diemai

...........one should really expect that , Sonny , ........but in this case at least two generations of Scottish ironmonger's families were able to make a living on the parts of the fleet that they could get hold of , ........only some wrecks are still resting at the bottom of the sea . It's been said that the steel of the emperor's battleships was very well-suited for making surgical instruments , ....far better use , I'd say ! greetz , Dieter

Over here in Germany , fishing affairs are in the hands of the single states , .......every holder of a federal fishing license must pay an annual fishing fee to his local authorities to be allowed to fish at all , added costs are memberships in fishing clubs(to access their waters) and/or costs for allowance licenses for certain waters , ...the latter are the far larger costs so far , anyway . Hardly any waters are free off an extra charge apart from the federal license , only very few exeptions around like f. e. the harbor area of the city of Hamburg or the Baltic Sea shoreline of my homestate . Up to now the federal fishing license is accepted nationwide , meaning one could also use it in others but the own homestate to obtain the required special allowances or membership in fishing clubs . But now my own homestate demands the annual fishing fee from anglers living in other states , but willing to fish local waters , as well ! This restriction might not yet find grip in 2012 , but surely will in future , .......as a result ALL of our states might collect that fee from fishermen living in other states but fishing local waters . Our homestate's government probably thinks , that this would be another source of income , as they mainly live on tourism and agriculture , also plenty anglers from the city of Hamburg fish our local waters and would have to pay extra then . And if this new system would turn out to pay off for the state , other states would surely chime in , ..........I have fishing club memberships in three states and frequently fish on the territory of four states , ............looks like my passion would become more costly in future ? BTW , .......this annual fishing fee is supposed to be used for fishery affairs like increasing stocks or building fish passes , etc. , exclusively , ...........similar to the federal excise tax you have to pay on fishing items over there in the States , .........but in the past there have been lawsuits against our local state government , because they wanted to use the fishermen's money for entirely different purposes , .........they've lost , naturally ! And as far as for taxes , .......in Germany we have a tax on champagne and sparkling wine , a certain share of each bottle's shop price goes to the federal ministry of finance straight away , ..........this particular tax was raised by the German emperor William the Second during the very early 20th century , ......his purpose was to raise funds to build up a fleet for Imperial Germany to play a bigger role in the dangerous international game of power of the time . Well , .......his fleet rusts away on the bottom of the sea at Scapa Flow now , .......political systems have changed a few times since , thank God from evil to good(or should I just say better ?) , .........but the emperor's tax still prevails into our present times , .........funny , isn't it ? greetz , diemai

Yeah , Vic , ...this fish-catching jealousy thing was often assumed to be the cause of stupid fishing club restrictions over here as well , .......new and successful methods are just restricted by the most likely elderly chairmen , because they don't practise these fishing tactics for themselves . And over here we are violating the restrictions every time that we release a legal sized fish , .......because if we would obey , our natural stocks would be entirely through ! Just read in a local paper , that in LA/California a popular vote is to be held in summer , ........ there is a descision required whether male actors in LA made porn movies should be restricted to wear condoms on the job or not . Anti-aids activists had collected the 70.000 signatures neccessary to make that referendum possible . Now this is absolutely important for a functional democracy , isn't it ? Sorry about my little sarcasm , but when I read this having my lunch today, I've just thought about the discussion in here ! greetz , Dieter

This is exactly the authorities' "salami" tactics , that I've mentioned in one of my previous posts , .....pretty much used to it over here as well , .....we have a small slow current river in Hamburg , half way covered with lily pady during summer , .......it was a paradise for fishermen fishing for non-predatory species like roach , rudd , tench , carp , etc. with float set-ups , .....you could always see anglers sitting on it's banks , in particular older folks , as the small river is easily accessible parking aside the street leading along the dykes following the river bank . Quite a few years ago the authorities have rendered the area into a natural preservation area , ...fishing still allowed , BUT , .....any CHUMMING FORBIDDEN now ! As chumming is essential for this fishing method(at least , if you wanna catch some fish) , one hardly sees any anglers there anymore , ...only a few lure casters during fall season and some eel anglers during summer nights ! Vic , ........I can still understand this local chumming restriction , as it improves the water quality , but the above mentioned age limit in your place is hard to follow , ............even over here I haven't heard of such before ! greetz , Dieter

