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This is a thread about making things with which to catch fish. It's also a thread for trading materials and finished flies and lures, but if you're trying to sell things for profit you should probably take it to SA Mart. Post your projects, your questions, and advice for people getting started. I'll be updating the poo poo out of this OP, so please contribute content for it! Especially about tying flies, I don't know dick about that.
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Sep 21, 2019 00:37
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 01:10 |
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I mostly work with lead. These were some of the first things I made when I picked up the hobby: 3/8 oz walking sinkers and crappie jigs.  Some of the jig mold designs out there are pretty unique. This one is a Gravedigger jig made with a mold from Do-It. For my money, Do-It makes the best lead molds on the market. There are other mold companies out there (Palmer, Li'l Mac, Herters back in the day), but I wouldn't gently caress with any of those unless you have a specific reason. Here are the molds that I have at the moment. Feel free to ask questions; I could talk about this poo poo all day but never know where to begin. A Pack of Kobolds fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Sep 21, 2019 |
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Sep 21, 2019 00:38
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Didn't get time to document making any new stuff over the weekend, so here's some pics of stuff I have laying around.  These are brand new molds. I'll treat them with some Drop-Out before I use them, but this is as pretty as they get.  Some unpainted flathead jigs of various size. These ones have DuraTin hooks specifically for saltwater.  A bunch of unpainted roundhead jigs of various size.   Brass zonar lures. Well, they will be with some split rings and hooks.  Tub 'o Midwest Finesse. Some with hosed up paint!  Midwest Finesse detail. Owner hook on the left, Mustad hook on the right. Owner hooks are far more expensive and I'm sincerely curious how much of a difference it makes.  Powder painting is sort of tricky to get the hang of. The concept is simple, but it does take some practice to do good paint consistently.  Dang, I'm running low on walking sinkers. I should make more.  Heavier stuff, like cannonball sinkers and an in-line trolling sinker that I'm probably going to melt and recast. See the weird folds in the metal? You don't want that. The lead started cooling before it could properly form, caused in part by my lovely ladle and an unbroken-in mold.
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Sep 23, 2019 23:09
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I need to pay more attention to materials and tying methods and such. Bucktail and marabou jigs are perennial classics, and the only thing that's stopping me from making them is inexperience. Also tools and knowledge.  Does anyone have any advice on things to specifically avoid when looking for materials? My understanding is that craft store feathers usually have lovely dye that washes out in water, but are any worth loving with?
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Sep 24, 2019 17:01
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Gooch181 posted:That's really cool! I'm now very curious about responsible feather harvesting. I think that if you do it right you get some eggs with the deal. Harry Potter on Ice posted:Same, this thread is awesome. That Do-It website is blownig my mind right now. I'm also in the 100% pinch my barbs down and my dad always gives me poo poo for it but in all the years I've been doing it I haven't lost fish for it. I should really get into the habit of pinching down my barbs since salmon regs so frequently require it. Also, if you're digging the Do-It stuff, you should totally request a free print catalog. It's a great toilet read.
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Sep 24, 2019 18:02
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Gooch181 posted:After goring a few fish who swallowed my flies real deep, I've debarbed my stuff. I caught my personal best immediately after and didn't have any trouble keeping it; that made me feel even better about it. However I did the same to my wife's hook on a spinner, and it kept allowing her worms to fall off. When you say spinner, are you talking about a lure like a Mepps Aglia or a rod and reel? If rod and reel, you could swap out the hook that she used for a baitholder hook. You could pinch the barb and still have the little spurs (or whatever they're called) on the shank. If you're talking about a spinner lure, I'm not sure whether or not swapping out the treble hook would affect the action. I hope not, because gently caress treble hooks all of the time.
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Sep 24, 2019 21:41
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 Beautiful work. This is the good poo poo. Gooch181 posted:I meant rod/reel; thanks, I'll have to find some of those hooks. No problem! They're really common. Also and for what it's worth, I've had best luck with worms when I really gob them up on the hook, securely skewering them over the hook a bunch of times and covering it that way, especially when fishing off the bottom with a Carolina rig or similar. In fact, one of the reasons I started pouring lead was for egg and walking sinkers for bottomfishing rigs. Being able to dial in the particular weight you need can be a huge advantage.
