william cohen Posted August 27, 2021 Report Share Posted August 27, 2021 For a 3/8 oz body what blade size do I need. I I live in a area where I can not find a Mepps with this size body. Thank you Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 28, 2021 Report Share Posted August 28, 2021 A number 5 blade will work. The weight of a Mepps #5 aglia is a 1/2 oz. A body of 3/8 oz will put you near a 1/2 oz. weight for the bait. You could also use a size 4 blade which will run deeper. French (Aglia type) blades are easy to get to spin. I have made a few spinners with heavier bodies than recommended. The blade spins fine. The bait runs deeper. https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/content/make_fishing_lures.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william cohen Posted August 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2021 Hi JD, I'm glad you you posted the chart . Being a beginner I am confused about some of the information. Janns have the bodies listed , the ounces that are listed do not make sense to me . They are way less than the total weight I believe to make a spinner. For instance, body weight 73 is 1/14 oz. So that being so , would the blade and other add on come out to 1/3 oz? PS I have not made any spinners yet. Thank You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 30, 2021 Report Share Posted August 30, 2021 Some of those body weights do seem low for the bait weight on the right. When using the chart, you have to add up all the components, the body weight, plus the head weight (the small body piece in front of the main body piece, sometimes there are 2 of these), solid beads, clevis, and blade will get you to the total bait weight. I think the bait weight also includes the weight of the undressed treble hook. The things I use most from the chart are the bait weight and blade size. The chart is just a suggestion and you can vary all of it to some degree. I don't often use the numbered bodies on the chart. I am too cheap to buy all the body types and different solid beads. I use various size hollow beads and just have a one bag of small solid beads. I usually use a sinker or generic body I have laying around. In the winter, I like to walk the ice and pluck lures from trees with a telescopic pole, usually the bodies can be re-used even if the rest of the bait is destroyed. You can buy weights cheaper and paint them with nail polish, clear with Sally Hansen Hard as Nails or thinned epoxy. I use a hollow bead (or 2) in front of the sinker/body. In front of the hollow bead, I like to use a small solid bead for the clevis to spin on. I have no real weight except the blade and body. I weigh my components on a small precision digital scale I got off Amazon. You can weigh all of the components including blade and shaft before assembly. You can compare your components' weight to the bait weight column to get a blade size similar to a Mepps. The bait weight column in the chart matches the Mepps Aglia weights. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/mepps-aglia-original-plain-spinner Aglia Mepps 0 1/12 oz Mepps 1 1/8 oz Mepps 2 1/6 oz Mepps 3 1/4 oz Mepps 4 1/3 oz Mepps 5 1/2 oz With a body weight of 3/8 oz, you will be looking at a bait around a 1/2 oz the way I make them, probably a bit over 1/2 oz. Then, I look at the 1/2 oz bait weight line on the chart and find the blade size of #5. I usually go with the chart's hooks size for trebles (size 2 treble for a #5 bait). That bait if built will run just a bit deeper than a Mepps 5 Aglia. File that body down a bit and you could get the bait weight even closer to a 1/2 oz and be really close to the Mepps running depth if you want as close to exact as possible. The key thing to look at when building a spinner is the blade size compared to the total bait weight. Each blade size will have a range of bait weights it will work with. You can downsize a French blade for a given bait weight to make it run deeper. You could use a size 4 blade with that 3/8 oz body for a deeper running spinner. Too much weight vs. blade and the bait could retrieve too vertically and not spin well. You can upsize the blade to make it run shallower. If you upsize the blade too much, the bait could surface or just retrieve without spinning like a sled. Trailers like grubs and paddletails will also give some lift and add even more variables. You do have to experiment. Fortunately, shafts are cheap. If I am fishing a shallow river for bass/pike with major snag hazards, I might try a 1/4 oz body on a spinner with a #5 blade to keep it high in the water column. Conversely, I have a couple of spinners made with a 1 oz body and size 5 blade for deep water in reservoirs. There is no set formula. The blade size to bait weight depends on the specific fishing style you are trying to achieve. This also works in combination with retrieve speed. Faster retrieve, more rotation = more lift/shallower. Slow retrieve, less rotation = less lift/deeper. A scale and keeping notes on the exact size and weights of the components help a lot when you find combos you like. This prior post has some more info. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/37973-inline-blade-thickness/ I hope this helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william cohen Posted August 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2021 Just when I think I'm getting my head wrapped around this information there is more to learn lol. Since you have been so generous with your time perhaps you can suggest a wire former. I've looked at them all. I've narrowed it down to the Worth, and the Jannsnetcraft wire former. I'm open to suggestions. I've have thought about the round nose pliers but being very picky about my work I'm wondering whether this would be the best option. I don't want to spend a lot of money, until I get into making spinners. I'll see if I want to continue. Thank you for your help Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william cohen Posted August 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2021 Mudbug, the information you have written is very interesting and helpful. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 30, 2021 Report Share Posted August 30, 2021 I would try bending the loops yourself. I mostly use round nose pliers, needle nose pliers, and vice grips for wire work. My round nose pliers have a stepped jaw. I also use a bench vise to hold nails and bits of metal rod to make bends around those on heavier wire. You get good at it real quick. Unless you plan on making a lot, I don't know if a wire former is worth it. I buy my shaft wires with a loop on one end. I build my spinners from the bottom up. At the line tie end, I bend the loop with the tools above. I sometimes use a Shyster type line tie loop. I sometimes put a swivel on the line tie loop of larger spinners. I am not sure if a wire forming tool can do those easily. I attach the hook by split ring on the loop that came on the shaft. I have made around 100 spinners over the past few years as I got into species other than bass. At most, I made maybe 25 a year which is not a lot. If I had to break it down, I probably have 40 for trout (sizes 1 to 3), 30 for bass and pike (sizes 4 - 6), another 20 or so in the size 4-6 range with hooks for soft plastic trailers, and around a dozen .051 wire musky bucktail type spinners. Now that I have a supply built up, I make only a couple a year to try something new or re-shaft a mangled spinner. At one point, I had a wire former from Twist-tech (which was good). It only did small wires so I didn't use it much. You had to buy an extra kit to do .040 wire which I like on size 5 spinners because I fish in pike waters. You also needed another larger wire former to do .045 and .051 wire. Because I have to use from .025 all the way to .051 wires, I would rather spend the money on blades and other components. A screw-up only costs you a wire shaft. You can buy a lot of shafts with that money. Once you start making them, wire bending becomes easy and you rarely screw-up. Side note: For wire twist eyes on hardbaits, I bought these pliers. I paid $10. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082SX8D4G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The 9" pliers work fine. You just need to use a glove because the knurling on the knob is harsh when new. Took a couple of tries to get good at it by twisting the wire around a nail in a vise. Well worth the $10. Don't waste your time on the 6", too flimsy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william cohen Posted September 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2021 Thanks for your information. I'm sure you will be hearing from me again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasilofchrisn Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 On 8/30/2021 at 1:39 PM, william cohen said: Just when I think I'm getting my head wrapped around this information there is more to learn lol. Since you have been so generous with your time perhaps you can suggest a wire former. I've looked at them all. I've narrowed it down to the Worth, and the Jannsnetcraft wire former. I'm open to suggestions. I've have thought about the round nose pliers but being very picky about my work I'm wondering whether this would be the best option. I don't want to spend a lot of money, until I get into making spinners. I'll see if I want to continue. Thank you for your help Bill If you want a good wireformer just buy a Twistech. Forget those cheapies and buy a quality one once! If you can get a true Twistech(yes there's fakes out there) then you're set. I hear they're in short supply though. I make all sizes of spinners and a quality tool sure makes it easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