Apart from certain locations , persons and special conditions this sounds pretty much familiar to me and describes the situation pretty well (also over here), ....I can fully second to it ! greetz , diemai

So do we have over here(personally I'd rather name it a " legislative period dictatorship"), ..........but such topics like this one are of minor interest to public and politicians , ..........and I reckon that far most electors would not hang their votes on it , ..........just for example , .......would you vote for any extreme anti-democratic party , no matter what left or right wing , if only they would promise to give you better possibilities and options for fishing ? Bet you would rather think about what in your opinion would be best for the welfare of the country , state and society you live in , because this would surely be more important to you than just an improvement or the preservation of leisure time activities ? Don't think , that politicians would even bother about a few fishermen's votes to loose or to win , ........at least not over here ! When federal parliament or state parliament elections are taking place over here in Germany , a popular local angling site requests general statements about the opinions on fishing from all great political parties , ........these statements are most likely all sounding positive for angler's demands(even the ones of the Greens) , ...........but obviously we're still getting butt-kicked time and time again ! greetz , diemai

..............I hope , that still enough things to try about lures would pass my way , ........otherwise it might get a bit boring ! greetz , Dieter

This flexible drive shaft is just easier to handle , as it's handle portion is only about as large as a marker felt pen , ........in particular very handy for furnishing fine engravings and other finacky work , as one does not have to guide the whole tool , .....would surely be of advantage on small baits as well . greetz , diemai

Off course many people would see point in your statements about closing times and preserveration areas , I do as well . All of this we already have over here in Germany , but our opponents never seize their verbal shooting on us , that's a fact , ....period . Just recently some first class fishing spots along the river "Elbe" here in Hamburg/Germany were switched into natural preservation areas by the authority for environmental questions, ...no fishing allowed anymore . Anglers know about these areas , as they are indicated in the fishing licenses , .........hikers , swimmers , paddlers , party folks and people walking their dogs usually don't know and often also don't bother much about the few indication signs . Just mean to say , that most likely all preservation activities are restricting hunters , anglers , fishermen and also farmers almost exclusively(others just don't know or even bother) , .........but at least the latter two are usually receiving monetary compensations . We anglers know , what we are doing for conservation at our fishing clubs waters , the wide public does not notice this , they only see us to be putting hooks into defenseless creatures and/or kill them for fun . And when it comes to big business or popular public building projects , there will always be a way to shut down natural preservation areas for this , .......very popular is to find a substitute patch of land or water to render into a new preservation area , .......certainly not caring about any farmers , fishermen or hunters that have been doing their activities on that spot before . greetz , diemai

Thanks for pointing out , ......but I guess , that it really does not matter , whether a genuine "Dremel" runs on 110V in the US or on 220V in Europe or even is a rechargeable one , ....I was just refering to those cheap knock-offs from supermarket sales , ........these are really crap as they're not powerful at all . greetz , diemai

I don't have good experience with those cheap versions operating on low 12V or 24V current , one can sometimes even hold their working spindle by hand , ........the versions working on ordinary household current 220V have much more power . greetz , diemai

