Copper Fishing Lures

[Totumpole]

Thought I would share some fishing lures I have been churning out on my "sick day" today. It's all from the tutorials in Bushcraft & Survival Skills magazine issues 10 & 11. I've used some copper from plant pot labels (rather than pipes as in the tutorial), its pretty thin but i hope with some lead shot on the line they will do the job. They are not quite finished - still need to get a soldering iron to seal the rings and awaiting my swivels to be delivered from ebay for the non-hook ends, then they are done.

I would be up for selling or trading some (as I'm gonna churn out lots more) to fund/exchange for more fishing kit to get me started if any one is interested.
I look forward to some feedback and thoughts.

 

[JAG009]

They look good and should do the job ,just one wee tip put two rings on the hook side it just makes the hook set better and stops the fish using the spoon as a lever to pull the hook out .

Jason

 

[Totumpole]

Cheers for the tip
I take it you mean a double twist on the same ring, like a key-ring and not just 2 separate rings. i did that with the far right one and it was pain to get on (lots of beding the rings then attempting to unbend them), probably cos its the biggest one though.

 

[JAG009]

Like this

 

[eel28]

Those look really good, would I be right in thinking they were fairly easy to make?

 

[HHazeldean]

I tried making some of those yet I didn't have any treble hooks banging around and couldn't be bothered to get any. I used the same tutorials from Bushcraft Mag and they are pretty good. Might be interested in a trade perhaps...

 

[Totumpole]

Cheers jason, that looks like it will work.

Eel28 - cheers mate - they are easy if you have the right bits and bobs kicking about.

Hazeldean - you could always try something like the one on the far left with normal hooks, it one of the suggestions for alternatives in issue 11. If you want to trade anything PM me - still need to finish them up with swivels and seal the rings with some solder.

 

[filcon]

May I suggest you try using the ball end of a hammer and pummel indentations and make them more spoon shape. The light will catch the indentations and reflect the light at different angles and the spoon will cause vibration. Try it on a couple then test in water, good luck.

phil

 

[sam_acw]

Look nice, good work and a good idea!

 

[Totumpole]

Again, thanks all for the advice. Taking on board what people said and a few other ideas Ive had here are the modified ones. Ive kept a bit of a mixture to try the various designs out.

Using a hammer to round them didnt seem to work for me, they just buckled and looked more like scrap metal, plus i struggled to get them shiny again. I used a small pair of pliars to indent them whilst bending them to a curve. The polished up again with some red strop paste,
Still not managed to get a soldering iron to seal the rings, but its on the list (if anyone wants to swap one for a litre of boiled linseed oil let me know!)

 

[Green Weasel]

Using a hammer to round them didnt seem to work for me, they just buckled and looked more like scrap metal, plus i struggled to get them shiny again. I used a small pair of pliars to indent them whilst bending them to a curve. The polished up again with some red strop paste,
Still not managed to get a soldering iron to seal the rings, but its on the list (if anyone wants to swap one for a litre of boiled linseed oil let me know!)

If you want to make then concave,lay the lure blank inside a dessert( other sizes of spoon and sundry kitchenalia may be used as appropriate ) spoon. This will act as a form . Then tap it with hammer so it matches the contours of the dessert spoon . It may help to anneal the copper or brass by heating it to a cherry red with a blow torch or over a gas hob. This makes it easier to work and less likely to split . Solvol Autosolve polish is great for putting a shine back on but anything slightly abrasive such as mud and wood ash will do a bit of a job if you add a bit of elbow grease .
I once made a few six to eight inch spoons using the brass doorplates salvaged from the demolition of my local Woolworths thinking that they would be good for picking out the bigger pike . How wrong was I?. The little jacks loved them. Some ofthe baby pike I caught were only about twice the size of the lures !.

 

[Totumpole]

Didnt think of heating them - cheers for the tip. I had carved a spoon shape into a lump of wood to bash it into, but that wont mix so well with the heated metal. I need to get myself a good ball hammer, only got a small normal one (with nail pulling claw), which wasn't up to the job.
I'm thinking more along the lines of fishing for trout to eat. Not been fishing since I was a kid and this was baited fishing at the local fish farm and the occasional and wholly unsuccessful salmon fly fishing trips with the old man, so dont really know anything about this lure fishing malarky

 

[bikething]

It may help to anneal the copper or brass by heating it to a cherry red with a blow torch or over a gas hob.

Didnt think of heating them - cheers for the tip. I had carved a spoon shape into a lump of wood to bash it into, but that wont mix so well with the heated metal.

What you need to do is heat the copper to cherry red - THEN let it cool naturally - Then form it. You don't work it hot

'Fresh' copper is soft, but it 'work hardens' - That is, the more you bend/hit it, the harder / stiffer it becomes. Annealing is the proces of heating it up to a high temperature, then letting it cool naturally which softens it up again

 

[Totumpole]

Cheers bikething, that makes sense, will give it a try.

 

[JAG009]

Those look like they will do the job a treat

Jason

Ps the red tails are a good extra attractor ,try using feathers as well

 

[nic a char]

Pick up a batch of cheap tea/pudding spoons in a charity shop - they WORK