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Sep 25, 2019 17:01
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Gooch181 posted:Forgive my double post, but I have breaking news! HELL YES!  It's going to feel so loving good when you catch a fish on that. And you will catch a fish on that, 'cause fish are gonna gently caress with it. They will want to know the secrets of the Wu Tang.Please do not worry about double posting in this thread! It needs as many posts as it can get, and project updates are like the entire point.
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Sep 26, 2019 19:13
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Ghostnuke posted:Ok, I'll start saving feathers then. Maybe I can fill up baby priority mail boxes and send them out. Man, I love priority mail for shipping lead products but it seems like you could completely fill an envelope with feathers and not require more than a single stamp. Really nice of you to offer up the feathers, though! I hope that sort of helping each other out will become common ITT. I'm certainly happy to help anyone out with any materials that I have laying around, just ask. Dr Ozziemandius posted:That will absolutely catch fish. As a general rule, the fuglier the fly, the more fish like it. Now, I've heard people both stress the "match the hatch" angle as well as the "you're better off using anything except for matching the hatch since you want to offer the fish something different to bite since they're used to the hatch." There's no shortage of contradictory advice and information out there in fishing world, but this is very much something that people have strong opinions about. What's your take on this, keeping their fugly fly preference in mind? quote:There’s nothing like catching that first fish on a fly you tied yourself. I've never caught a fish on a fly that I tied, but catching a dinky yellow perch for the first time freelining a jighead that I made and painted was a profoundly gratifying experience.
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Sep 26, 2019 22:32
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Gooch181 posted:Anyone have a hot source for picking up a bunch of fly hooks, or should I just continue to buy the mustad packets at the shop? Dial in exactly what you need in terms of size and style with the packets from the shop, then order boxes of 1,000 of your preferred hooks from one of many online suppliers. Check eBay, too. It's not always wildly consistent, but you can find some gems there sometimes.
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Sep 26, 2019 23:18
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Well the other one was clearly Ol' Dirty Bastard. Is this Raekwon? Ghostnuke posted:It seems to me that you would want to match what they're feeding on, but add a little extra for attention. Like if you're throwing a shad look alike, maybe add a small spinner to set it apart. I wonder if this has anything to do with my predilection towards yellow perch pattern lures. Everything eats those (me included).
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Sep 28, 2019 00:26
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Dr Ozziemandius posted:Double posting ‘cause I’m tying flies this week. That's a fantastic post! Beautiful work; thanks for sharing it. Dr Ozziemandius posted:I started fly fishing with tenkara, so I never really tried matching the hatch. The whole “One Fly” thing is really kinda marketing bullshittery from TenkaraUSA; it’s a real thing, but not how most people fish, usually it’s just people that have been doing it for years and try it for a season or two to challenge themselves. Even then, it’s not really just one fly, it’s one pattern, which they’ll fish in a variety of sizes. This is great info, too. Fish behavior is so important to understand, but there is a lot of bad information out there and people run the risk of convincing themselves of things that aren't necessarily true and long-term gently caress themselves. Thanks for providing a quality source! So in the past there has been some talk about the possibility of a traveling flybox and/or lure box. Would people participate if I started one?
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Oct 1, 2019 18:07
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Dr Ozziemandius posted:I would for sure be down with a traveling box, heck I even have some spare boxes I can contribute to get things started. You're a mensch! This is probably what's going to make me take out my fly rod and practice with it.
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Oct 1, 2019 21:39
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Dr Ozziemandius posted:I picked up a Moonlit glass 5wt recently, my first regular fly rod, and holy poo poo is that a different skill set from tenkara. Still working on casting and line management. I can cast fairly consistently in the yard at home, but put some water in front of me and I suddenly have 2 left hands. Still a work in progress. Many years ago I would fly fish on the Owyhee River with my dad. I remember being able to get the casting rhythm down pretty well and I caught some brown trout on a fly. Dad would point out the holes and after a while I could put them on target. A memory recent enough to remember, but long ago enough to feel beyond rusty. Dr. Ozzie, if you ever feel up to summarizing some of the jargon and absolute basic concepts of fly tying I'd love to add it to the OP.
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Oct 2, 2019 17:47
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Trout are going to bite the poo poo out of that.