@ Toadslinger I'm making these props out of 0,5 mm stainles steel sheet , can get it free on the scrapyard of my work . The material is thin enough to still be able to cut with hand snips or shears , ...no bench shears required , .........but is too thin to cut properly with a metal saw . Small corners should be drilled before cutting with shears , a second waste piece of sheet should be used to lay underneath the shears cutting edge , so that the cut won't get to reach further as intended . 0,5 mm copper or brass sheet is not suitable , ........as being too soft , it is subject to easy warping and bending , ...even the stainless steel props should not be made larger than maybe 1 1/2" because of these issues , ..........thicker sheet od maybe 1,0 mm might easily become too heavy , especially for smaller lures , ...also it can't be cut with snips anymore(stainless steel only , copper and brass still possible) . I've made props out of 1,0 mm alumium sheet as well , ...but it seems to me , that these do not provide such a good and rich sound compared to the steel ones , .........I reckon , this is because the material is comparebly light in weight , ...does not shoulder into the water as good ! @ pizza I also believe these props that you've mentioned to be surperior to the flat ones commonly available , ...these ones constantly cant on their axis since they do not have any bearing surface other that the thin sheet they are made of . I have tried to soup up such flat props with bearing bushes that I've turned down from brass rod , but also small pop rivet heads can be used for this purpose , results turned out pretty well , .........only does not work for very small of such props , as their center hole requires to be drilled larger for the bush to fit in . Shot some pictures displaying some of my unsymetrical props of aluminium(these are scrap , ...would make them of SST and with a bearing bush next time) , my template for a small buzz-prop(about 1" from tip to tip) , one flat prop with a homemade brass bearing bush and a shop-bought muskie lure propeller , also with a bearing bush , .........another one is an experimental aluminium single-blade prop with two bearing prongs , would also make it of steel nowadays , also make the distance between the two bearing surfaces less for the prop not to protrude over the ends of the lure too much . Also shot two pictures from a luremaking book showing the template shape of two different props . If my memory serves me right , I've been into a discussion about props in here before , but pretty long time ago , ........maybe someone could still dig it up ? greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , fellas , ....always glad if I'd be able to provide some input ! @ littleriver Vic , .....I've been making lure propellers with unsymetrical blades before , ........just don't know , why I did not think of it in terms of a paddle wheel either , ........ingenious idea of yours , ......whenever I'd feel like having another go on a paddler I'll get back to it , .....thanks so much for your inspiration ! @ BigBassMan My wife sometimes wants my reject lures as well to hang them amongst all of her fancy stuff on the balcony , so they still serve a purpose besides of that we have learned from them ! @ saltshaker This PVC stuff is just incredible buoyant , .......first tied those two brass scrab pieces onto it and it still could carry them , had to go down the shop and get two more to anchor it finally ! @ mark poulson Thanks , Mark , ......but in fact my wife's not patient at all , ....but I'm a north German , we are infamous to be stubborn breed ! @ RayburnGuy , @ mark poulson Ben and Mark , you're pretty much right , I guess , .........I've made such lures before after book pictures , a bit smaller , BUT with a belly hook and without a skirt , ..........this second treble surely helps to turn the lure into the right direction for the cupped plane pointing straight back towards the angler, thus providing the best and most reliable function . I only did not want a belly hook on this lure , because it surely would have permanently fouled with the skirt . But a little weight instead would have certainly done the job as well , ........and even if the lure would just cant a tad off it's vertical swimming level , ....who cares ? Thanks for pointing out , Ben , ........gotta think of it next time . @ A-Mac To be honest , .....I have never hooked a fish on such lures , ....too seldom I'm fishing the padfields . Back one summer day this year I've had three attacks of small , unexperienced pike on a similar lure worked over waterweed , ...but all had missed ! I have fished those plastic frogs before as well , ..had a few strikes of pike , but no hook-ups either . I believe , that these particular bass lures are not that well-suited for pike , because the fish really has to engulf the lure with it's jaws and squeeze it to get the hookpoints free to protrude sufficiently to find grip for a hookset . Bass have very large mouth and virtually suck in their prey , maybe even hold on for a longer time , ...pike only rather take a brief but vicious bite , somewhat already protruding hook points would surely be of advantage for this species , I believe . Apart from that , these plastic mice and frogs won't survive more than max. three pike , I guess , .......they'd simply shred them to pieces . Thanks again for your interest , friends , .......greetz , Dieter