Carolina Outdoors: Tell our readers alittle about yourself and how Custom Lures Unlimited came to be.
CLU: Well, I guess it all started really when I was a kid. I began customizing lures and outdoor products as a teenager, while working in my dad's archery and bowhunting supply store. My brother and I were responsible for custom fletching, nocking and crescent painting on arrows for hunters and target shooters. While in college I started tying fresh and saltwater flies while living on the NC coast. My fishing interests naturally spilled over to bass tackle and I began carving wooden topwater plugs and hand pouring soft plastics for myself, family and friends.
Carolina Outdoors: When did you start focusing on the fishing side of design and custom painted lures?
CLU: As for designing or drawing lures, I have always been attracted to a piece of paper and pen. I recall drawing notepads full of squirrels, deer, birds and fish as a young kid. But the rave back then for myself was fly-tying after several trips to Colorado. When I graduated college, my focus turned to fishing and crafting bass and panfish lures. Between hunting, fishing and making lures, it was all I did for a good decade. From hand pouring soft plastics to carving wooden plugs to tying flies.
Carolina Outdoors: Other than your background in the family archery business, what other experience did you have prior?
CLU: I'm a 1993 psychology graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Having experienced coursework in graphics, photography and art classes at both the high school and college levels, I can draw from that knowledge and experience with each lure and also with new concepts and development. But I am also a tournament fisherman, and I think this helps greatly to understand how fish react to certain colors and designs. Its also is a great way to test new ideas.
Carolina Outdoors: I guess it is real satisfying to design a lure or new color scheme and then go catch fish on it.
CLU: Its great fun and very rewarding. I recall the 1st lure I ever attempted to make back in cub scout days, it was a spoon, literally, (laughing) wrapped in aluminum foil and I attached a hook. Of course it never caught as much as a cold that I can recall, but it was cool when you're a boy about 10 yrs old."
Carolina Outdoors: Is your service geared more toward the tournament angler or is it for all fisherman, both recreational and novice?
CLU: As a tournament fisherman myself, I saw a need for custom lure design and painting. But I also think my service is for the recreational angler too. So far its been an equal mix of weekend anglers and serious anglers that fish for a living. In general, I would say the service is for any angler that wants an edge on a given body of water that receives any substantial fishing pressure. What I recommend to anyone that inquires is if you have a specific lure pattern that you have confidence in on a given lake or river, allow us to replicate it to another or different type of lure, say from a crank to a spinnerbait, chances are its going to catch fish as well.
Carolina Outdoors: I've had the pleasure of using some of your work, and I've seen first hand what a custom paint job can do for highly pressured lakes, such as Harris. Do you think it makes a difference?
CLU: Oh, you bet. Most production baits come in the same color patterns and tones, and I think fish become accustomed to them. I also think that certain colors work better in certain situations more than a factory packaged color lure will. CLU offers unlimited design consultation with an angler. We repaint any type of hard lure to its original or new design pattern. We offer complete lure restoration for severely damaged or antique lures. We also offer what I believe is the best clearcoat protective finish available. Any hard lure or bait can be customized to an angler's choice of designs. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, topwaters, spoons, rattle-trap type baits, jigs, and even lead can be airbrushed and clearcoated.
Carolina Outdoors: I know at the level of competition I am at, confidence is the name of the game. You did some custom painted crankbaits for me, and I felt that I could catch more fish, even behind someone. But I also thought the fact I was using a bait that not just everyone had gave me an edge. Do you think the same can be applied to the recreational angler?
CLU: Yes. Its all about catching more fish. Plus I think theres no more pleasure for them to have a certain color or pattern in mind, have us paint it for them, and go out and catch fish on it.
Carolina Outdoors: I seen the time and effort required to perform your service, its very time consuming isn't it.
CLU: Man, its really very labor intense. Take a crankbait for instance. The process depends on whether the lure is wood or plastic. Wood is more extensive, especially if the lure has damage. First, all hooks and split rings must come off. The lures surface is lightly sanded, holes or damage must be filled with filler material to remove blemishes on the lures surface. Once the filler has cured, the lure is sanded to retain its original shape. I then seal the lure with a clear penetrating sealer, let that air dry, and then lightly sand the lure once more, making it as smooth as possible. After masking off the lures diving lip, the lure is ready to be primed, base coated two times, and then the pattern details are airbrushed on. The lure then receives it eyes or any extras like fish scales or fleck. The lure is then clearcoated by hand and spin dried by motor for 6-8 hours per lure in order to to gain uniformity and smoothness. The lure is then hanged up to 16 hours. At that point the finish is cured and the new lure can be fished. Most think that all you have to do is add a new paint coat, just not true.
