surprised if a P100 is sufficient protection for melted PVC, so you might want to check this out.
And then there is dermal exposure. Dioxin and other chemicals can be absorbed through the skin. I don't know how great this risk is relative to breathing the stuff.
My apologies if you already know this, but for everyone else out there: once you start melting PVC in a microwave, it is not suitable for food. Also, a microwave does not heat the plastic evenly, so in order to achieve 350F after you stir it, some of the contents will have to be heated over 350. Some caution in the heating process helps but it is hard to not generate at least some overheated PVC.
Working outdoors, completely in the open, can help to cut down on the exposure. There are laboratory style fume hoods that can be used indoors with a vent to the outdoors, but you have to know what you are doing to set one up properly.
In the end, I decided that I was not comfortable enough with my capability to ensure my safety. But I recognize that other folk may come to different conclusions. There is a lot of stuff on pouring soft plastics out there without much emphasis on safety. So I wanted to put in my $0.02.
But I promise to stop raining on your parade after this if you want to share your pours.
-J
No problem, I appreciate the advice
Well... after reading this thread, I am no longer interested in remelting all of my old torn soft plastics. Bummer.
Looks like using a glue like Mend It may be the safer option. But it's kinda pricy.
That's too bad Nemo it's really a fun deal. I've poured hundreds of baits with no issue. Careful is as careful does.
Quote from: Catching Nemo on May 14, 2026, 06:29:11 AMWell... after reading this thread, I am no longer interested in remelting all of my old torn soft plastics. Bummer.
Looks like using a glue like Mend It may be the safer option. But it's kinda pricy.
There is a big difference in risk between heating up an old knife blade with a hot air gun or lighter to weld up a damaged soft bait (this works better than those glues) outdoors every now and then and nuking a couple gallons of plastisol a month in a closed garage without even a proper respirator.
Cigarettes are dioxin (among other poisons) generation devices that many of us stick in our mouths and inhale from. Automobile exhaust generate dioxins, and diesels spew out a bunch of nasty particulates. And so on.
It is close to impossible to avoid this stuff in the modern word. So like it or not, we are all just managing exposure levels.
We just need to be aware that messing with heating PVC is not on the safer side of hobby activities. You gotta respect this stuff. And feeling fine after doing some pours is not a complete measure of safety. A lot of this stuff bioaccumulates, so you can be feeling well until it is too late.
As the saying goes, it is the dose that makes the poison. A guy that occasionally makes some soft baits outdoors is working in an entirety different realm of risk than a guy trying to make a go of it as a small business cranking out hundreds of worms a day in his basement.
-J
Now maybe back to making soft plastics.
Nice looking pours. Are you making anything besides the grubs? I really got into oversized swimbaits for awhile and enjoyed the process.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/37/11927-230922042155.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/37/11927-230922043343.jpeg)
-J
Assuming an equivalent level of ventilation and protection: What's worse? (Over)heating soft plastics or melting and pouring your own lead?
OVERSIZED????
Dave!! They look like a BEAT'N STICK!!!!
Are you in Loreto now???
Wayne
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 14, 2026, 04:11:28 PMAssuming an equivalent level of ventilation and protection: What's worse? (Over)heating soft plastics or melting and pouring your own lead?
From what I've read, lead is. If lead gets over 800 degrees, it starts releasing fumes, which is no good of course.
Cooked up some grubs on my lunch break.
(https://i.ibb.co/MkRDxHZ3/image.png)
Both of these are a lot more opaque than I wanted. Too much chartreuse in the emerald grub and too much junebug in the purple grub. I used three different brands of colorants and the junebug is a lot more concentrated than the other two brands.
I'm also getting a bunch of air bubbles in each grub, not sure what's causing it. Going to look into it more after I get off work.
Edit: Not enough glitter in both baits, too. I'm taking notes on each recipe so I should be able to tweak them to get them how I want with the more baits I pour.
Quote from: jurelometer on May 14, 2026, 03:44:13 PMNow maybe back to making soft plastics.
Nice looking pours. Are you making anything besides the grubs? I really got into oversized swimbaits for awhile and enjoyed the process.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/37/11927-230922042155.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/37/11927-230922043343.jpeg)
-J
Nice swimbait, it's big as hell hah.
