Three Fishing Lures

Today I’m going to briefly look at three different fishing lures. All three are designs you could potentially make at home or in the field.

The first type is the mackerel feather. Mackerel are a sea fish but these can also be used in fresh water. I will admit I have never personally tried mackerel feathers in freshwater but cannot imagine any reason why freshwater fish would not be interested. Such a lure could easily be constructed in the field by binding a feather or scrap of cloth to a hook. Mackerel feathers can be found for very reasonable prices and their low bulk makes them very suitable for compact survival kits.

The second type of lure is the mepp-type spinner. A piece of tin can or beer can can be used to make the spoon. Perhaps even thick foil or the ring-pull might be used. There are a number of videos showing how to make spinners but I particularly like this one. The only commercial parts used are the hook and bead. Everything else is made from wire or paperclips. Spinners can also be made by adding a hook and spoon to a couple of swivels.

The third lure is the bottlecap lure. Pierce or drill a bottlecap in two places. Don’t drill towards yourself or your hand as some videos show! Using a Heinken or Bud cap will catch you wimpy, weak, little fish, of course.

Bend the bottlecap inward so the markings on the top are visible. Attach a swivel to each hole. If you are short on swivels, use a no.3 split ring. If you are short on split rings make them by bending paperclips into shape. The idea tool for making split rings is round-nosed pliers. I don’t have any of these so my rings tend to be a bit oval, but no fish have complained yet. One idea is to put some BBs or bits of gravel within the cavity the bottlecap creates. The rattling is supposed to attract predatory fish to the lure. Obviously if you are likely to have to move quietly while carrying your fishing kit lures that rattle are not recommended.

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