Shell Veneer

[Bucho]

There is a long tradition in making shell trolling spoons for brown trout and char in alpine montain lakes, but since they are very expensive and follow the natural structure of the shell, each one is an indiuvidual with its own speed and hard to fish in a larger spread which makes them not very popular among baltic trolling anglers. The effect of the light being reflected by real shell however is legendary among trout anglers over here. I was very excited when I heard about shell veneer that is so thin it can be used as an adhesive foil. My first order arrived today, I couldn´t wait to dress some casting spoons with it and have them get bitten. :reeling:








I yet have to come up with an economic way to seal them with epoxy - suggestions welcome - but I´m sure they sell like hot cake even in the double-digit range. Shell is subject to a lot of trade restrictions, the material shown is from Korea, for U.S. residents I recommend Thin Lam from Aqua Blue Maui. Foreign customers are being charged some 90 bucks for an export form but for inland customers they offer good value.

 

[Fatman]

Very Nice

 

[slammingjack]

I likes them.

 

[bucktail]

Unique bait,good work

 

[AtticaFish]

Those are amazing. The similarity of the reflection of the spoon in the mouth compared to the trout has to tell you something. Those must flash like perfect little baitfish! What kind of trouble are you having sealing them with the epoxy? I would think a good adhesive on the back side would only require a quick brush of epoxy and then on a spinning dryer.

That orange one makes me drool. Having that crazy flash along with a fluorescent accent color just makes perfect sense. Some light weight models might drive the walleye/zander crazy.

 

[Pup]

Those finishes remind me of abalone/'mother of pearl' spoons from yesteryear.

 

[Bucho]

That orange one makes me drool.  Having that crazy flash along with a fluorescent accent color just makes perfect sense.

Exactly, other than trolling mointain lakes, surfcasting the baltic sea usually involves stained water and low light situations which is why I find it important to combine the shell with fluorescent colors. I´ve done some more dressing which I would like to explain some of the material`s features. The veneer comes in different variants:

1. raw/coated - I only bought coated. Already shiny and easier to cut.
2. flexible - this means it is pre-crushed in tiny grids so you can dress round body shapes with easy. The grid is visible though if you take a very close look.
3. "enhanced" means it comes with a black back - like a mirrow. This gives it more depth regardless the underground. Example:

1. Not-enhanced white paua over gold - the venneer has transparend fields that don´t cover enough and look cheap.
2. Not-enhanced blue paua over tin: freaking unreal .
3. Not-enhanced white paua over black - for reasons that are beyond me it looks thin though the background is black.
4. Not-enhanced white paua: worst example of poor coverage
5. Enhanced dragon paua: perfect coverage





White Paua


Same lure, backside enhanced dragon paua


Blue Paua


Blue paua - I took the foil off the clear apex spoon and used it as a die. The lure is lying on its back, what you see is the backside of the un-enhanced paua shining through the clear lure body. The enhanced version would look black in this perspective. So for molding into jerbaits or so, you can get two sides out of one sheet. No Problems wrapping the flexible venner around the shad bait lure. I filed off the pectorial fin to get it out of the way though. 




If you want to combine fluo and veneer, make sure you have a lure big enough or use enhanced veneer. If you happen to get too much of a painted lure covered by a transparent bit it may end up looking cheap or even spoiled. Also, the veneer and its seal adds up quite a bit so if you start off with 2 or three layers of pp already, you might end yourself up with a pencil shape.... :dodgy:





Although I haven´t tried it, I guess enhanced flexible white paua is the one I´d go for if I had to pick only one variant. It looks shiny white yet structured with pinks and greens and blues, exactly what shell is supposed to look regardless of the ground color. Second choice would be blue paua. Tiger Paua I find a bit, well, simply dark. There is plenty more stuff to pick from though. I´d love some of the amber tones but the korean guy (morningcalm.info) doesn´t have them.

 

[duffy]

Stuff looks awesome! I think that is what companies were trying to copy when they started putting prizim paper on lures. Still no replacement for natures colors.

 

[Bucho]

Finally started serial producktion. Used a steel temlate and a thin marker for the cuts and simply let them lie flat on a clean surface for a one-sided epoxy brush. Worked far better than the carrussel. Used powderpaint for the backsides to break the hard flash. Posted it on Facebook a couple of hours ago and folks love them, response is off the hook!