When we start out with this plastic cooking and injection one of the first hurdles to overcome is getting colors consistent and all of us who've been down the road a while say to create a cookbook as one gets further and further into the processes. Cookbooks are good. But at some point, and this is almost assured, we all want to create colors that are unique to us and our purposes. The cookbook is a great place to start but sometimes out wishes won't begin with a color recipe, but rather in our minds. The primary color of plastic used in all of these baits is one such color.
The whole color thing started with me having picked up a jar of Gun Metal glitter. Its a .015 product that isn't silver, yet it is and it's not black, but it is. How the glitter is viewed how the color will be seen. The picture proves that because there is no black and there is no silver in the plastic but both can be seen in there. There is an equal amount of .015 Canada Blue in with the Gun Metal.
I wanted a smoke plastic that stayed absolutely transparent yet had both the blue and the smoke color qualities. Using a drop of either X2 color was too strong in a 4 ounce batch so I started over using just a small piece each of black and midnight blue scrap along with uv and blue hi lite. The black brought the smoke to light while the blue has added a nice tint to the smoke. I created the plastic color before I added the glitters and the plastic without glitter is a super smooth blue-gray smoke.
The Thump-Its in the three tail colors shot with this smoke have been absolute murder on crappies thru September and the days I have fished this month. I don't think I have put a purple anything on a jig all of October. The Ring-Its have been a hit with a couple walleye fishing buddies and while colder water temps generally dictate the walleye bit on plastic up here they have done well with the color shown in spite of the 56 degree water. As a rule, water temps need to dip below the 50 degree mark to get any serious attention paid to plastics while walleye jigging.
The gunmetal glitter is a super addition to any glitter assortment. This blue-gray smoke is proving itself as a viable color. But its the plastic being made using small pieces of scrap color instead of full drops of colorant that can help tame down colors when certain needs are present and the liquid colors are giving you fits. Try this when you get stumped.
