Peacock Wagglers

Almost a year since ive set this blog up and nothing to show for it! Well thats about to change. There must be something about this time of year that gets me thinking about fishing. Getting some tackle out of my shed to organise i came across some peacock quill i bought years ago and never used. Aha i thought to myself, why not give some float making a go. Along with the quill i also found some silk whipping thread and bottoms for the floats. First off i gave them a white undercoat then got some orange acrylic paint out of the wifes craft box to paint the top. Theey looked alright but it seemed something was missing so i used the thread to perk them up a bit. After that i gave them a couple of coats of old varnish i had lying around, which didnt actually dry clear but gave my floats a bit of a vintage look which i actually prefer.

They arent perfect, far from it, but for a first effort im quite pleased. Now all i need to do is get out there and catch something on them. In my spare time iv also been making a rough mock up for my centrepin. Its looking pretty good and all i need now is to find a nice bit of wood to turn it with.

Homemade Fishing

For a few years now I have enjoyed making and shaping things out of wood. To begin with I used to make things such as spoons and whistles out of branches I had chopped from my apple tree or out of foraged bits I had happened to chance upon. After a while of using just a knife to whittle away i decided to get myself a wood lathe, it wasnt too expensive and its great seeing what i can come up with. I love the way it helped to relax me after a tough day at work.

Much the same as fishing does. I have fished since I was little, and still do now, with my dad. We try and get out as much as we can and love all types of course fishing. We are not always succesful but between us we catch some decent fish. Last year I started to really enjoy fishing rivers using an old centrePin I bought off eBay, I really enjoyed the simplicity of fishing with just a stick float and I had some limited success catching small chub and some nice roach and dace. I also began lure fishing for pike quite alot which is similar to trotting in that you are constantly on the move and reading the river to achieve the best results. It was during a particularly slow stretch on the Tone (just a single trout came to my net) that I thought about combining my obsession with fishing with my love of woodworking.

After a bit of research I found that there were numerous bits of tackle I could make and use, which is the crux of the point, on the bank. Things such lures are ideal for shaping on the lathe out of bits of discarded wood. The project i am most looking forward to however is trying to make my own centrepin. It will not necessarily save me money as tackle these days isn't that expensive but I don't think you can beat the feeling of catching fish on tackle you have made yourself. That's the theory anyway. This blog has a double use then as it will detail how I make these items of tackle, mistakes and all and also hopefully show any fish that I can catch with them.