dopey

I just make my own - depending on the size jig you use some of the store spinners wire won't go through small hook eyes unless it's a smaller diameter wire. Used them for years! Here's a bunch I made.

Never seen a blade like that come from Cabela's! You can also try Hagen's they sell nice blades and you can get less than minimum by paying an extra $1!! I've bought lots from them.

Most fly tying places carry black bear but brown is tough to come by. You could try Moscow Hide and Fur https://www.hideandfur.com/ and look in the pieces section, but I haven't seen any for a while. Brown is a hit or miss. Legal Polar bear hair you can get here but you're not going to like the price and it's only in small pieces. Plus check your state rules or call them first https://www.boonetrading.com/collections/polar-bear-fur Panda is a protected species you won't get any. Depending on how long you want the hair try Arctic fox tail it comes in many dyed colors or Finn Raccoon hair

Sharpies will work but will fade! You can dye hair to many colors - The craft fur just buy the color you're looking for it doesn't dye very well. For the natural furs you can dye them many colors. I use Fly Dye from Anglers Workshop http://www.anglersworkshop.com/Water-Fowl-Feathers/Anglers-Fly-Dyes If you're thinking of doing hides and then cutting into zonker strips it's VERY HARD. It's taken me a few years to learn what little I know so if I can help let me know!

I'm lucky in that I've gotten just about every hair I can lay my hands on bear - black and grizzly, rabbit, buck tail, squirrel, lama, bison, camel, arctic fox and nutria, possum tibetan lamb, silver fox, alpaca and I even have huge zonker striips from a Sable fur coat my daughter brought me! You can mix and match what ever you want and see what works for you and what the fish like.

I make my own blade baits from Do it molds. I have 2 of the old Zonar molds closest to the Silver Buddy. I can pour 1/4 oz. that I use on a spinning rod or 1/2 oz. that I use on an old Bass Pro cranking stick 7 ft. They've always been around and the wise always kept using them!!

You can try these https://www.meltontackle.com/marlin-teaser-wire-with-swivel.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0tqRsajz4QIVjEoNCh0isg3REAkYBSABEgIrm_D_BwE

I can make the lead ones but I cant paint like that

Ball, football, aspirin whatever!! I've been making them since junior high school and yes I make my own frames. Any blade you think might work try it! Size wire you use to make them is dependent on jig head size!! the smaller the jig the smaller the wire you have to use or it won't go through the eyelet!!!! I use wire size .024, 0.29 and 0.31

Had that happen at my fly shop - talked the wife into stopping and spent an hour looking through stuff and shocked the hell out of her when I said ok I'm done and walked out without anything!!!

If you want to see how old/when made that line is look on the lable and you'll find a sequence of letters and numbers that look like this C - 4 - 10 - 1 (March 4th, 2010, First Shift) The C - Is the month (Jan is A, Feb is B, Mar is C, and so on) The 4 - Day of the Month The 10 - is the year The 1 - Was what shift it was made on

I have a couple of the Ugly Stick Pro Lite spinning rods and I really like them. They're balanced and well made. I match them with several different Shimano reels and they make a great combo. How many remember the Zebco Indestructable rods??? I have one I use with a shimano symetre and it's a really nice combo. I'm starting to believe that freshwater fisherman are starting to get like some of the flyfisherman "SNOBS"!!LOL If you don't use a $1000 rod, and at least a $500 fly reel you're not a real flyfisherman. I found a St. Croix Imperial fly rod at the flea market last summer and got it for $10!! Looks like it was never used. They go for $250 and a used one depending on condition $150 and up. Put my fly reel on it and I hate to say it but my cheap Courtland Fairplay fly rod casts better. Fishing is for relaxing - use what you like and can afford and go catch some fish!!!

Thanks - it was tough with the wires but not bad for the first time I tried it. I found some 4.5" stainless steel bulldog clips and they should?? keep the dye from going to high, and give me a solid hold to dip in and out. I get a lot of the two toned by getting the Hareline assorted pieces packs and cutting them myself. I bought some lime green arctic fox pelts and I want to try dipping the tips purple but need the clips first. We'll see what happens with those!!LOL

There are so many materials to use - from craft fur to naturals, any type zonker strip or cut hair and tied in. Black, brown, grizzly and polar bear, rabbit, arctic fox, sable, mink, possum, squirrel are a lot of what I use for cold water jigs. If you want to try the arctic fox tail and get a bunch of different colors go to Waters West and get some assorted color piece bags http://waterswest.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_282_30&products_id=951 Bright Selection Earth Tone Selection Dyed rabbit hides are getting cheaper - I got mine on ebay from a lady switching from real fur to fake fur for her teddy bears. Moscow Hide and fur for fur pieces http://www.hideandfur.com/inventory/7875.html

