# Fish Skin Lures



## TIGGER

Hey everyone,
Well I have been very inspired by OGF members "Piatu" and his fish scale lures and "Bowhunter" and his snake skin lures that I got to see in person at the Chicago musky show this spring. I thought I would like to try that some day. Two weeks ago I was fishing out of Eastern Ohio on Lake Erie. We decided to go perch fishing first and then head out to deeper water for some bigger walleyes. The perch fishing was slow but steady to get to our 60 fish limit. We headed out to deep water just after lunch. The first fish of the day was on a worm harness with a perch pattern willow blades that I painted the weekend before. I got the fish to the net and we laid it on the floor of the boat. I went to put the net back up to the front of the boat my friend Joe said you will believe what the fish just spit up. To my suprise it was a perch in the size range of 10 - 11". The weighed 9lbs - 5 oz after she coughed up that perch. Here are some pics.






















We fished for a couple more hours with some fish in the cooler. I kept thinking of that perch and walleye. As I was cleaning the fish I thought about the fish skin lures. I decided to try to prep some of the skins for a test run. I laid them out on a piece of plywood overnight thinking it would be hard for a critter to get on that thing. To my suprise I couple of the skins got kidnapped. I spread the skins out in a sunny place for day while I was at work. When I pulled in the driveway I saw crows scattering with fish skins in their mouths!!!!!!!! LOL Well they left me a couple and got to play around this new adventure. 

I decided to try simple things at first for the first hour. I ended up putting some skins on gold plated willow blades and clear coating them with envirotex. They came out great! I can't wait to try these out.

































After thinking about how I should apply the skin to a lure body I decided to try this technique. I worked ok but is very messy. I very unusual smell mixing dried fish and epoxy. I hangs with you through the next day. Not a pleasant smell. Here is a pic of how I tried this batch of lures.













For my first one I am super happy with this walleye one. It is the skin of the big walleye that ate the perch in the picture above. The lure is 8" long and has a cedar body and 8/0 hooks. 
























I have some more pictures of this one and three other lures. I will post them later tonight.

John


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## TIGGER

Here are a couple more pics of the walleye.
























This one is a smaller version that I hope to use off my downriggers in a couple of weeks for big walleyes. 50 foot down 50 feet back!  The skin is from that same big walleye. It has a cedar body. I think I will some nice muskies on it also.














































The other side of the bait has a little different color from the skin higher up towards the top of the fish. Belly skin is lighter in color.












I have some perch coming next...........


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## TIGGER

Here are a couple of bodies styles that I did from the skins of the perch.

This is little bugger is like a mini tuff shad. Crazy action for the downrigger also for some walleyes. I think is going to catch its fair share of muskies also. I have a similar body in progress right now with a larger lip for deeper water.



































This one is like a Jr. thunderstick type of bait. It is for some Lake Erie walleyes also. 



































Here are the four together showing the size ranges. 













I have a larger perch coming that I hope to have done this weekend.


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## Hetfieldinn

Awesome. I've been waiting to see these.


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## JamesT

You nailed it on the first shot! (why does that not surprise me?) Those look fab! There is a place i fish where i occasionally catch a perch and every time i think about keeping it to try it out. Havent yet, but maybe. Great realskinseries!


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## JamesT

Tigger and piatu - do you think the skin would save? I have not been making for a while now and am wondering if i caught a perch and skinned it, if the skin would save for a later date. Assuming you completely dry them out i dont see why it wouldnt but figured id ask. Would i need to store it/dry it in a book or something to keep it flat? Thanks.


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## "Big" mark the shark

very nice work


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## SolarFall

i've also played around with fish skins lures before and i got to say its a real pain in the ass and smell of your apartment while working with them is pretty revolting to say the least. one thing i never liked with working on it is that once you start to dry it the fish skin looses its natural color, especially perch does that. so far i have not found a method to fix that issue. 
but yeah anyways fantastic looking lures TIGGER once again.
ps i think i need to try that wrapping the skin around the lure shape im using with rubber bands too, I've always just dried them on a flat surface


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## MadMac

Send them down and I'll run them for you at WB John. lol They look great.


