Who makes their own spinners?

[bobcat]

I'm toying with the idea of making my own inline spinners. Do any of you guys do it? Cost effective? Or just rewarding catching them on something you made yourself?

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[pvelyk]

I have done it for Salmon and trout size inlines, sizes 2-5.  It was not hard at all, only tool I used was needle nosed pliers.  I decided to do it after reading a book by Jeb Davis on spinners in tribs for steelhead.  Big thing was the book stressed silver plated components which you were not buying a commercially made spinner with.  Silver has a much better light reflection than nickel or chrome and definitely triggered more hits in the winter when there metabolism slowed down.  The other big thing is I could make them cheap enough that I would throw them places I would never think of throwing ones bought for the store.  It did help my catch rate go up and when the trib regs changed to single hooks I just made the new ones with good quality single hooks.

Edited August 30, 2016 by pvelyk

[John Edward]

They have a lot of sites to help you build your own but lurepartsonline.com is a good site to use and get an idea on pricing.. That is just one site there are many though

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[bobcat]

Question on sizing.. A mepps 5 is 1/2 oz. A blue fox 6 is 5/8 oz.... So if I'm ordering 1/2 oz spinner bodies is that the actual weight of the body or the body for that size spinner?

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[fishbear]

I've made a lot of my own basic unweighted spinners with Colorado, Indiana, and Willowleaf Blades. The big thing is to find heavy enough wire for the shafts, especially for Pike spinners. In some of my earlier versions I used a wire that bent too easily so every time I caught a fish the lure would get mangled. It definitely is cost-effective if you buy the parts right.

Edited August 31, 2016 by fishbear

[weave]

I make some of my own spinners. As far as sizing goes...... In my experience each body and blade maker seems to have their own ideas about size. Unfortunately, I have found that the only good solution is to buy a variety of sizes and see what works well together when you've got them all on front of you.

Most of the time I've found that the bodies are sold by weight (and they are reasonably accurate) and the blades by size. No 2 makers have the same size 2 for instance though.

Best I can say is buy the weight body you want and then use a blade that is as long as the body. That seems to give mine the best balance.

And twirl them in your fingers at various points during assembly. They should hang down straight and twirl straight. If they wobble when you twirl them they wont spin right in the water. Tweek them as needed to get them to twirl straight in your fingers.

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Edited August 31, 2016 by weave

[Ronix 51]

I tie my own up...depending on how long it takes you and how well you can tie skirts it can be cost effective (if you consider some of the prices people are paying for flashabou baits!). It's more so just fun to do in the off-season

[bobcat]

Ya my kid has a rotory fly vise. I made a few up. Its fun but this weekend the musky don't like them near as much as I do....

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[bobcat]

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[Sk8man]

.040 wire is about right for them the .30 wire will bend too much and more than .40 is tough to work with (bending eyelets etc.

[Ronix 51]

Are you talking larger double 10s or smaller bladed baits? That would dictate which wire you should use...I make 10s and larger so I use .062 wire sometimes .051. 

[BP Swing]

.040 wire is about right for them the .30 wire will bend too much and more than .40 is tough to work with (bending eyelets etc.

Depends what you are fishing for. One little secret from a spinner maker of over 25 yrs....the thinner wire does bend more but gives off much better vibration. For bass, pike, trout I use .029 and have had outstanding results. Bending is rarely an issue and if it does, just bend it back. For skis .051 is the norm but now many are going to .062. like the Spankys.