Nail Polish as Paint

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Greggory DiSalvo

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Jun 30, 2016, 9:02:43 AM6/30/16
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Hi folks, I am making a trip to the finger lakes this weekend to visit family on Canandaigua Lake.  I have pretty recently completely forsaken spin fishing so this will be the first year I only bring my fly gear... One of my favorite activities is hitting the points and creek mouths with topwater at dusk and I recently bought a bunch of foam popper bodies and due to deadlines at work, I haven't had much time to tie.  Now that I am under a time crunch, I was wondering if anybody every paints their poppers, or flies in general with nail polish?  I fell like this could be a viable, cheap alternative to some of the more durable paints on the market....Quick drying too!

Gregg

cagl...@gmail.com

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Jun 30, 2016, 9:13:29 AM6/30/16
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Gregg 

Nail polish is used for poppers by a lot of folks.  I have more than my 3 daughters combined. 

Charlie 

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On Jun 30, 2016, at 9:02 AM, Greggory DiSalvo <grdi...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi folks, I am making a trip to the finger lakes this weekend to visit family on Canandaigua Lake.  I have pretty recently completely forsaken spin fishing so this will be the first year I only bring my fly gear... One of my favorite activities is hitting the points and creek mouths with topwater at dusk and I recently bought a bunch of foam popper bodies and due to deadlines at work, I haven't had much time to tie.  Now that I am under a time crunch, I was wondering if anybody every paints their poppers, or flies in general with nail polish?  I fell like this could be a viable, cheap alternative to some of the more durable paints on the market....Quick drying too!

Gregg

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Steven Butler

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Jun 30, 2016, 9:21:07 AM6/30/16
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Walt Cary (Walt's Poppers) advises in his "one time only" presentations that he seems to give at every festival he attends that nail polish is a fine option. He also scares you to death about ever attempting to imitate his popper process (fumes have killed like 3 of his friends)-so I've never done it, but it makes a lot of sense.

Scott Stankus

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Jun 30, 2016, 10:03:00 AM6/30/16
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Yup - it works really well! Give it a final coat or two of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails and you'll be good to go!

--Scott

On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 9:02 AM, Greggory DiSalvo <grdi...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi folks, I am making a trip to the finger lakes this weekend to visit family on Canandaigua Lake.  I have pretty recently completely forsaken spin fishing so this will be the first year I only bring my fly gear... One of my favorite activities is hitting the points and creek mouths with topwater at dusk and I recently bought a bunch of foam popper bodies and due to deadlines at work, I haven't had much time to tie.  Now that I am under a time crunch, I was wondering if anybody every paints their poppers, or flies in general with nail polish?  I fell like this could be a viable, cheap alternative to some of the more durable paints on the market....Quick drying too!

Gregg

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namfos

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Jun 30, 2016, 12:13:58 PM6/30/16
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Finger Lakes - one of my favorite parts of the world - You could certainly use nail polish, they might chip from wear and tear but I doubt the fish notice - also you could use permanent markers which can fade from sunlight and constant immersion in water. I haven't used them yet, but on Sunday I purchased Sharpies that are oil based paint markers - package says you can use on leather, wood, etc. Assuming your poppers are the hard foam types I think these paint markers would work. If I remember I'll paint a hard foam popper with one tonight.

Mark


On Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:02:43 AM UTC-4, Greggory DiSalvo wrote:

Carl Z.

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Jun 30, 2016, 2:52:49 PM6/30/16
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It will work, but acrylic paint and a coat of 30 minute epoxy doesn't take too long if you are set up to do the drying. 
Warning, Wapsi bodies don't take sharpie's well and both nail polish and epoxy make them run.

Carl

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On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 9:02 AM, Greggory DiSalvo <grdi...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi folks, I am making a trip to the finger lakes this weekend to visit family on Canandaigua Lake.  I have pretty recently completely forsaken spin fishing so this will be the first year I only bring my fly gear... One of my favorite activities is hitting the points and creek mouths with topwater at dusk and I recently bought a bunch of foam popper bodies and due to deadlines at work, I haven't had much time to tie.  Now that I am under a time crunch, I was wondering if anybody every paints their poppers, or flies in general with nail polish?  I fell like this could be a viable, cheap alternative to some of the more durable paints on the market....Quick drying too!

Gregg

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Greggory DiSalvo

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Jun 30, 2016, 3:33:54 PM6/30/16
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Awesome!  Beautiful country indeed.  I'll be interested to hear about the sharpies.  Good to know about the Wapsi.


On Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:02:43 AM UTC-4, Greggory DiSalvo wrote:

MattT

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Jul 1, 2016, 9:26:11 AM7/1/16
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Def use the nail polish. I've even used the CVS brand uv top coat with a UV lamp on poppers. 


On Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:02:43 AM UTC-4, Greggory DiSalvo wrote:

Rob Snowhite

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Jul 1, 2016, 10:58:18 AM7/1/16
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This is why I tie foam poppers. Landed one largemouth out here in Reston on one am while waiting for my car to get inspected (you Marylanders and DC folk don't have to worry bit that). No fear of bouncing them off rocks or trees. 

Walt is retiring. At the Va fly and wine festival he offered to sell me all his cork bodies at discount. Not sure if he still has them but worth a try if someone needs a bunch. 




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Greggory DiSalvo

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Jul 1, 2016, 11:16:02 AM7/1/16
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Rob, this is an interesting point!  I've actually been intrigued with crease flies for a while, but haven't yet attempted...or even purchased supplies.  any insight here? 


On Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:02:43 AM UTC-4, Greggory DiSalvo wrote:

Rob Snowhite

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Jul 1, 2016, 12:06:03 PM7/1/16
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When I ran out of Sneaky Petes I created this:  

image1.jpeg




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namfos

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Jul 2, 2016, 9:43:39 AM7/2/16
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I used these last night on a hard Wapsi body, some dense/firm foam bodies, cored flip flop foam, some balsa wood and a cork - coverage good though I might buy the chisel point version next time. Paint dried very very quickly. The balsa and the cork may need a sealer coat for durability, Today I'm going to try painting a gutless frog made with black Rainy's float foam with the bright green marker. Hoping to field test tomorrow or Monday.


I got these at Michaels with a 40% off coupon so the bite was not too deep. ;-)

Mark

Carl Z.

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Jul 2, 2016, 12:21:12 PM7/2/16
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Are those different than the normal sharpies?   I'm on the lookout for easy.  The problem I have is that when sealing the popper the sharpie runs.

I moved to acrylic, water based paint.  It's in the next aisle over at Michaels.



Carl

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namfos

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Jul 3, 2016, 6:56:43 PM7/3/16
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They are an entirely different Sharpie, Carl. Help up well today on the hard foam with repeated immersion. Fish at Little Seneca Lake were more interested in Gurglers this morning.  Although first two were on Snowhite's Damsel and Scorpion Bug Slider.

Mark
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