Using the painting format that was used on these green babies, pearl base/chartreuse belly/orange throat patch/back color, I did the orange, pink and black backs in the same way.
The purple back/orange belly /gold pearl side is a favorite color pattern and has been shown here before. The blue back has the same chartreuse and orange on the underside but there is a thin coat of transparent black applied before and under the transparent blue back color.
Many of you know that I like to tweek oranges and pinks in plastic colors by adding some contrasting hi lite. I've done that in these baits too using the blue hi lite I favor in the clear coat over both the Hot Pink pearl paint and the Purple AND gold hi lite in the clear coat that went over both the Fluorescent Orange and the Black backed baits. Since the paint on the back of the blue bait was transparent I added blue hi lite directly to the paint. Using a good artificial light source this morning I was able to capture the effects that the hi lite powders add to the clear coats pretty well in the picture. That black is just like a clam shell showing just black at one angle but a fraction of an inch of movement shows that gold lighting up across the entire back. The gold over the orange is doing the same thing. The blue over the Hot Pink is just plain intense when that bait is moved thru light ad makes the pink absolutely hyper. When I applied that transparent black under coat for the blue I adjusted the airbrush to allow a slightly heavier splattering of the paint to mottle the sides over the pearl.
Of all the micro baits I have worked with thus far, I think the embossed detail and recessed eye pockets of this particular bait makes it the best yet. The body length is well within crappie size but large enough that bass and even walleye should pop it. The paint over the embossing has a million ways to reflect light and with the hi lited top coats the finishes almost wiggle when turned in the light. The way the hi lites lay in the embossing is just uncanny. We're in dense fog this morning so no sun and I'm itching to get these in sunlight. The eye pockets of these baits allow the Do-It eyes to fit "just" inside. I used the blunt end of a hobby paint brush to finish setting the eyes in the pockets. I was able to toss the green one the other day at the lake and the action and tracking was great and un-weighted dove to around four/five feet depending on retrieve speed....it didn't take much speed to get to four feet on 4 pound mono.
Some may ask why I go after so little detail like gill flap colors or bars across the side and my answer will be simple. For crappies I feel color is the key. I work thru colors before I do anything with profile or action and the added work with detail or pattern painting only makes a bait attractive to the fisherman. Crappies chasing a crankbait have little interest in details, they're chasing the color because it stands out to them.
I've re-ordered a couple really small baits bodies and I'll most certainly re-order this one....I'm thinking maybe fifty bodies. lol I am liking this bait and I am liking the colors on the baits.
