qwapaw said:
OK, I finally felt like getting off my duff and doing something productive towards fishing. These are my first 3 pinners I made. With a little more work, I think I can make some real nice ones. It is so much fun I even forgot to try to make the first one in the colors I had laid out. The white bladed one will get a high gloss UV coat over the top of the primer and the red shark. When I get good enough I hope to trade with all you guys that make your own. I think that would be a kick. Thanks, for looking, Qwapaw
I know that this is your first effort so I'll try to go easy.
I've been building spinners (correctly) since 1985 so I know a little about this.
I formed my opinions and style on unweighted trolling spinners under the guidance of Dave Kaffke of Angling Specialities.
Dave was also instrumental in helping me understand weighted spinners, esp. using inline blades.
My French blade foundation comes from Jed Davis and his Hall of Fame book.
Any of your spinners could catch fish but they could be more effective if built properly. There are problems with each one.
1. This one uses a Colorado blade and a weighted body. It's a mix of trolling and casting parts.
A large Colorado is typically utilized for a unweighted trolling spinner. A Colorado used for a weighted design is not desirable because it grabs air and doesn't fly like a heavy French blades does.
The blade is too far away from the hook and the hook itself could be improved on. I don't use many trebles but when I do I reach for a round bend style such as Owner or Gami.
2. This is an unweighted trolling spinner and the blade is too far away from the hook. Also, taper your beads the other way.....don't put a smaller bead at the bottom.
3. This is a weighted casting spinner using a bead body.
The blade is too far away from the hook. The beads should be arranged in a weight-forward style as per Jed Davis. This arrangement is the parent of the high performance one piece bodies available today. See Jed's book.
Don't use plastic beads on weighted spinners. You will be wasting valuable space on the spinner.
Don't use bait hooks on spinners. They are not designed for this and are not as effective in this role.
In the photos below, the Lucky R is from Big Moby Tackle and shows proper proportions for a trolling spinner. Lucky R is a special deep cup Colorado variant. I prefer the blade a little closer to the hook.
When hanging vertically, my blades are about a 1/4" above the hook point on trolling spinner.
This spinner uses hook tubing to hold the hook straight. There will always be two schools of thought on this matter....rigid (hook tubing/shrink tube) or loose.
I'm in the loosie-goosie camp....I like a single hook on its own high quality swivel on the business end of a trolling spinner.
The second photo is from RVRFSHR showing proper proportions for a high performance French blade weighted spinner.
The hook is the new Sickle hook from Matzuo. A very good hook at reasonable cost.
When hanging vertically I like my French blade to be about the same length as the body. Also, I like the blade to be as parallel to the body as possible....not sticking out at an angle because of improper bead placement.
A good bearing bead of 3/32" or so is a must on a French blade.
Build however you choose, but these are time-proven standards.
One thing's for sure, it's a kick in the butt when you bust a silver bullet on one of your creations for the first time.