I bought a cheap open pour swimbait mold on Etsy that I've used but I don't like how they're coming out.
(https://i.ibb.co/CNxKs3C/image.png)
I also ordered a 7" fluke mold that should be arriving tomorrow. I eventually want to add to my mold collection but I'm starting with grubs and flukes. I'll also be pouring lead to make flair hawks soon.
So we need to get them to 350 to melt. Right? And obviously a water based double boiler won't do that on account of boiling temp being 212.
So what about a double boiler rigged up with a small fryer with some cheap oil? You can dial that in a lot tighter.
Because why not add more risk of burning ourselves... In the name of safety?
Why? Just nook em slow in real tempered measuring cups.
Yeah I microwave the plastic in bursts. It usually goes something like 1 minute, 1 minute, 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.I use an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature.
*I'm using a 700 watt microwave.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 14, 2026, 04:11:28 PMAssuming an equivalent level of ventilation and protection: What's worse? (Over)heating soft plastics or melting and pouring your own lead?
As a said before, I am not qualified to offer safety advice, so this is just something to get you started.
Different protection methods. Different risks. Is it worse for you to destroy your liver/get cancer (dioxin), or damage the brain development of your kid (lead)?
On protection: unlike melting plastisol (PVC), Lead fumes and dust need a particulate filter. Lead dust will aslso land on surfaces, get transferred to you hands, and then to your mouth. It is hard to clean up lead dust, so melting, filing or sanding lead indoors is also not a great idea, especially with kids in the house. and then you have to figure out how to safely clean your contaminated clothing. You also ingest some lead just by handing a sinker when out fishing and then eating your sandwich without washing your hands.
In terms of risk: The Mayo Clinic has a good overview on lead poisoning but GoDaddy doesn't trust their website at the moment so I can't post the link (I suspect that the problem is with GoDaddy as usual)
Kids are are big concern. From the Mayo Clinic:
"Children younger than age 6 are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can severely affect how a child's body grows and brain develops. At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal."
If you are fishing with kids, maybe look into using non-lead weights? I would also consider powder coating sinkers in cases where you need larger weight sizes than is practical with tungsten or whatever.
From the Mayo advice, it sounds like no exposure is good for adults, but it takes a significant exposure or long periods of lower exposure for the really bad stuff to start happening. We all grew up chewing on lead split shot and handling lead weights without hand washing. Not to mention stripping lead paint, etc. Not dead yet, but maybe not as bright as we could have been :)
We live in toxic world that we have created. It does not make sense to be paralyzed with fear, but the more we educate ourselves from reliable sources, the better tradeoffs we can make.
-J
Quote from: Jighead on May 14, 2026, 05:27:03 PMNice swimbait, it's big as hell hah.
I bought a cheap open pour swimbait mold on Etsy that I've used but I don't like how they're coming out.
Your grub pours look good!
The air bubbles are introduced whenever you mix or pour. Some folk use a vacuum chamber to degas the mixture, but I found it was sufficient to rest the plastisol after shaking it up, and then mixing and pouring more gently while it is hot. The bubbles will eventually rise out as long as the mixture is not too viscous. A bit of rest before the pour helps, but then you have to heat the plastic a little extra to compensate, which is risky. As long as you don't get a ton of bubbles, it won't affect the integrity, and the fish won't care. 100% bubble free is mostly for impressing other fishermen.
Most of the commercial swimbait molds make a chunky lure that is easy to pour, but I don't think they swim as well. What size are you interested in? I might have something small enough. It would be a silicone mold- one of my own swimbait designs that I am pretty happy with. I don't sell molds, but I do expect getting feedback on the pouring and fishing. PM me if interested.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 14, 2026, 05:31:22 PMSo we need to get them to 350 to melt. Right? And obviously a water based double boiler won't do that on account of boiling temp being 212.
So what about a double boiler rigged up with a small fryer with some cheap oil? You can dial that in a lot tighter.
Because why not add more risk of burning ourselves... In the name of safety?
Same problem- the plastisol won't heat evenly. In this case, it will be hotter closer to the sided and base.