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## triton175

That's just amazing John. A first try at a new technique and you get baits that look that good. Very nice job.


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## bowhunter29

John,

Those lures are simply amazing. You are truly a master lure builder, you are always working to expand and improve. Keep the pictures coming! 

jeremy


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## CarpetBagger

I really like the blades...Bigger the blade probaly the better in this case...

Great now ill have walleye and perch skin hanging everywhere...lol

Neighbors are gonna think im a psychopath...lol


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## TIGGER

Thanks guys........ It kinda reminds me from the movie "Silence of the lambs" only my version. "Clarice is that what you hear in the middle of the night those awful screams of fish skins being stretched in the basement." LOL

James, I think they would keep fine. My lab had ones she was chewing on all summer long last year. I was amazed how well they held up. As the skin dries there is natural oil that is on the flesh side of the skin. It could be an epoxy nightmare if not removed. My first skins where like concrete with oil on the inside. They curled bad, it could be a good thing at time if it curls with the contour of the bait. I took alcohol and wiped down the inside of the skin to remove the oil. Before that I scraped any dried flesh off the backside of the skin. The alcohol softened the skin a bit. The epoxy softens it even more. As the process went one it became more user friendly until the epoxy set up. One word of warning.........the rubber band trick workered great but if you let the epoxy dry to much the rubber bands will stick to the scales. What a nightmare that was to remove them without pulling the scales off. 
I had walleye skins out in the sun today. It started to pour rain on my way home from work, they were soaked. I brought them inside and placed them in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degree's . My wife just got home and asked if we were having fish tonight. LOL I haven't told her yet! Worked great I think. I will know tomorrow.

Steve I may have to do that. I am getting my Lund back finally from the shop next week. I am back in the "Big water" water adventures again. I will be heading down to Westbranch for some testing. It looks like you guys and tearing up the muskies!

Solarfall give the rubberband trick a try. Just thought that was how I would do it. I may try string next. 

Carpetbagger, You gave me a good idea with hanging them. I may try to hang them on the clothes line to keep the critters away. The wife will not be happy! LOL I will be heading up that way to fish out of Conni soon. I am finally getting my Lake Erie boat boat next week. I will see how the blades will work. I have a great feeling about them.

Well tomorrow I will be doing the Jermey Wade adventure. I am going to take the 16 footer and hit the river for some "River Monster's" baitfish series. I think I can catch some big suckers and chubs out of Russel Park. On the way back stop at Ladue and catch some White Perch and Crappie. Then hit Punderson for some giant Golden shiners. Nice that it is only an 8 mile loop! I am hoping I can get back by lunch.


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## JamesT

Thanks for the detailed response tigger. This project sounds just 'a tad' more complex than foiling. Ill probably hold off on setting myself up for frustration until next yeat lol. Once again amazing baits.


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## TIGGER

Well I tried some new stuff with the heads of the baits. I used some of the face plates off the fish. I preserved them and applied them over the wood body. I learned alot with this batch. Hope to correct some stuff on the next batch.
I did a couple of blades with white perch skins.  I won't be so mad walleye fishing and catching these. They are doomed for the skinning table. 






















This is a musky bait that I used the white perch skin. It is on Mahogany. I used the face plates of the fish. The bait is 6" long and a topwater bait.



































This next one is a bluegill skin one. It is fast trolling bait. It is 4-1/2" long and has a cedar body.


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## TIGGER

This is yellow perch skin on a 7" cedar body. I wanted it be a fast troller but the skin adds alot of mass. I will have to make some adjustments to the body and lip. However........ It is a great casting twitch bait. It has a very wide wobble and is barely a floater. It is like a husky jerk. I did not try the fish heads on this one. This skin had great colors after it was dried. The skin looks bleached out when you go to use it but when the epoxy hits it the color come back.


