Do it yourself?

[five bellies]

Have done, several times - examples coming up when I can find the pics

 

Home made (well waterside-made really) rod rests. Bucket holds tackle and bait - only other piece of equipment is an unhooking mat. and I'm sitting on it.

 

Home made floats - Canada goose quills - take 2 to 3 SSG

 

 

Homemade rod and reel (made by a primary school kid under my tuition) - It replicates one I made myself at age 9 - there was a war on, so if you wanted to fish, you made your own gear.

 

 

I also tie my own flies (or get Snatcher to tie some for me) using (some) feathers/fur/hair from creatures I shot myself.

 

 

 

Vagabond,

 

Please write these things down for posterity,

 

and add a few pictures, with respect this is the sort of stuff my grandad used to do Now if he was alive he would be 108, Im not in any way making an age comparison Just a comparison of Knowledge, If these thing arnt archived, they get lost or have to be rediscoverd wich is a shame.

 

Also, have somewhere a series of pics I took showing how to mend a break in split cane (separate the fibres out with dressmakers pins - then glue them back one by one - inside fibres first)

 

Have built both greenheart and split cane rods from scratch Whipping on rings, intermediates, fitting brass ferrules, butt caps, shoulder ferrules, cork handles - splitting my own cane,

done all that!

Edited October 8, 2007 by five bellies

[jason.p]

I well remember when I was a lad back in the fifties making my first rod from a tank aerial. The eyes were whipped on with button thread and varnished, and cork rings glued to the butt end. It lasted me a few years, and caught me loads of fish.

In the early eighties I made a "proper" float rod from blanks, and despite being trampled by a herd of cows, I still use it today.

I still like to knock things up out of nothing, like attachments for my chair, such as rod rests and umbrella clamps etc. I always make my own rigs for the pole, and am planning to make a trolley to carry my ever increasing amount of gear.

Despite the fact that things are so readily available now, and I for one am a bit better off, I still get a kick out of making something myself, especially if I think I have saved myself some money ;)

[Ken L]

Here's a former military respirator bag that's been stripped out and had it's internal seems taped to stop hooks getting caught in the material. As you can see, it'll take 2 180 x 270mm lure boxes or one and a pile of other ods and sods. It's smaller and sits on the hip much better that the unused Wynchood rover bag that I've stuck in the photo for reference.

Despite a lot of looking, I've yet to fund a comercial lure bag that can touch this for fishing with small to medium lures.

 

Also in the picture are two sets of artery forceps. The pair on the right has had the tips cut down and re-ground on a simple stone to allow them to turn hooks without the tips crossing over and bending. The pair on the left are kept for going a bit deeper and I've not cut them down because they're the real thing, not a cheap inferior anglers copy of a pair of artery forceps and the steel is much better quality.

 

On top of the lure box is my fishing camera. I'ts kept dry and dust free in a locking plastic food container that fits so tightly that once the canera is wrapped in a sandwich bag, it won't even rattle. The camera goes everywhere with me, even on the beach without a second thought.

 

At the bottom of the frame ar a couple of trace wallets. They have a plastic cover and contain a dozen or so self seal plastic bags for the traces. I made a couple of the yellow ones up about 17 years ago and gave one to my dad. Both are still gowing strong. The green one and three other like it were made up when a mate asked for some. I'd still got the self seal bags that I bought from a wholesaler and the plastic cover for these ones came off a document wallet. The design works well because the cover tucks into itself so that even if a bag is open, the trace can't fall out.

BTW. I saw the little placy bags on sale in a local "head shop" at a quid for 50 the other day so these are still cheap as chips.

 

One thing that's not in the frame is my weigh sling. This is kept in a box similar to the camera where it stays permanently damp and ready to use.

[Vagabond]

five bellies wrote

Vagabond,

 

Please write these things down for posterity,

and add a few pictures, with respect this is the sort of stuff my grandad used to do Now if he was alive he would be 108

 

If these thing arnt archived, they get lost or have to be rediscoverd wich is a shame.

 

I have, I have - watch this space!

[chavender]

I've always repaired/altered/improvised my own tackle and i'm currently writing all my floatmaking stuff down on my website : http://anglerstalk.yuku.com/topic/2059 ,I'm just gettng the pictures sorted out ,theres nothing origanal (well except my experimental floats) when they're all done I'm going to make a pdf / e-book of it all ,which i'll pass onto elton .

 

I'm always tinkering with something ,i try to jot down my ideas (before i forget them) ,the outcome isn't always a professional finnish (I'm not always arty farty with them as i mostleymake things to use myself) I usually have several projects on the go at anyone time .building floats /making adjustable rod rests / designing a line guard for a centrepin /re-whipping a cane rod or modifying a rod i no longer use ! and just making things too use . it keeps the old brain ticking over i guess

[tincatinca]

Just come back from a weekend away and I think that this is an excellent thread which if continued will give both experienced and non experienced anglers a terrific insight into what can be done if you try. May be worth considering giving the subjecr a heading of its own eg 'How To'. Like many others on here I have learned how to do most things over the years and am always looking to find solutions to problems when they come up. One example is that for mobile river fishing I could not find a suitable collapsible landing net so finished up making one myself using a folding game frame, then fitting a suitable net and telescopic handle. It may be an age thing but whilst I am now fortunately in the position that I could if I wanted take the easy option, I much prefer to do it myself and get great satisfaction from doing so. Next project is too strip down a couple of old Alan Brown rods that I have and rebuild with cork handles. There are loads of items that one can make provided one has the most imprtant element which goes hand in hand with angling. Patience

[chavender]

some jobs are strait forward like restorations but new build thngs can be trial & error ,i tend to get flash's of inspiration which i try to record or scribble down ,occationally I hit on the perfect idea strait off other times i'll go through many ideas of which only one part is great ,i'll build a formal idea from the best bits like a jigsaw puzzle and sometimes an idea just grows and evolves .I'll even take bits of things others have done to amalgamate a design.

 

sometmes things are bourn out of a lack of somethng doing the job i need it too .or i'm just sat there and a crazy idea would pop in my head when talking to others about what they're doing and i'll share my ideas with them ,Like i say most of my ideas come to nothng in them selfs but often give rise to better ideas or just confirm that a already given idea is best

 

people should never be affraid to try out ideas or things ,it doesn't have too look great just work or not as the case maybe because for every ten ideas that don't work ,it only takes one to succeed.I generally get it too work first then worry how things look.

 

restorations are a more formal affair abit like paint by numbers as you already know how it should look.With retorations its all about the finnished product.hardest bit is usng or matchng the origanal parts used / colours

[James P]

Wasn't it SARKANDAS reed?? Or summat like that!!!

 

 

I've got loads of that stuff home here somewhere that I had when working in a tackle shop. Excellent float making material.

 

 

James