I tried a bunch of techniques. A popular one is to put a spigot on the bottom of a specific model of a round home deep fryer, and build or buy a motorized paddle contraption that slowing moves the plastisol as it melts. If you attach this to a PID temperature controller ( a really useful device- I built one of these), you can regulate the temperature pretty accurately for the spot where the probe is. Blech. I used this melter twice. You need to be pouring a lot before it works well.
The best (least worst) for me was a pyrex measuring cup (with a tray on another rack underneath) in my powder coating toaster oven, managed by my PID controller. It was guaranteed that the plastic was not going to get hotter than the oven setting. All of it was too much of a PIA.
Quote from: Rancanfish on May 14, 2026, 05:38:46 PMWhy? Just nook em slow in real tempered measuring cups.
As noted before- the plastisol does not heat evenly in the microwave. nuke 30 seconds, mix, nuke, mix, and so on can help, but you are going to have to get some of the plastisol hotter than 350 so that when you mix it with the colder parts, you hit your target temp. And just about every guy that nukes his plastisol is going to screw up at least one time and turn their garage into a superfund site.
Not saying that a microwave is not doable, but it is far from ideal. It seems to be the most poplar method by far.
Quote from: El Pescador on May 14, 2026, 04:41:04 PMOVERSIZED????
Dave!! They look like a BEAT'N STICK!!!!
Are you in Loreto now???
Wayne
Nine inches of jurel catching magic.
I only took soft plastics to Loreto once. Too many triggerfish. They love the soft plastics. The moment you are not winding super fast, they will catch up to it and rip it to shreds.
Back home now. I am posting away on AT site so I can avoid tackling the weed jungle that built up in the yard.
-J
I'd eventually pour 3-4 inch swimbaits. You poured that swimbait? How do you get the top so clean? I thought it was injected.
(https://i.ibb.co/1tF1CzBV/image.png)
Quote from: Jighead on May 14, 2026, 06:56:35 PMI'd eventually pour 3-4 inch swimbaits. You poured that swimbait? How do you get the top so clean? I thought it was injected.
Once you do it for a while, you will dial in how much you need to overfill a given open pour mold, so that it is flush when it shrinks and cools. And only post photos for the ones that come out nice :) I have a whole bag of tails that only the lingcod are going to see.
Multicolor laminations are a pain. You have to heat up all the colors separately at the same time and pour quickly so that the bottom layer doesn't cool to much leading to delamination. Or you can toss the filled mold into your non-food oven and heat the whole thing up for awhile. This works best, but then you are taking 20 minutes or more to cast, heat and then cool a single pour. For people who are trying to make the best looking (to humans) baits, this can be worth it. Me? They get chewed up or fed to the rocks too fast for this.
I'll take a look at my molds, but I don't think I ever got down that small in size.
-J
I bought the dual injection kit from Do-It molds to eventually do multicolor laminations but it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort. Pearl, junebug, root beer/amber, pink, and chartreuse are the only colors I need. I may change my mind once I figure things out but multicolor does seem like a hassle.
The dual injectors don't work for the open pour paddletails. You gotta do it the old fashioned way. I never went the injector route with any of my designs. Vacuum actually sounds like a more interesting technique to me instead of messing with pressurized melted plastic.
I was never one of the guys that got into making the prettiest baits. The fish really don't care. Their visual acuity is not that high and most saltwater species have limited color vision. Nothing wrong with getting into the artistry of it, as long as you remember that you are doing it for the humans.
-J
Made more "mojarra ghost" colors:
(https://i.ibb.co/vxmG5fqp/image.png)
The top four are white and blue and the bottom five are white and chartreuse.
I used the white and chartreuse today at the beach and caught a 16ish" snook and a small jack. I'm going to fish the Indian River Lagoon tomorrow so I may make more junebug color grubs for the dark water.
(https://i.ibb.co/QjMhWrN4/image.png)
Only two viable from this batch but I got a nice swimbait out of it. I think the issue is that I'm not heating up the injector properly. I have about an inch of hardened plastisol in my injector at the end of every injection.
I went out wade fishing with a friend of mine this morning. Caught a snook on my mojarra ghost grub using my 704z.
