Big Epp

What diameter/type of wire do you use? I've got some .032" SS wire that holds its shape pretty well (not like lock wire). I don't pour lead yet, so I'd be making spinner forms sort of like those in the pictures I attached. Is .032" too small for bass? This is new territory for me.

This looks great! I'm thinking about making something like this as a way to speed things up and keep edges symmetrical. Any tips now that you've had it for a while?

Thanks! It looks like the blank is just fine. I was a duffus and had it resting against the edge of the boat while trolling for bass. A couple fish in I noticed damage to the clear coat.

DQ = Dairy Queen!

I love the idea of a little umbrella rig for crappie. What did you end up using to bend the wire? I've just been using pliers, and I've had good success so far.

For those of you in the US, big box pet stores like Petco and Petsmart will have a sale a couple time a year where they offer aquariums at $1/gallon. a 10 gallon tank would provide good viewing and adequate size for most operations, but if you were wanting to get a really good view of sink rate and sinking action a 29 gallon tank still isn't huge and offers quite a bit of height. I've thought to put a water pump at one end of a fish tank to generate current that would allow me to see the action of a lure, but I haven't tried it yet. For most of my lures I just use a clear plastic pretzel container that's maybe 6" across and 10" tall. It is definitely too small for most muskie baits though.

Alternatively (and yes, I see this is an old thread with an even older OP), you can make your own bobbin with wire. I don't fly ties consistently, I make lures. However, there are often times when I tie up stuff much like tying a fly. I bent up a bobbin (just look on YouTube), and it works great!

Ha! No joke @eastman03. I used to go up to a cabin in Ontario about an hour south-east of Nestor Falls on lake-of-the-woods for spring break, and we had to use every inch of the auger to drill a water hole. It was pretty weird parking the car out on the ice. Figure you'll thaw out by late-April? Side note, I just looked at LOTW on Google maps... I didn't realize how huge it is! And then I saw Lake Winnipeg...

The rule in our house is I can't kill anything that has a name, and it wouldn't take my "older" kids (6, 4, & 2) long to come up with names for all the cute fat-heads, chubs, and suckers. This looks great though! Wouldn't be hard to adjust this for an aquaponics system...

That'll do it! We have had about a week of really nice weather now. @cadman, I'm in the same neighborhood (about an hour outside the city). It was nice to finally get the ice off the creeks and ponds so I could get out and test some lures! I am one of those who gets impatient when it starts to warm up...we've already grilled out twice and I'm starting plants in the basement. I can't wait to get the garden going! I think we're still about six weeks or more earlier than my first fish last season, and there's still an excellent chance of frost until late April/early May. I interviewed for a job in a native village out on the bearing sea (St. Lawrence Island)... that's some harsh weather! Only trees on the island grow all of 12" tall...my wife literally asked me to start looking for jobs in places like Florida or the D.R. instead.