Winter Project-Make my own harnesses

[gordy28]

Hey there

Plan on tieing my own harnesses this year

I have been looking on luremaking.com and from what I can tell they seem to have the best prices.

A few questions for those who also tie their own:

Do you rig your own snells or by the pre rigged ones (I'd like to tie my own-just wondering how difficult it is to snell)

What type of line and what lb test do you use(from what I have read 14 lb fluor seems to be a popular choice)

Plan on tieing some purpledescents, some gold/orange, firetiger and some silver/chareteuse - generally my best combos on pre rigged-any other favourites?

Plan on using # 3 and #4 colorado and the same in Indiana-missing anything?

Any other stores you would recommend that I shop at?

Anyway tips etc most welcome-will post pics of finished materia

Doing this to combat the winter blahs but based on my calcs I can make them for about $.9 to $1.50-good savings vs $1.5-$3.5 on pre rigged. Will also give some as stocking stuffers to my Dad and Bro

Cheers

Gordy

[Handlebarz]

Lure making.com is your best bet to get it all in 1 shopping. I used 10lbs years ago but switched to 20lbs PP after having the musky eat all my walleye. I use the tie fast tying tool to tie my snell knots. Good luck it's easy and fun.

[Joeytier]

snells are super easy. luremaking.com is definitely your best bet.

 

my winter project involves catching as many pickeral as humanly possible.

[manitoubass2]

I have alot of tips I'll give you later on, but for now, I'd strongly recommend ordering alot of quick change clevises (the kind with the nipple on the inside bend) from luremaking.com

[Woodsman]

I prefer the standard chrome metal clevis's.

Use premium grade hooks. I use Owners.

I also use fluorocarbon leader material for line.

Here's some of my first harnesses.

 

 

Craft stores can be a good spot to get your beads.

I use mostly plastic beads but if you look closely at the 2 harnesses on the right the second bead from the top on each is a premium glass one. Although they don't show great on the picture they do throw off a great multi coloured flash.

[gaspumper]

You can get a lot of your beads from a DOLLAR store.Canadian Tire has a large supply of different blades,at least the one in Belleville does.

[gordy28]

Thanks for all the tips guys-greatly appreciated

Will make my first order this week

Ideally pics to come soon

Gordy

[Snowball]

Take a look at this site:

 

http://www.walleyesi...3/howtotie.html

 

Regards,

Snowball

[gordy28]

Update:

Got my first shipment from Luremaking last week

Very impressed with the nice woman who dealt with me over the phone, polite, didn't rush me, made sure she repeated every item so I knew exactly want I want. Then delivery - wow ordered at 1:00PM on Tuesday and the package was waiting when I got home from work on Wednesday night.

 

So far so good - thanks to tips in this thread and a few websites I have tied about 8 so far

Planning on giving a few (with a Lindy Rigger and a few bottom bouncers) to friends and family as sticking stuffer (5 harnesses) and keeping the remaining ones for myself

 

Few things I've learned - pay attention to trailing hook position - had a few already to go before i realized that the snell had twisted and the bottom and top hooks weren't facing each other and 2 - man its hard to wind them up and put them in baggies - if anyone has good tips on this - let me know! its funny because on thing I have always hated about the pre-packaged kits is that i felt like you needed an engineering degree to unravel them - now I know why

 

Sinclair/Manitou - took your advice and went w quality components and also got half regular clevises and half quick change

 

Here's a shot - sorry they are in the packs but once i got them there, realized I needed a pic - i was not taking them out!

[kickingfrog]

I've done the baggy thing and it does work to start or share them with friends and fellow fishermen, but once they come out in the boat they don't seem to go back in as well the second time. I now use the yellow and black harness keepers that a few manufactures make. Others have mentioned using foam pipe wrap or pool noodles.

[manitoubass2]

to loop them up, do it just like a garden hose. One hand hold it, grab it with the other hand, twist your wrist (fingers in this case) slightly as you form the loop. As you form each loop, keep holding it with your other hand .Keep the loops the same size. Then wrap the end through the loop 2 or three times. Done

 

With crawler harnesses (2 hooks) the hook position DOES NOT matter. In fact, I prefer them to be a little off, as it adds a little movement to the crawler

 

Yours look very good! You'll have alot of fun tying them throughout the winter!

