To use or not to use: Nail Polish to touch up lures and hooks?

[felts_jf]

I've read in several diffrent places that you can use nail polish to touch up jig heads or to make silver hooks a color or even spinner bait blades a difrent color. My argument is I know when my old lady paints her nais you can smell that stuff through out the whole house, cant the fish smell this stuff when it's on the lure? Never tried it before but if someone has and it doesnt make a diffrence please let me know. If not what do you use, I am sure there is special paints you can buy through Bass Pro Shop or Cabelas but I was looking for a cheaper home fix for these.

Jason

[gpc]

We always used to do this when I was younger, especially for sockeye on lake WA. The hook color would change from day to day and my father would only use Gamakatsu, but w/o enough funds to buy a couple packs of both he would raid my mothers nail polish drawer. He would take red, black and blue ( not like she ever even used black and blue) and we would paint the hooks right in the boat after we found out which color worked. But in the last couple of years I have been paying a lot of attention to scent and pheromones. And I really cant explain how that worked, the stuff just reeks. I probably wouldn't do it anymore, but if all else fails in the boat it wouldnt hurt to have a couple of jars of different colors to experiment with. IF its a sunny day it will dry in a half hour, overload the lure w/ smelly jelly and it might work. Better than getting skunked

[EastsideRedneck]

I done this with jigheads, weights, and hooks before. I haven't noticed any appreciable difference over store-painted ones. I usually paint mine the night before to allow more than ample time for the drying... and it gives my wife more ammo to make fun of me with. I like to paint my hooks red on topwaters and shallow lures to give the appearance of a blood trail.

[tnj8222]

yes it works great! many realiable sources have told me this is a go. just do it the night before.

i know a guy that fishes at silverlake resort every morning named John. he makes his own buzzbaits and touches them up with fingernail polish. i actually talked to him about this about 2 weeks ago. he said he uses it to touch up any hardbait that needs it and its cheap. alot cheaper than jig paint you buy at joes.

[Bigbass Dez]

I would suggest using a Shapie marker instead of nail polish ...however i have used clear nail polish when i want to put some glitter on one of my baits .. Im thinking that on faster moving baits the scent from polish isn't too much of a difference ... BBD

[mallard83]

My brother and I use various colors of nail polish on our Buzz Bombs for Silvers and Humpies on the Snohomish River and they seem to more often than not out perform the "out of the box" Buzz Bombs.

[felts_jf]

Thanks for the info guys. I have always wondered about stuff like that, like instead of using a lighter to burn your line into use scissors or nail clippers. Just things to think about.

Jason

[fisherhall]

I've also used it for Buzz-Bombs. If your worried about the smell put some smelly jelly on it.

[Anonymous]

Use it.

I have used nail polish on hooks, weights, blades and lures and haven't felt that my catch ratio has gone down because of it. Once it's completely dry it doesn't smell strong. I guess the only way to find out is to do it. Just don't use your ladies favorite color. You can also use a clear coat to seal the paint so that is won't chip that quickly.
If you can afford it, they make some killer lure paints. Epoxy powder, lacquer and vinyl. Then you can play around with glitter, glow in the dark and shiny colors. Just and idea.

Here are a couple of sites to check out:
http://www.barlowstackle.com/fishing-lure-eyes.html
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/fishing-lure-paint/
http://www.herbiesmagicdust.com/cart/in ... ex&cPath=1

fishnislife

[Bodofish]

They carry it at Outdoor Emporium too. the powder coating is cool.

[tnj8222]

Use it.

I have used nail polish on hooks, weights, blades and lures and haven't felt that my catch ratio has gone down because of it. Once it's completely dry it doesn't smell strong. I guess the only way to find out is to do it. Just don't use your ladies favorite color. You can also use a clear coat to seal the paint so that is won't chip that quickly.
If you can afford it, they make some killer lure paints. Epoxy powder, lacquer and vinyl. Then you can play around with glitter, glow in the dark and shiny colors. Just and idea.

Here are a couple of sites to check out:
http://www.barlowstackle.com/fishing-lure-eyes.html
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/fishing-lure-paint/
http://www.herbiesmagicdust.com/cart/in ... ex&cPath=1

fishnislife

not to many people know about barlows. that is a great place i highly recomend it.

[henery77]

Hello,

Yes you can if nail polish touch up scratches of vehicle than it is easily work on hooks and other thing & by the help of nail polish we can create own desgin hooks.so don't worry and use it.

[AJ's Dad]

Wow, here's a thread resurrected from the dead.

[hewesfisher]

Wow, here's a thread resurrected from the dead.

Yep, 11 years dead.

[The Quadfather]

And the funny thing is, I have fished with most of the guys on the 11 y/o thread, and I’m STILL here.

[grubowski]

I just make all my own jigs and paint them with powder paint. They look nicer and it holds up much better than vinyl paint.

[spokey9]

I pour my own jigheads and paint them with nail polish all the time. I use it to touch up buzzbomb and darts or give them a little bit different look. It's quick, easy, and cheap that's why I use it. Besides some of the places I'll toss a jig, it'll be long lost before the nail polish chips off

And in all honesty, as long as it's dry enough not to bleed off in the water you're good. As kid we'd rattle can buzzbombs pink on the beach and toss them out as soon as they dry to the touch. They smelled way worst then nail polish and we caught plenty of pinks like that in the pre- millions size pink run days.