T.I.Y. tie it yourself

Image Left: Homemade Tinsel Rig Lures (awaiting rigging)

I had day off island today and visited Oban, the nearest mainland port. As well as running errands for fellow islanders I got to visit the tackle shop. Despite spending far too much time making my own tackle I really enjoy browsing through the racks of readymade lures. It would seem that the biggest advances in mass produced fishing lures are largely limited to the packaging, I wondered if some the companies would have been better attaching hooks to the wrapper and throwing the contents away.

My real interest was in the feather rigs, not to buy them but more to check up on the competition. As I mainly fish with feather rigs and of course tie my own I wanted to see if the quality was comparable with store bought varieties and also check prices. I was a little disappointed that some of world’s major tackle manufactures were producing what could only be described as crap, but also I little happier about my own rigs. Over the last few of years I have pulled a few thousand fish out the seas around the island using home-made feather rigs so maybe it’s about time I starting making them to sell, so that is the plan.

A lure in a storm

Image Above: Foiled diving lure

A bit of a storm blew in on Thursday and after demolishing half the trees in the island’s small wood and knocking out the power supply it blew its self out. The power took a little longer to return and earlier this evening I spent a couple of hours tying feather rigs under the light of a head torch. In the meantime I managed to finish another diving lure and attempted to take it for a testing session but the boat’s engine is running a little off beat at the moment. I carved the lure from pine and then foiled it and coated it with epoxy. It runs at about a couple of feet below the surface on moderate retrieve and casts very smoothly.

Making lead fishing weights in wooden moulds

Another how-to video. The exciting world of lead smelting.