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Oct 3, 2019 16:35
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Elmnt80 posted:Also, those of you looking for interesting/unique feathers may want to talk to the folks in the birb thread in PI. They might be willing to send out some feathers when their birbs molt if you paid for the shipping. Parrot feathers would mean some very interesting colors that you normally wouldn't have access to! Holy poo poo, great idea about PI feather acquisition! Do we know anybody with an elk ranch or something? As for the Gravediggers, I don't have video but here what Do-It says about the design: quote:"The Grave Digger is one of the most unique jigs you will ever fish. With its unique shovel-head design, the head portion dives down bumping the bottom (aka Grave Digging), thereby mimicking the action of a feeding minnow. Note also that this same action makes the jig resistant to snags." TBH I haven't fished with them much (this is probably common for people with too much variety in their jig mold collection  ) so I can't offer a whole lot of insight beyond the fact that a motor oil colored plastic crayfish on it wasn't attracting much attention when I tried bouncing them off the bottom. I'll send you some if you want to play around with them, if you'd like.
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Oct 3, 2019 23:46
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Elmnt80 posted:What sizes do you have made and sitting around? I'll kick you a few bucks for the jigs and shipping in a couple weeks when I get paid next. I'm going to heat up some lead this weekend so I'm down to make whatever. I can do 1/8oz on #1 hooks, 1/4oz on 1/0, 3/8oz on 2/0, & 1/2oz on 3/0, painted or not. No bucks necessary unless you want a large quantity. I'd happily accept some of your practice-run plastics in trade! Let me know if there's anything else that I can make for any of y'all! Goons gotta help goons in this hosed up bullshit hellworld.
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Oct 4, 2019 00:55
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LingcodKilla posted:I see you bought a rather big mold.... And you're about to get another heavy box. 
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Oct 4, 2019 02:34
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Elmnt80 posted:A couple 1/4oz and 3/8oz ones would be amazing to experiment with. And I'll deffo send you some worms and take video of the jig heads in action if possible. Lemme know when to send you an address. I'm expecting a new carton of 1/0 hooks this week.  I'll PM you.This weekend I broke in the new molds that I posted earlier. Here's what I wound up with:  Those are 6oz diamond lures (a preferred design of forums user Lingcodkilla for bottomfish), assorted mooching/kidney sinkers (1, 1.5, 2, 3oz), and assorted storm sinkers (2, 3, 4oz). The molds performed perfectly and I'm getting better at hand-pouring heavier stuff. Most jigs and sinkers under an ounce work great with my bottom-pour lead pot, but anything above that needs a larger pot (preferably that doesn't have a bottom-pour spout at all) and a ladle. None of these came out hosed up and folded so I'm quite pleased.
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Oct 7, 2019 17:05
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:Whoa are you making your own buzz bombs? Also kidney sinkers would probably be in my top 3 most purchased fishing related item, you're really making me want to get my own set up here. What do you use storm sinkers for? - They're not exactly buzz bombs, but they're similar in design. These would tie off to a line instead of having the line threaded through it like a buzz bomb, but maybe some swivels would change the action? I don't have much experience with either to say for sure. I am a bad Pacific Northwesterner in that sense. - I don't know if you'd be able to make exact copies of the Kastmaster design, there are certainly molds for casting spoons in a few varieties. - Storm sinkers are for surf fishing. Supposedly they cast farther and grip sand better than pyramid sinkers. - Whether or not you decide to get set up pouring lead (and you should, it's really fun), feel free to hit me up for some mooching sinkers. I can fit a lot of them in a small flat-rate box and I'd hate for you to have to pay retail.
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Oct 7, 2019 17:57
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Hi, I bought 6,900 nice hooks this week, all Mustad  , old stock but sealed boxes. I was planning on buying 0, but somebody on eBay bought the contents of an old tackle shop at auction and was willing to make a hell of a package deal. I'm so loving pleased right now.  Elmnt80 posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUatRhO9OrI I'm going to have to spend some time watching this channel. Also, have you seen any molds that look similar to Gulp sandworms? People up here swear by them for surf perch.
