Tattoo Tuesday -- Swimbait Culture

As far as I can tell, there’s no segment of the fishing world that embraces angling-specific tattoos as readliy as the hard core swimbaiters. It stands to reason, because they’re the closest analog we have to the world of skateboarding, and the overlap with punk rock, heavy metal and hiphop cultures is apparent.

It also doesn’t hurt that the baits themselves tend to be bold and colorful statements of artistry, lending themselves well to skin-based statement pieces.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Mike Bucca of Bull Shad fame posted this one from Brandyn Dickerson of a bass chasing one of Bucca’s baits:

For a lot of swimbaiters, trout baits are the deal, and this one from Shogun Tattoo in California (posted by Swimbait Underground) tells the complete story graphically:

This one from Robert Kane (also posted by Swimbait Underground) adds color and vegetation:

Ryan Block of California, whose epic Instagram page is a compendium of dreams, got this one from Front Line Tattoo to commemorate his PB:

Sixteen pounds, two ounces is going to be tough to beat, but based on what he’s done to date I hope he saved some room for when he whacks a 17 or 18.