Something a Bit Different!

[bigjim5589]

Nice bait. If it was me I would take the loop where the swivel is on and wrap it around the shaft instead of butting up against it. You'll lose less swivels and blades.

The wire end is filed flat, butted flat against itself, and in 40 years I've never had a swivel come off on one that I made.

What mold do you use for that bigjim?

That mold is the style H spinner jig. I have the molds to make them up to 2 1/2 oz.

Do It has that same head for tying bucktails and with a barb for plastics, both as a jig. I have those molds also, and have always liked that style. No fancy, but works well. 

[efishnc]

The wire end is filed flat, butted flat against itself, and in 40 years I've never had a swivel come off on one that I made.

Hopefully you didn't jinx yourself there.

I also had never lost a blade in just as many years of fishing (maybe more) until smalljaw made mention of this about ten years back... then, there went the first one, and a few years later another, and again another with a few years passing... I lost about six in total.  I later (just when I was about to concede to locking) figured out my jinx was due to me switching from my former tight loop with a kink (somewhat similar to yours) to a longer more streamlined loop which basically made it easier for fish to shake the blade off... I still have never locked a blade (but I have also returned to my former loop method).

[bigjim5589]

This is how I make my loops.

[ctom]

I can't see how, even in hard fishing, that wire loop would open up and allow for the spinner to come off. Some of you guys must use brain like rope and poles like tree stumps and give a cast like a Roland Martin on steroids to loose spinners.

[bigjim5589]

I can't see how, even in hard fishing, that wire loop would open up and allow for the spinner to come off. Some of you guys must use brain like rope and poles like tree stumps and give a cast like a Roland Martin on steroids to loose spinners.

Many commercially made spinnerbaits only have a looped wire, looks like a tear drop, and I've had swivels & blades come off with them. IMO, that's done intentionally, as it takes less time & effort to make them, but also it's "planned obsolescence", knowing the spinnerbait either has to be repaired or replaced. I don't think that way, and I'm sure many custom lure makers here don't either.  I've always wanted lures to last, whether for my own use, or if I'm selling them to someone else and a reason I started making my own.

I have a couple of purchased spinnerbaits with the wire bent as Lamar suggested, but never saw a need to do it, since I've never lost a swivel & blade on those I've made.

How I form the loops, is no different than some are doing with bladed jigs when using a wire form for the line tie, except some of the wires for spinnerbaits are lighter. The one in this photo I think was .045 wire, which isn't going to open easily, and I used the heavier wire since I'll use it for Striped Bass. I've done this with wires from .029 to .051 diameter.
 
These loops are also only about 3-4mm diameter and it would take a good bit of effort to open them. If cutting the wire as I do with hand cutters, it leaves an end that isn't flat, and some may bend the wire without filing or grinding that end flat. IMO, that's part of why I've never lost a blade.  The extra effort for these small details make a big difference.

I'm not knocking what Lamar suggested either, that certainly assures a swivel & blade can't come off, but how I've been making them has worked too.

[Lines]

Nice, clean work bigjim.

[bigjim5589]

Lines, thank you! 

[Lamar]

  Mine was only a suggestion. We catch a lot of smallmouth up north and they're tough on spinnerbaits. I'm always taking pliers and straightening the wires back to normal. Then comes a Northern Pike or a Musky. That's why I wrap the wires and tie the skirts. Then I take side snips and cut the wire to reuse the blades and swivel.

[bigjim5589]

  Mine was only a suggestion. We catch a lot of smallmouth up north and they're tough on spinnerbaits. I'm always taking pliers and straightening the wires back to normal. Then comes a Northern Pike or a Musky. That's why I wrap the wires and tie the skirts. Then I take side snips and cut the wire to reuse the blades and swivel.

I've never hooked a Musky or N Pike, so that's never been an issue. I've caught many Pickerel and they sometimes bend up the wire, but I've never had them open up the wire. I've caught many Stripers too on spinnerbaits and never had one open up the wires, and they too can bend them.  When I've made them for targeting the Stripers, I've used heavier wire, but have hooked them while fishing for bass with lighter wire spinnerbaits. I guess it's all what you're used to doing.  I do appreciate the suggestion and will keep it in mind.

[ctom]

Of all the fish I have taken using a spinner bait nothing has done as much damage to one as a Dogfish in the 8-9 pound range. Those things are absolute hell on tackle, I don't care what kind it is. Now, back to the debate.

[efishnc]

Dogfish are unquestionably the champions of tackle busting!!!  Bigger ones are indeed worse (I've got several over 15lbs), but even a 3lber will wreck stuff in ways that seem impossible until they prove that it is.

[bigjim5589]

I don't recall ever catching one on a lure. May not have even been Dogfish, but have caught several shark species. Have caught them on baits but never on a lure that I remember. Our family caught them in NC when I was a kid. We would spend a week at an uncles beach house on Holden's island in NC and we caught a variety of small sharks on baits.

I caught some fish in the ICW there on flies and lures, but don't remember any sharks at all. I caught my first Black Drum there on a fly. There was a pier there too on the surf side, and we usually fished from the pier as a family, or my one brother & I fished the ICW. My uncle always had shrimp in the freezer.

[efishnc]

When you get a hooked dogfish near the surface, they tend to spin very rapidly like a alligator.  When doing so, I've seen them twist wires out of crank baits and rotate heavy wire flipping jig hooks 180 degrees without leveraging against anything (just open water)... many of us have had fish break various baits from time to time, but dogfish consistently are the most destructive freshwater fish I've experienced.

[bigjim5589]

When you get a hooked dogfish near the surface, they tend to spin very rapidly like a alligator.  When doing so, I've seen them twist wires out of crank baits and rotate heavy wire flipping jig hooks 180 degrees without leveraging against anything (just open water)... many of us have had fish break various baits from time to time, but dogfish consistently are the most destructive freshwater fish I've experienced.

Ah, Bowfin! I hadn't ever heard anyone call them dogfish. I'll keep that in mind. I think most folks around here call them Mudfish. They're one I haven't hooked up with yet. I know they exist here, but so far, I haven't hooked one.

They didn't exist in waters I used to fish in MD. Closest thing that might tear up a lure in freshwater was a Pickerel, and mostly they would break the line on their teeth, or a Bluefish in the saltwater. They could both leave teeth marks, but not often bust up hard baits. They sure would destroy soft plastic baits, especially the Blues. There were Muskies & N. Pike in some waters that I fished, but never hooked into one of them either.

[ctom]

The only thing I can think of on par with a dogfish is an American Eel. I've taken them up to about 3 1/2 feet on the Mississippi and those things have mouths that are  unreal with teeth and super strong jaws. After having one go thru the net's mesh in the boat the line gets cut while the writhing stinking mass is outside of the boat over water. In a boat a guy may as well have a similar length, pissed off, rattlesnake in there.