DIY

I make nearly all my own floaats because they're better than shop-boughts at a tenth of the price.

i remember as a kid i made a seat box out of chipboard,obviously after a number of outings it got wet ,swelled and duly collapsed at the start of one session!!so my dad bought me a wicker one- remember them?

you are not alone with the home made gear issue
i find that most of the stuff you buy is mass produced and quite a lot of it on closer inspection can be home made or modernised to some degree thus making last a bit longer in some cases

rather than having to buy a new item cos the last one was so cheep you might as well buy a new one or maybe you would dicide to spend a few bob more and get one that will last that bit longer before you need to replace it but replace it you will cos lets face it a lot of us get that kid in a sweet shop feeling when we go for a pint of maggots and come out thinking we have just saved a few quid when we are 30/40 quid down

still its our money we earned it ay lads
then you remember shit you was only going out for an hour with a pint of maggots

ah well if we was not fishing we would have to sit in the house with the wife and kids slowly turning your brain to mush with her
cmon lets nip down to B&Q i need a new lampshade and the kids moanin cmon dad we can go to Mc Donalds on the way back cant we dad please dad cant we please dad please cant we please dad

ahhhh shut up i will be in the shed fixing my rod rest/ reel/ rod/ pole/ box/ whatever you broke last trip out ah fcuck i will get a new one they are cheap enough are,nt they ?????

unless it costs a million quid you might as well throw it in the bin cos you aint gonna catch owt with that is to cheap and nasty

yeh right its not the size of your rod its how you use it???? heard that before or something similar

well here,s one of my own and i like it lots
money cant catch fish but any fool can spend it on stuff they cant use/ ha ha ha

tight lines and goodluck to allthis coming season

craig the cheapest of cheap skates

I still carry a fairy liquid bottle top in my tackle box just in case my range of swing tips, screw on quiver tips and buzzers all break.

I still use fairy liquid bottle tops

making my own floats & bite indicators is a bit of a hobby of mine, they can be tailor made to do the exact job you want them to.
They may not look very pretty, but for me cheapness & practicality is most important.

Not much these days but my drop back indicators are home made (Chris has seen them) and a mate with a lathe makes my bivvy pegs, buzz bars , indicator brackets , fish finder and outboard mountings and deals with running repairs to anything metal.I used to make loads but .....

Yes, I do make some of my own tackle,like floats, swimfeeders etc. but not rods although I have done some whippingof rod rings.I think it is a craft all fishermen should have a go at doing it gives you pride in you tackle (fishing type) and your dead chuffed when you catch a fish on something you have made or adapted.

I made two plugs once a couple of years ago the first attempt I hid in the shed from the wife then one day she found it and to this day she still goes on about it. The second looks a lot better and I acual caught on it to the suprise of several fellow anglers who could,nt stop laughting at for a few hours I might even bring it out this weekend.

I allways make my own pike floats / snap tackles and as much other kit as possible.
Its surprising how cheap you can make your own stuff for and you'd be amazed at how much longer your own gear will last (longer than some "in vogue" manufacturers can boast!)
Plus you've got the sattisfaction of knowing your gear has caught the fish!

Read an article in P&P about making jerkbaits out of hammer handles.
Looked fairly straight forward to do, & a lot cheaper than shop bought jobs.
Spraying it looked a bit tricky though, & thats comming from someone who used to paint spray for a living.

Just made my own bait boat for a fraction of the price of the shop ones

How to make a fishing night / bivvy light.

Parts available from maplins
Battery holder to hold 3 AA batteries
1 or 2 small switches, togle or sliders
1 or 2 superbright LEDs, 3.5 to 4 volts
1 or 2 LED defusers (Clear)
3 1.8 amp hour 1.2 volt AA size rechargable batteries. (do not use ordanary batteries as voltage is too high
Jack plug socket if requires for extension light / charging socket
Small box / lid Belt Clip

Simply drill holes in base of box to take the de-fusers, push LED's into de-fusers and fit into box. Fit switch to sides of box, and belt clip to lid drilling or cutting as needed. Solder wire to the positive terminal of battery holder then to the switch / switches input terminals, from the individual switch outputs to the individual LED positive terminals. Both LED negative terminals connect the battery holder Negative. If using an input jack for power out or recharging then solder the centre terminal to the battery holder positive, and the side terminal to the negative. Put a blob of silicon sealant on the LED,s to hold into place, Secure the battery holder into the box.

These LEDs are very bright, if de-fusers are not used the they act more like a torch giving directional light. The batteries should last for several nights without needing to recharge. Only use rechargeable batteries unless you fit a resister to lower the voltage.

I'm gonna quote a sentence that this discussion is about:

"but how many anglers today would attempt a fairly simple repair on a broken rod?"

I have three rods, and two of them were given to me by friends, because they have broken the end eyes off.
It's so easy to repair them yourself and I put new end eyes on the end section of both rods and did a small amount of eye repositioning on the end sections(to get the action right).
It's a doddle!
You can tell that no-one likes doing the simple repairs anymore, because I had to visit 4 different tackle shops to find the two end eyes I needed.

Yes,Jason, that`s the problem.You just seem unable to get these bits these days.
Most of the mail order companies of the 60`s & 70`s used to sell rods in kit form to save 30% plus on the price of a ready built ( I am still using some of the rods I built then).You also used to be able to get pre-formed balsa float bodies for home finishing,these days I struggle to find lengths of peacock quill,something that you used to be able to get anywhere.

Mark,

I know what you mean. I've always loved making tackle items myself, my local tackle shops also used to have the mandatory jam jars full of Peacock/crow quills, sarcandas reeds and part built balsa bodies e.t.c.

Some of the materials I've found easy to collect or buy, and useful for home made floats, are, Norfolk reeds, swan/goose quills, elder pith and balsa dowel.

Nowadays I mainly only make my own piking floats, like Chris B said earlier they cost pence to make and can be made in literally minutes.

I also used to build my own specimen rods. When I began there were huge gaps in the specialist rod market and most serious anglers advocated building your own purpose built rods. I used to use hollow glass North Western blanks, funnily enough one of my local shops still has a pile of them in a dusty corner. I keep meaning to grab a few before it's too late, there are one or two applications I'd like to have a go at, but I don't really fancy splashing out on new rods for it. There's a couple of blanks that would be ideal for the job in that dusty corner, or at least there were last time I looked.

Regards Chris