(https://i.ibb.co/TMgY6Cy4/image.png)
I lost two others and had one chase the lure right up to me.
I use jig with Mister twister curly tail , paddle tail or slug-go style tail never use grub as you have . Early day fishing with plastic worm I save broke up worm mix all color together and pour to a mold made with chop stick press in clay and still catch bass , they eat these for reel as if you don't set hook quick you will hook them in the gut
Quote from: quang tran on May 17, 2026, 06:17:25 PMI use jig with Mister twister curly tail , paddle tail or slug-go style tail never use grub as you have . Early day fishing with plastic worm I save broke up worm mix all color together and pour to a mold made with chop stick press in clay and still catch bass , they eat these for reel as if you don't set hook quick you will hook them in the gut
Are you using the curly tails for sea trout and redfish? I've tried them for snook but haven't had luck with them. My go to has always been paddle tails but I want to branch out. I'll probably get a paddletail mold next, though.
I use curly tail for crappie ,small mouth and walleye , lately I caught few good size sea trout with slug-go tail and surprise they took quite big bait . Paddle tail always been popular for sea trout and red . Never caught any snook . they sell mold for plastic bait too expensive also need few more tool to inject to mold so I never try
(https://i.ibb.co/k2pbZxPR/image.png)
came out okay. more chartreuse, less blue, and a lot less glitter next time.
From an artistry perspective, those grubs look very nice. But don't be afraid to throw the rejects when none else is looking 8)
I think that there are two paths we can take in our choices in lure making. One path is fishing effectiveness, the other is artistry. There is some overlap, but the longer I keep doing it the more that I find that one tends to get in the way of the other At least for me.
Don't want to get us off topic again, but snook fit a evolutionary visual niche that favors general sensitivity over acuity and color vision, and giving up some ability to clearly see objects in relative motion.
In this stituation, light vs dark matters. Flash vs dull matters. General size and shape can matter a lot. The color of the water the fish hunts in is a good clue about where spectral sensitivity is strongest (which colors it can see best or even at all).
I used to read up up a bit on each species that I target, but now realize that the same general rules apply, and it is not too tricky to be mostly right by looking at the environment and target prey. You can do the same for the species that you target.
-J
I slammed a yellowtail with one of Dave's swimbaits (smaller, not like what he has) on a Long Range when we nipped into the coast by Natividad. Still have it; held up great. I need to use it this June even though I take too much gear... - john
Hey Dave, have you made any good snook baits? I know they're far away, but I also know that you've visited.
Yes, I'm throwing all of these. I mostly fish inlets for snook at night and use chartreuse and blue flair hawks. I want grubs and flukes in this color scheme as it's what I've caught the majority of my big snook on at night. Chartreuse/blue and junebug at night, natural colors during the day is usually what I do.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 21, 2026, 05:35:36 AMHey Dave, have you made any good snook baits? I know they're far away, but I also know that you've visited.
I can count the number of snook that I have caught with one hand. All in the Caribbean/ Central American Atlantic coast. All on flies, and nothing impressive. There are some very small populations of snook in Baja on both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez sides. I once saw a large one hanging out near an arroyo mouth, and caught a juvenile in a bait net, but I mostly want to leave them alone, and haven't tried to specifically target them.
I have more experience with barramundi in Australia. They look like a larger, fatter snook, and occupy the same niche with the same kind of behaviors. Again, almost exclusively on flies. What I have learned on the fly side, is they will engage when the fly is moving, but tend to bite on the pauses. This is especially true for the big ones when they are hanging out in the mangroves.
I also fished with a guide named Paul Dolan (real intersting guy), who had a very interesting fly pattern for laid up barramundi in impoundments. It had a planing action, but planed upward instead of downward. You toss the fly into cover, let it sink, and give it a good tug or two. The barramundi would bite as it planed and wiggled upward. I suspect this matches a now-or-never fleeing baitfish profile.
Something like the flair hawk has very little action and gets its bites mostly from being roughly the right size and shape, possibly having the right pressure waves for the snooks lateral line, and most of all, being able to fish tight to a snagged or weedy bottom. Rule #1 of lure selection: choose something that you can get in front of the fishes face. Size/profile comes next, and then action. At the very end of the train is color, but that is what fishermen tend to care about most.