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## rjbass

You are killing me....off the hook man!!! Love the face plate on the top water...doesn't get more realistic than that.

Rod


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## JamesT

Tigger - your lures are so amazing that we overlooked and forgot to say NICE EYE!!!:B


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## SolarFall

hot damn those are awesome, it must have been a real pain in the butt to take those faceplate off from the baits and gluing them on then  looks killer though, you should next add real fish fins to them aswell. 
-Mikko


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## bowhunter29

John,

These latest ones look great, almost as realistic as your painted ones!!!

jeremy


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## JSykes3

SolarFall said:


> hot damn those are awesome, it must have been a real pain in the butt to take those faceplate off from the baits and gluing them on then  looks killer though, you should next add real fish fins to them aswell.
> -Mikko


Baits do look Bad*ass! You should try adding fins like Solarfall suggested. Can't wait to see them if you do.


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## buck.eyehunter

Man I didnt think you could get any better but... you did! That is incredible man you should be proud of your talent! simple awesome. mike knippenberg


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## Ganjo

Tigger,
amazing work.
Ivan


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## peple of the perch

I'm still trying to decide whether to consider that creepy or cool. j/k . Those lures and blades came out awesome. Did you have to paint the colors on or do they stay with the skins. I bet some of the Bass fishermen would go absolutely nuts over a small bluegill or panfish skin bait.


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## TIGGER

Thanks for the kind words everyone. 

The fins...... I thought about using the fins but the lure is out of proportion to the fins. I tried to trim the fins but it just didn't look right to me. I will figure something out. 

Well I just finished this deep diving perch skin one. 6" Mahogany body with glass eyes.













I just gathered a bunch more perch skins from last weekend fishing the Fairport hump. I hope to try some glides / jerkbaits soon.


I did have some luck on the yellow perch blade! I was running a double willow pattern right off the bottom in 74 foot of water. The board vanished under the water for 5 minutes. I thought here is the teen pound fish I have been searching for. I got it to the boat and it was about a 15 pound sheephead!!!!!!!!! LOL. Later that day I took off one of the blades and ran it as a single and got this nice 9 pound walleye. The board went down for a couple of minutes. I took a picture as it popped up to the surface. I love those inline offshore boards. Those blades should start to work really well in the next couple of weeks.


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## justin3687

Those look killer man

From my Evo


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## Saugeyefisher

TIGGER, I have been following ur posts on lure makeing for a couple yrs now. And you are very good at what you do!!!!! These lures with the real fish skin is amazeing. How do they show up in the water?? Is there any good flash to them? Regardless great job!
Bobby


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## SPLMAX SAM

Incredible work!!!!


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## TIGGER

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Bobby, I don't think they have the flash as other type of paint jobs but it should look like something they eat all the time. It is that life long game of predator and prey. The bait fish either have colors that blend in with their enviroment or safety in numbers. Many time fishing on Lake Erie I will see the emerald shiners on the surface and I am amazed how they blend in with the blue water. Several times while fishing we matched the water color and the fish started coming in the boat. It would go against the grain on the thoughts of bright contrasting colors. Lake St. Clair many times has the hot bite on brown muddy patterns with no crisp contrasting paint lines. I know of several charter guys that like their baits without the bright white stripping on the bottom of the belly at the end of the paint job. They like the overspray on the belly.


Here is a glider I just finished this week. I used the skin of a perch along with its face plate and mouth parts. It took 7 coats of epoxy to finish it. Fun to do but alot of work. It is 6" long and weighs 4 oz.


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## gunnr

Love the glider. Looks like it belongs in a livewell instead of a tackle box.


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## puterdude

Man that is awesome Tigger,great job!


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## eatwhatyoukeep

Wow! The most natural looking lures I have ever seen. I wonder why? I have done a little taxidermy and agree that the skins lose their natural color. So, some great artist work was required to make those lures look alive again, right? But, for the people who say you cannot create a lure with a realistic scale pattern I can now say humbug.


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