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Oct 8, 2019 18:58
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LingcodKilla posted:Oh hello.... That's a lot of hooks. It is definitely a lot of hooks, but they are in several sizes. Some of my jig molds make six different weights and each one takes a different sized hook. Others only make two weights and can use two different sized hooks interchangeably. It's something to pay attention to when shopping for molds, otherwise you may receive it and realize that you need hooks/inserts/swivels/blades/etc that you don't have. It has certainly happened to me. Elmnt80 posted:The closest thing I can think of is a hellgrammite mold. Maybe trim the legs and see how it looks? You know, if anything I think the legs would be a little more action to get their attention. Redtails are ready biters when you're on them, but finding them can be tricky sometimes because the Pacific Ocean is real big. Only problem is that they might be a little long. I could always cut them in half, but the body tapers off so much that it wouldn't really seem like halves. It's a start though, so thanks! I need to start paying more attention to making plastics. I've planned on that being my winter project and it's starting to get cold. What's your take on putting scent in the plastics?
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Oct 9, 2019 16:48
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Elmnt80 posted:I'll probably be putting coffee scent in the plastic and lure bags like strike king. If nothing else it keeps the human stank off the lures. Awesome. I wasn't even aware of the vacuum chamber aspect of the process, so I clearly have more homework to do. I'm really stoked to hear about your experiments, though. I think once you start catching fish with stuff that you've made it will seem all the more worthwhile. CHUCK WAS TAKEN posted:Oh boy, this thread finally exists! Oh hell yeah, thanks for finding the thread! What do y'all think of this fly vise for basic stuff like bucktail and marabou jigs? I'm not going to be working with tiny #18 hooks or anything like that, so it seems like any advantages offered by a more precision model would be wasted on me.
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Oct 10, 2019 17:51
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I'm seeing $200 and thinking that I can make it work with needle nose pliers if I have to.
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Oct 11, 2019 16:49
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Rotten Cookies posted:PM Sent! Personally, I love that this thread has united the fly tiers and the birb crazies! Share what you've got and you'll never want. My dad always used to say that. No, wait, that wasn't my dad, that was the diner cook from I Accuse My Parents. Still, he's right. Anyone make anything recently? I wanted to pour some trolling sinkers but it's supposed to be wet and windy all weekend. I work outdoors with liquid metals, and a raindrop in a pot of hot lead is a steam bomb. Maybe I'm bottling cider this weekend instead. 
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Oct 19, 2019 00:41
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Between all the
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Hey thread, what's crackin? Life has been too hosed up to think about tacklecraft for a while, but I'm back and loving the flies with goon-sourced birb feathers. Anybody have any more to post?gamera009 posted:You can find the Airone for a lot less than $200. Can you point me in the right direction? The cheapest I can find is $150 from a seller in Poland.
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Nov 14, 2019 22:05
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Hey thread! We're approaching the guts of holiday season. Is this the perfect time to kick off the traveling flybox or the worst?
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Dec 5, 2019 18:28
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Chaosfeather posted:I'd say maybe just after the season? Sales are going on right now but with all the boxes on doorsteps it's the best time of year for porch pirates. I'd hate for the thread contributions to suddenly stop because it was my turn and whoever likes stealing boxes in my apartment complex happened to take the traveling flybox. Oh yeah, good call. Between the normal holidays and porch thievery, maybe mid-January. Speaking of porch thieves, last year somebody took a box off my porch, opened it to discover that there were two Do-It molds in it, and then threw the open box with the molds still in it in my bushes. Thank goodness for weird-looking tools that junkies don't understand.
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Dec 6, 2019 00:10
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Dude, you're gonna be a fuckin' pro! Early January is also going to be when I order my soft bait kit, so there's going to be a whole lot of learning happening ITT. Hopefully it doesn't involve serious molten plastic burns. In case anyone was wondering (I sure was), I had lead levels tested in my blood when I went to the doctor last month. Barely any present, well within the healthy range! So if you're thinking about melting lead as a hobby, it's perfectly safe with the proper precautions.
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Dec 6, 2019 01:43
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LingcodKilla posted:This good. Very good. Should I buy you a mold of my favorite salt water grub? Oh most definitely. 3-5" twin-tail grub, right? Let me see what kind of mold options are out there. My default is Do-It, of course, but there may be other viable (and perhaps better) options out there. Elmnt80 posted:5 gallons of floating worm blend plastic, a couple green dyes, a couple purple dyes and some coffee scent landed on my front porch yesterday. Just waiting for the injector, other dyes, powder and glitter to arrive. You magnificent son of a bitch.  Really looking forward to swapping recipes and making any weird jigs to experiment with.
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Dec 9, 2019 19:23
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Ghostnuke posted:I support whatever efforts that keep me from paying $8 for a pack of senkos.  The 2020 Do-It catalog is out Request a hard copy here. It makes for excellent toilet reading.