So I suspect there are some interesting lure designs to try for snook, especially for specific local situations. In general, the world doesn't need more new fishing lures, so the most benefit for me comes from what I learn about how lures work and how fish behave. This stuff can usually be applied to using existing products.
Quote from: Jighead on May 21, 2026, 05:54:43 AMYes, I'm throwing all of these. I mostly fish inlets for snook at night and use chartreuse and blue flair hawks. I want grubs and flukes in this color scheme as it's what I've caught the majority of my big snook on at night. Chartreuse/blue and junebug at night, natural colors during the day is usually what I do.
Not picking on you, but whenever I bring the discussion to how unimportant color is, the discussion always veers back to what the favorite colors are.
The combination of lighwave frequency transmissibility in water, the amount and type of light available during feeding time, the amounts and types of snook cone (color specific, high acuity) cells, the extension of rod cells during prime feed in times, the natural selection towards sensitivity over acuity etc., means that cone cells and therefore color vision probably plays a very limited role in snook predatory behavior.
Sometimes a color works for a different reason than we think (junebug is probably perceived the same as black- strong contrast when looking upward - as purples are way out of the range of snook color perception), and sometimes it is just bias, where we favor a color scheme that here caught fish on in the past, but the actual sample size and controls are wholly inadequate for making a very strong conclusion. So if a color appears to work for you, it might be worth keeping this in mind.
Check out this thread:
https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,38610.msg455218.html#msg455218 (https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,38610.msg455218.html#msg455218)
When presented with a bunch of science that pretty much concludes that this group of species (tunas, wahoos, marlin) are effectively colorblind, the conversation keeps going back to what people's favorite colors are. I couldn't stop them.
There is a bunch more interesting stuff that I have learned about fish vision that is very useful and probably more relevant (acuity vs sensitivity, image enhancement, flicker fusion frequency). I am bursting at the seams to share it, but frankly don't have the patience to go through it all in a fishing forum because as a group, we are hostile to information that challenges what we have been telling each other and reading in the fishing rags for so long. Plus it is impossible to keep the discussion on track.
Hope this helps,
-J
Quote from: jurelometer on May 21, 2026, 05:31:51 PMQuote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 21, 2026, 05:35:36 AMHey Dave, have you made any good snook baits? I know they're far away, but I also know that you've visited.
I can count the number of snook that I have caught with one hand. All in the Caribbean/ Central American Atlantic coast. All on flies, and nothing impressive. There are some very small populations of snook in Baja on both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez sides. I once saw a large one hanging out near an arroyo mouth, and caught a juvenile in a bait net, but I mostly want to leave them alone, and haven't tried to specifically target them.
I have more experience with barramundi in Australia. They look like a larger, fatter snook, and occupy the same niche with the same kind of behaviors. Again, almost exclusively on flies. What I have learned on the fly side, is they will engage when the fly is moving, but tend to bite on the pauses. This is especially true for the big ones when they are hanging out in the mangroves.
I also fished with a guide named Paul Dolan (real intersting guy), who had a very interesting fly pattern for laid up barramundi in impoundments. It had a planing action, but planed upward instead of downward. You toss the fly into cover, let it sink, and give it a good tug or two. The barramundi would bite as it planed and wiggled upward. I suspect this matches a now-or-never fleeing baitfish profile.
Something like the flair hawk has very little action and gets its bites mostly from being roughly the right size and shape, possibly having the right pressure waves for the snooks lateral line, and most of all, being able to fish tight to a snagged or weedy bottom. Rule #1 of lure selection: choose something that you can get in front of the fishes face. Size/profile comes next, and then action. At the very end of the train is color, but that is what fishermen tend to care about most.
So I suspect there are some interesting lure designs to try for snook, especially for specific local situations. In general, the world doesn't need more new fishing lures, so the most benefit for me comes from what I learn about how lures work and how fish behave. This stuff can usually be applied to using existing products.
