I enjoy the thrill of chasing trophy bass with my own custom painted cranks but I'm also a big fan and supporter of other lure artists. I've been collecting custom painted cranks for years.

The Fun-N-Sun Indoor Boat and Tackle show is always a great place to meet DFW area lure artists. My favorite custom lure at the show this year was a 100 percent handcrafted custom crank by Matt Jackson that was hand painted at the show by well known Bassmaster illustrator Arturo Murga.

In person it's really gorgeous. I wish I had one of my pro cameras at the show today but I was traveling light and shot this with my iPhone.

Among trophy bass hunters, Matt's a rising star with his Illustrious Action brand of custom plastics. He's recently designed and tackled a few 100 percent handcrafted custom cranks. You can see more of Arturo Murga art on Instragram or catch his illustrations in Bassmaster magazine.

Blue Moon

That’s a skill I wish I had.

Thank you Blue Moon, it was a real pleasure speaking with you at the booth. We are very blessed to have the relationship that we do with Arturo. Painting these baits was a last minute idea that was well perceived by others at the show. I can see more and more of these in the future that I will be happy to share.

Arturo is amazingly talented and also a very nice guy. Go on line and check out some of his work. Those crankbaits he painted are absolutely gorgeous. Not quite sure why he hangs out with Russell and Matt though...

Arturo is truly amazing. He painted a portrait of one of my colleagues that passed away a couple years ago.