There has been a lot of buzz about foiled baits lately, and there are several ways of doing it. This is something I learned how to do years ago painting motorcycles.

The technique is thousands of years old and has not really changed all that much.

I will be leafing a Triple Trout that I stripped down added some gill detail, and enlarged the eyes.

Note: you will want to find the ugliest peice of fleece possible for a work suface.

You dont need much to do it - here is a list

• Size (a glue that is used to apply the leaf)

• an aplication brush (any brush that won't lose hairs)

• a SHARP exacto knife

• a piece of velvet or fleece

• a big plush brush

 

all of these materials can be fouind at just about any good craft store.

Start by brushing the size on to the area to be leafed. This will need to sit for roughly 10 minutes to tack up so the leaf will stick.

Once the size is tacky, very carefully lay the leaf down, and gently brush it into place, starting at the center and working out to the ends with the big brush.

Let the leaf set for a few minutes then go back and burnish (gently rub) it down with the soft cloth. This sets it in place permanently. Next, hit the edges with the big brush and kick off anything left beyond the size.

I recomend doing jointed baits one section at a time to avoid unwanted contact  between setions of the very fragile leaf.

Let the bait sit over night and then you're ready to paint. I did just a basic shad or hitch patern here for Clear Lake.

Make sure and use a good heavy clear coat to protect the fragile leaf. Once it is set up it is amazingly tough.

 

More Lure Making & How-To posts on The Wired Angler:

How to Make Your Own Big Topwater Plug Bass Lure

Painting a Wooden Plug or Crankbait

Hobbytown for the Bass Fisherman

10 Ways to Rig a Basstrix Style Swimbait

Modifying an Osprey Swimbait to be Weedless