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Dec 9, 2019 22:22
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LingcodKilla posted:This good. Very good. Should I buy you a mold of my favorite salt water grub?  Do-It has a 2-cavity 4" "Glade Grub" design for $70. Apparently glade grubs differ from regular grubs due to its thinner body. Supposedly this would make it better around rocks and cover, so it may matter to you.  Basstackle.com has this 2-cavity 5" twin tail grub mold for $80. Seems pretty straightforward.  Lurecraft has a 4-cavity 5" twin tail grub mold for $90. Seems straightforward also, and being able to double production per injection seems worth an extra $10 to me. These look about right to you?
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Dec 10, 2019 19:35
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Elmnt80 posted:You may also want to keep in mind that saltwater baits usually use a much harder blend of plastic compared to a freshwater bait to hold up to toothy mouths taking a nip. The starter kit that I'm getting from Do-It comes with a medium size injector, which I take to mean their 6 oz model. It's not a locking tip, but I can certainly see the value in having one. That said, locking tips seem pretty uncommon, so while I can appreciate the peace of mind that comes with that, I don't know if it's entirely necessary. And yeah, I'm stoked to start blending plastic, adding flaked salt, and generally seizing the means of production. 
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Dec 10, 2019 20:42
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Do you think that a plastic pork rind would do the trick?
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Dec 10, 2019 22:27
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gently caress, now I'm just picturing a flathead jig with a tiny dildo threaded up the hook.
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Dec 11, 2019 00:02
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God help us all if I ever get a CNC mill.
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Dec 11, 2019 17:52
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the yeti posted:Is there a lost wax casting analogue for when you’re out to make molds instead of a positive of the design? Yeah, 3D printing seems like the best option if you were to go that route. The cheap kitchen table mold method has historically been plaster of paris, but those do require a positive and are about as fragile and temporary as it gets. I guess you could carve out a blank by hand somehow if you were really committed. It's worth distinguishing the difference between injection molds and open pour molds when it comes to soft plastics. Open pour is the simpler method of the two, but the bait designs are simpler too by necessity. Elmnt80 and I are fancy boys who want to make fancy baits, so we're going hog wild with injection molds. I had really not considered anything that wasn't milled aluminum for this. If molten plastic is anything like molten lead, it gets really, really loving hot.
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Dec 16, 2019 18:22
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Elmnt80 posted:There are a few companies doing custom 3D printed molds where aluminum would be prohibitively expensive such as prototyping and the like. And making masters for making silicon molds. I will be the first to admit that I am inexperienced with 3D printing so it's probably fine. My simple lizard brain feels good about a heavy chunk of metal, though. Injection molds seem to produce more intricate bait designs while open/hand pour baits are more simple, and seem like they'd usually wind up with a flat side. That's ideal if you're making something like a plastic pork rind trailer, but less so with tubes, skirts, some bugs, and I'd think anything that needs to be perfectly round. You can definitely hand pour a grub or a worm, but I think that the ones from an injection mold would look nicer.  You're definitely right about mass production, though. Hand pours in quantity would be a chore. LingcodKilla posted:Don’t turn him down on the 3D mold. The rumors of them not working might just be Big MoldMaker trying to hold you back. I would not turn down a test mold, but I want to get some experience before I ask anyone to go to the trouble of making one.
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Dec 16, 2019 19:38
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Well gently caress, now there's no excuse. What if it was a little version of the barnacle jim 3D printed dildo that FYAD did a few years ago. Penis fish would also be surprisingly appropriate. I won't have my gear for plastics until after the new year, unfortunately. Elmnt80 is more set up for plastics right now, and I'm stoked to hear his experiences. Hey fly tyers, the lady I'm seeing is super crafty and has like ten pounds of organized feathers. I'm hosed.
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Dec 17, 2019 18:30
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 01:10 |
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LingcodKilla posted:Man you move fast.... This is more of a conversation to have over beers (my fault, I brought it up in the thread), but it turns out that life is a lot better once the primary source of anxiety and negativity is removed from it. It hosed me up for a while, but ultimately there wasn't much to move on from. A couple of months of perspective + therapy have me feeling both like I was released from jail and like I don't have a malignant tumor anymore. It's good poo poo. So, uh, how bout them dick lures?
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Dec 17, 2019 18:57
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