question for spinner bait makers

A buddy and I are going to make some inline spinners. I have a bunch of .033" wire that I use for poppin corks. This looks to be a little larger than I see on most spinners. What do you folks use?

bob

We use .031 stainless wire works great for us .033 should work little harder to bend!

Yes you can use the .033 but like Jackie said it's tough especially if you use needlenose to do it. I have the Old Netcraft wire former I bought back in the 80's and it's turned out LOTS of spinners for me.

My nephew brought me a Rooster tail and asked if I could copy it, I tried at first using enamal paint and dusted it with glitter then epoxy but it looked like crap. I got more powder paint - First I dipped the white, then with the new Clear powder I mixed a bunch of glitter in it and redipped over the white. While it came out really nice I wasn't sure on the glitter and it really needs LOTS more. Due to some tuteledge from some really good powder painters I'm going to remix a new batch of 5 parts clear/1 part white/LOTS of glitter and will be able to do 1 dip and then cure.

Here's the picture - the one on the left is the original Rooster Tail - the one on the right is mine. If you look at the size of the eyelets you'll see what I was talking about. Mines a little bigger and the photo really bites cause the glitter really does show good
Attachment 87121

Normal wire for me is .024 and .031 but if you're looking to make Pike or Musky size spinners your gonna have to go big on the wire. If you need any more info let me know and I'll try and help you out.

Fatman

thanks for the replies. Great looking lure there Fatman. I see you have some empty space on your shaft, I am assuming that is because of the wire former. I have that with my Hagen's,except maybe moreso. I made a couple with a formed loop on one end and a hand made loop on the other. Took out most of the space, but the bigger wire is as tough to work with as you say. Had to buy 2500 pecies of that wire to get it cut 12" long, so won't run out for a while. I think it will be worth it to pick up some smaller wire though.

bob

Looks good fatman we use them catching white bass and have trouble keeping the blade spinning so we went to making our own.Like them in 3/8 oz allso hard to find great thread!!!!!

I have been making some in-line spinners lately and have trouble keeping the blade spinning. I used a metal bead above and below the stirrup as a bearing and when casting I give it a jerk to start the blade spinning but then it often stops during the retrieve. That is exactly what I was trying to avoid by making my own in-line spinner baits. I was using a hammered colorado blade that is about 7/8ths of an inch long. Could the spinner blade possibly be too small? I would like suggestions from anyone with experience in making in-line spinners. Thanks for any suggestions.

Olgrey

Okay ??? first Can you post a pict of your lure?? I really want to see the mix of your components. Just off the top of my head your stirrup could be too big - I have seen that before but without seeing your whole lure it's hard to say. Hold your spinner straight up and down - Now blow on the blade to get it spinning shouldn't take more than 3 breaths - if it doesn't you might as well start over on it and that's why I'd like to see a picture of a completed one.

Size Wire
Size of your body
Size of your hook
Size of blade

In the picture of mine

wire .031
Size 1 folded clevis
Blade Size 1
Body 1/16th oz lead body
Hook Size 10 round bend treble

Jackie for thread I usually use Uni 6/0 but you'll run into problems with it when you make your own spinners LOL no matter how close you clip the tag end of wire you can still feed the sharp edge I use an emory board on it. In the pict of mine the thread is 210 denier flat waxed. Order it from Crazy Angler Tackle or anyone close to you.

bobgill - The big space right now is because I wasn't able to fish or hunt or make tackle for over 2 years and now that I'm back at it I have to get the touch back on how much wire I need to fold over without leaving that big space. However I do wish the former would make a smaller eye but I'm used to it and it's 28 yrs old right now and for $5 bucks new when I bought it it's just fine LOL On the wire you can get the 1/4 lb. coils of wire they work fine - you shouldn't have to pay more to get cut length pieces of wire. If you cut a piece too long and you have a 4 41/2" piece left make a v-spinner frame out of it. The coiled wire works just fine I get mine from Janns netcraft and have been using it for years.

In using the larger dia wire you have to go to a larger clevis ... but with a smaller blade you will have more trouble with it not spinning .. therefore the size spinner/clevis combo determins the size wire .. Hope that helps