Quote from: Jighead on May 21, 2026, 05:54:43 AMYes, I'm throwing all of these. I mostly fish inlets for snook at night and use chartreuse and blue flair hawks. I want grubs and flukes in this color scheme as it's what I've caught the majority of my big snook on at night. Chartreuse/blue and junebug at night, natural colors during the day is usually what I do.
Not picking on you, but whenever I bring the discussion to how unimportant color is, the discussion always veers back to what the favorite colors are.
The combination of lighwave frequency transmissibility in water, the amount and type of light available during feeding time, the amounts and types of snook cone (color specific, high acuity) cells, the extension of rod cells during prime feed in times, the natural selection towards sensitivity over acuity etc., means that cone cells and therefore color vision probably plays a very limited role in snook predatory behavior.
Sometimes a color works for a different reason than we think (junebug is probably perceived the same as black- strong contrast when looking upward - as purples are way out of the range of snook color perception), and sometimes it is just bias, where we favor a color scheme that here caught fish on in the past, but the actual sample size and controls are wholly inadequate for making a very strong conclusion. So if a color appears to work for you, it might be worth keeping this in mind.
Check out this thread:
https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,38610.msg455218.html#msg455218 (https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,38610.msg455218.html#msg455218)
When presented with a bunch of science that pretty much concludes that this group of species (tunas, wahoos, marlin) are effectively colorblind, the conversation keeps going back to what people's favorite colors are. I couldn't stop them.
There is a bunch more interesting stuff that I have learned about fish vision that is very useful and probably more relevant (acuity vs sensitivity, image enhancement, flicker fusion frequency). I am bursting at the seams to share it, but frankly don't have the patience to go through it all in a fishing forum because as a group, we are hostile to information that challenges what we have been telling each other and reading in the fishing rags for so long. Plus it is impossible to keep the discussion on track.
Hope this helps,
-J
I don't mean this to be rude or hostile, I'm just not interested in the science behind it. A bottle of colorant is $5-6 and will last months. I've caught dozens of snook, many small, many overslot, and would prefer to spend an extra $5 on colors that have been catching them for 80-100 years, whether it be to increase the chance of them hitting the lure or for my own personal enjoyment.
Quote from: Jighead on May 21, 2026, 08:56:56 PMI don't mean this to be rude or hostile, I'm just not interested in the science behind it. A bottle of colorant is $5-6 and will last months. I've caught dozens of snook, many small, many overslot, and would prefer to spend an extra $5 on colors that have been catching them for 80-100 years, whether it be to increase the chance of them hitting the lure or for my own personal enjoyment.
Perfectly reasonable approach. Nobody gets to tell you how you should enjoy your fishing.
And as bit of a confession, I probably have over 30 different powder coating colors for my metal lures- so I also get the personal enjoyment part. But for me, I mostly enjoy the learning aspect of fishing and gear making. The extra success that comes from leveraging the science is just a bonus. But that is me.
Please keep posting your pours and trip reports!
-J
(https://i.ibb.co/mCWYX7HN/image.png)
my first batch of flukes. they have some dents but they'll get the job done for sure. going to make another batch using the leftover dark colors i have for night fishing.
(https://i.ibb.co/gFv3fkP7/image.png)
Nice. From what Benni tells me, purple with a white tail is the jam.
Dave makes some strong arguments, but nuance is king. Some aspects of color in lures probably matter, some aspects probably don't. Sometimes things that don't seem to matter end up mattering in ways we don't expect because we don't understand the bigger picture.
A few leaps forward in every discipline have happened as the result of people either disregarding empirical wisdom, or not knowing enough to realize something wasn't "worth spending time on" because influential people feel that way, and end up finding something important that's been hiding under all our noses.
Nothing is truly settled. Everything is fair game for experimentation. But some experiments will be more fruitful than others.
Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on May 22, 2026, 05:04:44 PMNice. From what Benni tells me, purple with a white tail is the jam.
Dave makes some strong arguments, but nuance is king. Some aspects of color in lures probably matter, some aspects probably don't. Sometimes things that don't seem to matter end up mattering in ways we don't expect because we don't understand the bigger picture.
