INDIANANGLER

Hi Guys,
1.What is the usual material to make spinners-SS wire? size, dia?
2. Can I bend a O shaugnessy hook at the eye- 90 degrees , to make a jig hook without significantly compromising strength?
Plan to use M seal and araldite to make jig head -obviously cant cast lead
Want to play around with equipment, if I do land something on a jig, good for me!
3.What is the experience of this forum with 'bucktails'?
Got a couple of hundred more questions, dont blame me, Blame Rustam for getting me hooked!
Best
Axx

Well, the size of wire you need is 0.029" (0.026", more easily available, is too thin). Making jighead moulds and pouring your own lead is very easy. Check the many sites that tell you how.

Bucktails are a little too stiff and look ragged quickly. What you need is squirrel tail (grey) or silicone skirts. Head cement can be duplicated with nail polish. Better reconsider your hooks.

Regards,
MM

I have used guitar string as the spinner wire. It is easily available and is pretty inexpensive too.
Used airgun pellets are very easy to melt and mould with bare minimum equipment. I use them to make sinkers and jig heads. Military/police stores stock and sell hackle of varied colours which can be used to dress the hooks.
Hope this helps.
rk

Good suggestions....however, consider the following:

1. Guitar string in India, I imagine, come in sets. You'd have to buy the whole set to get about 1m of "usable" string (the b string, not high e) provided you get the right gauge to begin with.

2. This string has a high nickel content and is quite springy, ie won't wrap easily, so tying a loop would be quite difficult.

3. It rusts like crazy.

4. It is brittle (I have 9 guitars. Trust me.)

Hackle is usually used as embellishment in dressing, not as a skirt.

The best source of lead is from a tire shop where they discard heaps of weights used for balancing wheels. This will melt on your stovetop in an old pan. Don't worry about cleaning it. The lovely thing is that everything, even the steel bits, float to the top and can be skimmed off!!

You can order Malin brand ss wire form either Cabelas or Bass Pro (better).

Regards,

Mm

MM, the reason Bass Pro isn't getting any online business from India is because they do not accept credit cards out of India.

Rustam

Thanks Guys ,
That is absoulutely great stuff...much appreciated.I dedicate my first catch to indianangler and this wonderful bunch of people!

Asif

Hey Asif,

How your Paonta Saheb trip went? Did you managed to go?

Inder

couldnt make it Inder-usual excuses, this time added factor was rivers in flood, so wait till sep.
Have a mentor in a retd col, who is an absolute god send-He's teaching me tricks and trades and is a keen fisherman/fly fisher with 30-40 yrs of experience...I will start casting lessons with him next week, found ourselves a decent field to go and start!
Best
Asif

Yah thats what I was thinking, At this time of the year Yamuna will be full of mud..

Inder, a colleague went to his home village abt 30k from noida, and tells me that the yamuna there is clear as gin, not in flood-not too sure whether it was the main river or a tributary-but looks accessible to me.So will probably go there and cast the first cast...
Will keep you guys posted.
Best
Axx

Asif,

The very best of Irish to you and I don't mean Bushmills.

Look forward to the report.

Rustam

Aah, will aslo take on the bushmills, as a bonus Rustam!
Best
Axx

Hi Asif,

Here's a pic of my home assembled spinner. It's a size 4 french blade. Note the silicon skirt material around the hook. I have had great luck with this spinner on murrel.

Asif,
Doesn't look like anyone answered your question to the point..I usually us spring wire ( SS ) of dia 0.5~0.7 dia....I have faced a problem of not being able to bend the wire if the dia is more than this...hope this helps
Belli

Hi Asif,
I make my own spinners and have been doing so for the last couple of years. I've caught many fish on them so they do actually work. I buy the wire from wholesale shops on SP Road in Bangalore by the kilo. It s much cheaper this way. The wire I buy is Stainless Steel Spring wire, which is harder to bend. Its hard on the fingers/pliers but works much better. I use the 0.5 wire for my murral spinners and use 0.7 to 0.9 wire for my mahseer spinners. I also use the 1.2mm wire for the plugs that I make.

Bending hooks will only weaken them. I know of a couple of friends who try and re-temper hooks, but I wouldn't advise mucking about with them. I don't reuse trebles that are mashed by Mahseer as I've had a couple which have broken.

I've made bucktails only once using (wool) goat and sheep hair ages ago on no.2 and no.3 spinners (french blades). They worked pretty well for small 'butter cats' at a place called Kanva. Infact they mostly went for spinners with bucktails, ignoring the plain trebles. As I don't fish at Kanva any more I haven't had the need for bucktails.

I hope this has been of some help? Looking forward to answering more of questions.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hey Belli,

Good to see you've finally posted after sitting quiet on the forum for sometime. Hope to see more posts from you soon.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Gentlemen,
THANKS
I have a couple of clarifications-
What is the 'weight' of the spinner-eg 3/8 Oz
a.Spinner + lead weight
b.or only the lead weight?
c.do you guys use local made split rings or is it back to cabela's?

marlin-need help with shop names or address in SP road to pick up spring wire -Are those shops with 'no names' like many shops in SP road? or can they be found-amar electronics used to be my fav a couple of lifetimes ago

Hi eljefe,

The weight of a spinner is often measured in ounces (oz).
1 ounce = 28 grams. 'Weight' is the total weight of the spinners including trebles.
Split rings are another 'grey area' I have small ones I use which are unbranded for carnatic carp and trout. For my sea fishing / mahseer I'm using Owner Hyper Wire.
SP road is a place I truely hate. No I don't have the name of a shop, but its after Aziz Trading Co which sells all kinds of tools. The shops are not hard to find as they deal only in Stainless Steel.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.