customized monster striper lure

[Salty]

One of our members lives up in Rhode Island and is an avid striper fisherman. Here is a blank he sent me to finish in a pogy pattern. The lure is over 7" long and has to weigh at least 6-7 oz. You can only imagine what size stripers he targets.

[Salty]

Gettin' ready to put the scales on.

[Salty]

Finished product. Biggest friggin' trebles I ever seen.

[DUCKGOGETTER]

Looking good

[SaltyShaw]

Dude you got a nack for this stuff, everything you paint looks phenomenal budd

[mikedatiger]

Stan, just curious, but on average how long does each paint job take you? (including dry time??)

["W"]

Were do u catch stripwr

[Salty]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Micah, if I paint a standard pattern on a crank (back/sides/belly), it doesn't take very long if I know what I'm doing in advance....alot of times I don't. The time involved is with the clear coating. I usually finish with 5-6 coats and each one has to tack before applying another.

The foiling and epoxy process is very time-consuming. The epoxy takes 24 hours to cure. This particular bait is not the norm because I had to revamp everything because of the size. I had to do a little "afro engineering" to get my drying wheel to even turn it.

[Salty]

Originally Posted by "W"

Were do u catch stripwr

Weirs?

I have no clue.

[MattW]

Looks great as usual, Salty. Can't wait to throw it at the monsters in the surf breaks. They are getting bigger now that it has warmed up a little bit. The average has moved up to 20-25 lbs. Two weeks ago, they were running 12-15lbs. They are tearing the pogies up. I snagged a couple dozen 12-14 inch pogies last week for bait. Talk about a good time, I had more fun trying to reel in a sideways pogie than catching stripers. All those clear coats should hold up to the 10-15lb bluefish that show up and kill baits. Thanks for the great work.

[Salty]

Matt, how does the fight of a 20 lb. striper compare to a redfish the same size?

Post up some pics of your catch. Ain't never seen one that big.

[MattW]

The smaller ones (28-36") fight harder than a red. They like to make a lot of rolls and turns, not just the straight pull like a red. The larger, 20lb fish pull about the same as a red, but the larger they get the less they pull. As they reach 20 plus lbs, they go deep (50+ feet of water), so as you begin to reel them up, they roll on their side and it is like pulling up a log. Here is a picture of an 11lb fish I caught 2 weeks ago. Didn't get to fish last week because I was in Baton Rouge for my wife's law school graduation. I'm going to hit it hard this weekend if the weather holds. The Hewes doesn't cut it in the Atlantic too well. I'm looking for a big one this week. I lost a decent one from shore last night on a 5 " Sebile Bonga Jerk.

[Salty]

Pretty fish. I'm also sending the Magnum jointed Bomber that I did for ya awhile back.

Good Luck.

[MattW]

Thanks. I am looking forward to using them. Hopefully, I'll catch one like this. 78lbs.

[huntin fool]

Waltrip.. We catch both hybrid stripers and actual stripers. Hybrids are in calcasieu river.. Actual stripers are at saltwater barrier

[Salty]

Originally Posted by huntin fool

Waltrip.. We catch both hybrid stripers and actual stripers. Hybrids are in calcasieu river.. Actual stripers are at saltwater barrier

[huntin fool]

That's a hybrid stanny

[Salty]

You expect me to know the difference?

[FF_T_Warren]

the most important question, do they taste good?

[MattW]

They taste great. The water is super salty up here, so the meat has a sweetness to it. You have to cut out the red meat, but size does't change the flavor like in large reds or trout. Nothing beats a Tautog as far as eating, but striper is pretty good.