Home made makeral feathers

[Bluesbro]

Hi guys i have got all the bits I need to knock together a load of home made makeral feathers but im stuck!!!! Does anyone know the following

1:- the best way to tie line to line to make the snoods as i dont fancy a string of feathers with swivels making the join!

2:- the best method for securing the silver ribbon to the hooks, im thinking cotton/bait ellastic and super glue or small bits of tubeing.

I know it seems tight but i am fed up of buying second rate ones that fall apat after one cast and since i got a load of ribbon/hooks ect i may as well give it a bash


Mucho appreciate any help given


Joe

[dovorian]

When I want to make a cheap and effective trace I tie a blood loop in 60lb mono and either cut the loop to form a snood or tie a snood to the loop.
If I tie a snood on I use a small blood loop to create a nice stiff stand off. If I'm going to cut the loop to make a snood I make the loop large.
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To hold the ribbon in place I would Snell the hook.
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Hope that makes sense and is of use.
All the best.
Jason

[Bluesbro]

Cheers Jason!!!! I recon with a bit of practice I can master them knots!!!!! although that snelling of the hooks is a bit confusing

I shall have a crack at it and im sure it will all come together


Joe

[dovorian]

The Snelling inst too bad. Once you have got to step 1 just keep passing the large loop around the gape of the hook and keep hold of the turns with your thumb then pull the bare end tight.
J

[dovorian]

When I tie a blood loop I make a loop then pass the tag end through the loop three times then hold those turns with my left hand. I then make another three turns then pass the loop through the middle of the first three turns and last three turns. Its a bit tricky pulling it tight. once you have passed the loop through the turns pull the ends of the each side of the knot so the turns slide together and trap the loop.
J

[showmythefishy]

for the rig body i use 60lb shockleader then use a 4turn water knot to join a 15lb snood and then put the hook/feather on the end of that, repeat as many times as you like, i find 4 hooks is plenty but thats just me. as for tying the ribbon onto the hook use a knot-less knot and then if you want put a little bit of glue on top of that. the best and cheapest thing ive found for making feathers is.... wait for it.... washing line!!! get sum washing line but make sure it has the nylon centre not a metal core, simply strip off the plastic coating with wire strippers then attach to the hook via the knot-less knot. i also add a sequin and a luminous bead. hook size is also important. the hooks that are on the pre-made rigs are all to often far too big, i use size 6 and 4 hooks on all of my feathers but make sure they are strong!! also you want a short shank hook. hope that helps

Mark

[scottish_and_mental]

there is a damn site easier way to tie a set of feathers .. when i had my tackle business i used to tie 3 hook rigs for attatching above a pirk , day after day ..

1.cut a 4 foot length or so of rig body and attatch a swivel at the top and lead clip at the bottom ..
2. at 10" intervals ( or whatever based on how many hooks you want to use ) mark the line with a pen .
3. On each pen mark create a loop by forming an overhand knot but don't pull it too tight - leave it loose.
4. attatch your hook with all its trimmings to another length of mono and cut it off leaving about 6" of mono .
5. Make a double overhand knot in the end of the snood and pull tight .
6. Now push the snood knot THROUGH the loop you made in the rig body and pull it tight .
7. To lock in place , and make it stand out at an angle you simply take the hook and and make a loop round the rig body BELOW where the knot is and pull tight again..
8. repeat for as many hooks as you want on the trace..

tying blood loops is a pain in the arse, means snoods of different sizes and varying gaps when measuring the distance between each snood.
I meant to post this ages ago when others had problems tying home made feathers and guess ive now seen enough suffering .

for attatching the silver bits get some plastic washing line and pull the inner crud out , cut into 3/4 inch sections or so and you have coloured tubing that doesn't rot
foil tape , holograph wrapping paper etc all work well .. i've even caught mackerel with just the washing line tubing !

BUT - an even better option is to get some of the white banding that goes around crates etc - ( you know the stuff- its the kit people trip over and break their necks in the adverts )
cut into 1 1/2 inch sections at 45 degree angle one end .. the other end cut down the middle about 1/2 inch and cut one half off ..
this will leave you with a thinner section to whip to the hook

simples

( deconstruct any set of commercially tied feathers and you will see this is exactly how they are tied )

mustad o'shaughnessy hooks are the best for the job too - i have around 50 boxes if you want any , as well as coloured sticky back holograph tape..

[scottish_and_mental]

If you need diagrams let me know and i might do a full thread !

[dovorian]

Originally Posted by scottish_and_mental

If you need diagrams let me know and i might do a full thread !

Thanks Scottish.
I would like to see a more detailed thread of your method. If you dont mind. It sounds qukck and easy compared to the way Ive been doing it.
I dont follow where you mention creating a stand off.
I tried the figure of 8 loop knot which is alot easier but it diddnt seem man enough for the job if you cut it.
All the best.
Jason

[scottish_and_mental]

Originally Posted by dovorian

Thanks Scottish.
I would like to see a more detailed thread of your method. If you dont mind. It sounds qukck and easy compared to the way Ive been doing it.
I dont follow where you mention creating a stand off.
I tried the figure of 8 loop knot which is alot easier but it diddnt seem man enough for the job if you cut it.
All the best.
Jason

No worries mate, will sort summit out over the weekend ..
Its a pain to describe but in the same room i could teach you in 30 seconds