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.
Homemade Fishing