Cut some white and black arctic fox cross cuts and some white rabbit cross cuts. A buddy on one of my fly tying boards asked me about white with Chartreuse tips - so I'm going to try dyeing just the tips on the white!!! I threaded the white on wires and have to hit the dollar store to get the right pan. and the results - learned a few things REAL QUICK!!! You don't need a lot of dye. I mixed the dye in one of my glass canning jars and then poured it in the pan - since I had so much left I grabbed some red fox and stuffed it in the jar and it came out great!!!! You can't just set these in the dye and leave them as the fur will suck the dye right up - doing these is just a dip and lift and repeat. Would work way better if you had a clamp and just the tips hung out, more to hold on to and you could do a bunch at the same time. Altough they weren't perfect you can see white atop the dye on the tips Close up Red Fox top view Red Fox bottom view - shows really nice segmented lines

Bought a batch of fur from the same lady I've bought from before. One of the freebies was the long white sheep. I know you guys that make the Preacher jigs are always looking for long hair - it's not stiff like bucktail but softer and moves easy. White and Black Arctic Fox and Red Fox Pink/White rabbit skin and Grey/Brown Rabbit Skin Natural and blond nutria She threw all these in as freebies!! Top Row - possum and tibetan lamb Bottom row - more white arctic fox, silver fox and alpaca dyed blue curly lamb, tibetan lamb and long sheep hair Length of the long white sheep

Picked up a DO-It SAJ-4-A Slide Along jig mold today - now I just have to get hooks for it. They call for a 1623 style hook but can only find them in bronze - any other suggestions??

X2 with smalljaw One thing on pic 2 with the willow leaf, clevis size is really important, if the clevis isn't big enough the tip of the blade can catch tight against the wire and it won't spin no matter what you do. No matter what type clevis you use make sure there is plenty of clearancee space between the wire and blade tip.

I started making them back in the 80's! Like smalljaw I use bodies made from a Do-It mold, I traded for a bunch of them but I also use the brass and nickle ones My nephew tore up a rooster tail and asked me to make a copy of it as he knew I made spinners - the rooster tail is on the left mine is on the right. The swing blades were the only ones I had at the time but got some BIG blade packages on ebay for the old Swiss Swing blades, roto, weber, and weller blades. Don't limit yourself to just brass beads, you can go to the craft stores when they're having sales and pick up lots of beads for cheap. I also use both types of clevis's - stirrup and folded. Hair or feathers you can use whatever you want. I buy whole dyed pelts, or I dye pieces of them and cut zonker strips in smaller sizes for wrapping on trebles. I've used all types of feathers and furs. I use an old Netcraft former, a worth hand former and one I made myself. Old school You can fancy later on Enjoy the heck out of making your own!!! What you can make you'll never find on store shelves. If you get stuck on something ask away and we'll help you out.

Okay - where did they put the log out button???

You can find several of the molds for them on ebay - the old ZR mold is a copy of the Silver Buddy, the ones I've seen are the 1/4th and 1/2oz. sizes. Molds for the bigger ZR sizes can be tough to find. The cheapest blanks right now are from Barlows - I did a spreadsheet on 6 places trying to find the cheapest and it was them. I got a 100 of each size in nickle and brass, and the 400 blanks cost $117.00. On the nickle blanks once you pour them the lead is nice and shiny - wait for it to cool and just coat with clear epoxy. On the brass ones I want some of them to tarnish before I coat them it gives them a rusty brown crawdad color. Cad where is the place that does the nickle plating?? I'd definately like to check that out!

There is no such place as the best place to buy all the stuff for making in-lines. I have to agree with Dave A. on lifefly - 16 colors for $15 plus shipping, it's worth the week or so to get it, and sometimes it's less than that. http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-Colors-16-Packs-Flashabou-Fly-Tying-Jig-Lure-Holographic-Tinsel-Flash-/251860824465?hash=item3aa4133191:g:GnIAAOxyrrpTgx1U If you really want to get cheap making them buy the mold to make spinner lure bodies and paint them yourself. I've got all the new style blades but I've got old Weber, Weller, Marathon and even some roto blades - they definately give you a different thump than regular blades. You can buy lots of beads on sale at Michaels and Hobby Lobby - I've got a place like it called AC Moore, and I get lots of glass beads through them. I'm still using an old netcraft wire former I bought in the early 80's and it's still going strong.

You can but why would you want to?? The cranes will spin way better than a barrel swivel and look better. If cost is a major factor get these swivels - they're out of China and I got the tip from a friend about how good they were. http://www.ebay.com/itm/281825532702?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&var=580812816779&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT The above size swivel size 8 is a US size 12. You could also use a size 7. It takes about 2 weeks to get them in the mail

All great idea above but here's a couple more: One thing i always do when spooling line is to run it through damp paper towel - all line has a light powder on it. This will sound weird, but buy some womans knee highs - run one along the edges of your spool to check for nics and also run them through the guides. I've done this even after running qtips to see if there's a crack that the line is catching on

I'm a die hard Shimano guy - just wanted to say don't give up on your old symmetre. It may just need to be cleaned, one thing I like about them is you cn pull the side cover off and look inside just by taking the side plate off. I have Shimanos from the 1980's up to the Syncopate I bought last October, and they all work great! You didn't say what size your symmetre was so for the rod - take your new reel and put it on and see how well it balances out.