Lure & Tackle Making
Some fishermen choose to build their own tackle, as a hobby or
a way to save money.Lure & Tackle making is a fine hobbyand something to do
when cabin fever set's in. Sometimes it just feels better to fool a fish on something I made instead of bought.
There is a wide range of Lures you can make from tying flies to melting lead. Some of the more popular store
bought lures can be made just as nice at home and the fish don't know how much you paid for the lure!
In Ohio some favorites to make are homemade jigs, flies, egg sacs, spoons and especially worm casting
or trolling harnesses. Below are some examples and ideas of tackle that you can make at home at minimal cost
submitted by members of the OHIO fishing report forums.

Making your own sinkers

Some fishermen choose to build their own sinkers, here are the tools and materials you will need to do it.

Although you can melt lead in an open steel over a HOT heat source, I recommend a lead melting pot specifically for
producing fishing lures, Lead is very dangerous to work with and pour so its alot safer to work with a production lead
melting pot.

The one I purchased is a lee production pot and its perfect for the molds I use and the amount of lead I
need to pour. You simply plug them in, allow a few minutes for the lead to melt, then lift a lever to allow molten lead to
pour into your mold.

To view more lead melting pot and tools, far below retail your best deal is here >

Melting lead is not only dangerous its also highly poisonous, so I do this outside as I don't want the fumes lurking
in the house or even the garage. I fill the pot with lead and turn it on, then wait until the lead has all melted into liquid.
You can get lead at your local metal scrap yard, alot of old plumbing systems were made out of pure lead, and as
houses and buildings are updated the lead ends up at the scrap yard. Its not very expensive and for a few bucks you
could buy an old sink trap, and have enough lead to make jigs for 3 years. Lead can also be found at sporting goods
stores in small quantity's but its often pricey.

To view more lead far below retail your best deals are here >
Once you have melted your lead you will notice that on top of the lead there is a thin layer of "dark" covering.
This is impurities in your lead. You don't want this in your pot because it will clog your tube where the lead pours out.
You want to remove the darker material by removing with an old spoon. You lightly scrap the top of the lead and the
impurities will cling to the spoon. Once removed your ready to pour your sinkers.

To view more sinker molds of every size and style far below retail your best deals are here >

I start by making sure the inside faces of the mold are clean of debris on BOTH sides, if 1 single piece of dust or
dirt gets inside your mold, then the mold will have a miniscule gap when you close it.
This gap will make your lead escape the cavity and the result will be misshaped sinkers. Big defects from such a
small piece of dirt. I take a small sharp razor blade and place it flat on the face of the mold, then I scrape evenly across
the mold being careful to let the blade cut into the metal, you don't want to scratch the mold in the very least !
You want to scrape the dirt or dust off in a soft even movement with the blade completely flat on the molds face.
Also be sure you oil your mold every few months at the hinge, pour oil through the hollow hinge pin, along with
the hinge itself. After your mold is oiled & cleaned and ready to use your ready to add your jig hooks or hardware.
For some style sinkers such as bell sinkers you will have to purchase some hardware usually brass "eyelets" and insert
them in the grooves in the mold.
Now its time to preheat your mold. Some more modern molds have a "preheating cavity" on the bottom
of the mold, pouring molten lead into this cavity produces a lead ingot which makes the mold HOT enough to produce
jigs or sinkers. If you do not preheat the mold, the cold metal of the mold will cool the lead before it has time to fill the
cavity and the result will be disfigured jigs or sinkers. If your mold does not have this preheating cavity,
then you have to preheat your mold by other means. Before you preheat your mold check that all your hooks are in
proper position. If a hook pops out of the groove while your closing it, the mold will not close all the way and the
slightest change in the hooks position will again give you a whole mold full of disfigured sinkers.

Now your mold and your lead pot is ready, you keep a firm grasp on the molds 2 handles
to keep it closed all the way and you turn it upside down. You place the mold to the pot until the lead tube is above the
hole on your molds preheating cavity. You let the lead out to fill the cavity in 1 rapid flow until lead comes out at the top.
Then you know you filled the entire cavity. After you fill the preheating cavity immediately turn the mold over to the top
and begin filling the molds cavities with lead. You let it cool for a moment and open the mold, and if you did everything
right you will have produced perfect sinkers! After you finish all your pouring and you unplug the lead melting pot,
clean and oil the mold, to ensure it lasts a long time


To view more sinkers of every size and style far below retail your best deals are here >

Here is some other tackle that YOU can make at your home

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