A few leaps forward in every discipline have happened as the result of people either disregarding empirical wisdom, or not knowing enough to realize something wasn't "worth spending time on" because influential people feel that way, and end up finding something important that's been hiding under all our noses.
Nothing is truly settled. Everything is fair game for experimentation. But some experiments will be more fruitful than others.
I think for a lot of folk, there is also this shared cultural aspect, this common shared "knowledge". Being part of a community of of fishers that hold these common beliefs is part of the enjoyment. If I was a cultural anthropologist or social scientist, I would be using terms like "belief systems" and "social capital."
And it has the same ramifications. I have experienced it myself. Challenging the popular belief system requires expending social capital. You become more of an outlier. An the more insistent you are, the more capital you expend. It is sort of like living in a village and deciding that you don't believe in the dominant religion. Kinda weird that it extends to something as trivial as recreational fishing, but that is how we humans are wired.
The same thing happens with cooking. But unlike fishing, there are not too many variables to allow you to do accurate controlled experiments. When the scientific method is applied, it turns out that many accepted "best practices" in cooking are unimportant or even counterproductive. The village elders get angry, and the locals sharpen up the pitchforks. One example:
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-nobel-physicist-explained-how-to-cook-pasta-and-now-everybodys-angry (https://www.sciencealert.com/a-nobel-physicist-explained-how-to-cook-pasta-and-now-everybodys-angry)
Jighead has been pretty tolerant in this regard, so definitely not picking on him. I am also learning from his comments on what colors are favored at what times for his fishery, which I appreciate. Multiple perspectives is always good.
Getting back to your points about aspects of color mattering, I mostly agree. I think that color always matters, just not in the way that we think.
If the photoreceptors in a target species do not respond to anything in the violet or yellow frequency ranges, or if the target species is in water type/depth where these frequencies do not penetrate, both will be -perceived as the same: black (the absence of light). Which means that junebug, banana yellow and midnight black will all be perceived the same, and will be useful when you want a strong profile for an illuminated background (at night-looking up).
If you pour up the same grub in chartreuse, all of a sudden certain inshore species- like striped bass (probably snook too) can use their cone cells to sharpen up the image profile in high light/low water clarity situations where there is significant diffusion. This color can be an advantage.
I suspect that translucents and clears tend to work in clear water because this is a reasonable imitation of the camouflage techniques that prey utilize. There is a probably a high urgency strike alert in the fish's brain, as this sort of signal means a short window of opportunity. And so on.
What does make this a bit tricky, is that pigments typically reflect more than one range of frequencies, and human perception does the rest. We see a hot pink lure. A tuna will pick up the blue waves, but not the red ones, since tuna have no red reception. It will essentially "see" a darker blue. A blue lure of the appropriate frequency and intensity will appear identical to the tuna.
When you think about it for a bit, it can help to make some interesting color combinations to try. Some may be popular, some not. Black is an absolute killer for tuna, even in bright light, but fishermen don't like to buy black lures or flies for tuna.
If I was throwing plastics to snook at night under dock lights in less than clear water, I would put a translucent chartreuse/black combo high on my try list (for the reasons mentioned above). Fish that puppy right at the edge of the light. Don't know if this is a popular method/color combo or not- but the science says it is worth a shot.
-J
These are nice ,I catch some nice trout last 2 weeks with similar bait in white color
my new chartreuse green
(https://i.ibb.co/VhBT0Ys/image.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/F4pWXWpY/image.png)
34" snook off of my 7" jerkbait
(https://i.ibb.co/Xxhh1pHv/image.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/VRb1r1M/image.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/Qv8yN1J3/image.png)
Doesn't matter if I'm bass fishing clear mountain lake, striper fishing my own somewhat green / stained water or fishing the sounds for trout and reds, I have a pearl / metal flake fluke on one of my rods. Works well under popping cork too.
I agree, I would say it's one of the greatest lures of all time. Bass, trout, reds, snook, they all hit it.
picked up a new swimbait mold and fished it for the first time last night. 30-32" snook hit it on my second cast.
(https://i.ibb.co/yFFDX1cF/image.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/v7PCW5j/image.png)
i plan on finalizing my base colors and ordering all the supplies i need over the next 1-2 months, then i'll start selling lures.