 

As previously mentioned, look at Wal-Mart etc for beads, they have some really, really great beads for cheap. Also, if you have any craft stores in your area, go look. I've found awesome beads, really high quality ones too, for as little as $4 per thousand beads. You can't beat that.

 

As for the metal clevises, they are just as good as quick change. But I use quick change until I have a trusted pattern, then I'll re tie it later on with a metal clevis

 

Hope this helps

Edited October 16, 2012 by manitoubass2

[RangerGuy]

I store mine wrapped around lengths of pool noodles. I store 2 per big zip lock bag. That's the best method I've found for

keeping everything from tangling.

 

I stick 1/2 a tooth pick into the pool noodle on an angle and put the swivel on that then wrap it tightly and stick

both hooks into the noodle to hold it in place.

 

I found that the tubes sold in fishing stores are to small and put tight coils into your line. With the noodles you have

larger diameter wraps and the harnesses alway come off with no coiling.

[G.mech]

I started making my own harnesses this year too and tried a bunch of different things. Here's what I found:

 

1) fluorocarbon (I used 14#) was far less prone to twisting up than mono

 

2) the shank barbs on baitholder hooks are a bad thing. We had a few that the upper hook barbs on the back of the hook cut the line to the lower hook resulting in lost fish

 

3) bagging and storing harnesses sucks especially the longer ones. The best thing I found was to buy a bag of the 2" x 8" ziplock bags from Luremaking.com. I then bought a package of the thin, teflon, cutting boards from Crappy Tire. They had packs of 3 different coloured sheets about 17" x 11" in the cooking section for like $5. I cut them up into 1-1/2" x 7" strips, punched a hole 1/2" from each end and then slit the plastic from the hole to the end of strip. Round off the corners and you're all set. The bottom hook slips into one hole and then the line wraps around the card from hole to hole and kind of snaps into place. It seems to hold them nicely while you bag them up. The teflon is waterproof so you can re-use them 'til you lose them... Here's a pic but it's not too clear:

 

 

[mike rousseau]

If you run into lots of like and musky in your area I'd go heavier with your line.... I've used up to 100lb flouro and the walleye didn't seem to care..... I'm currently using 50lb mono.... Works great...

[adempsey]

Lots of info in these threads:

http://www.walleyecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188820

http://www.walleyecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195606

 

Video on one method of snelling:

[gordy28]

Thanks for all the tips

For mounting my own harnesses I have always just used the Lindy riggers - but the pool noodle sounds like a good idea as well.

I used 12 lb seaguar this time-thought the 15 lb would be too stiff - time will tell (or a lost walleye I guess )

One question-does anyone know a good online site where you can get a good mixed pack of blades? Would like to have back ups in my terminal tackle box along with quick change clevices to match the hatch when applicable

Cheers

Gordy

[kickingfrog]

I bought a few variety packs from Cabelas that I still haven't used up. I'm sure there are other online options.

[doubleheader]

There are many variations of snell knots. Some are easier than others when tying harnesses. Mike Gofron has a video (link below) on his website that is the easiest method I've ever seen. I started using that technique a couple years ago, it's a winner. The line you tie with is kind of dependent upon the areas you primarily fish. I use 14lb fc for Lake Erie, 10lb Trilene for all other waters. Everyone has their own preference. Hook size is also somewhat dependent of water to be fished. I downsize on my home waters where most fish are under 20", but use 2 size 4 elsewhere. Lately I like the VMC hooks, but over the years used mostly Gamakatsu. I quit using the smaller Gamakatsu hooks (#6) in big fish waters as I have broke them multiple times. Gap distance is important. Too big or too small is not good. Gofron talks about it. Alignment of hooks IMO not so important. Harness length again dependent on water clarity and structure. Fishing rocky ledges I like a short harness with some buoyancy to keep the harness out of the rocks, clear water fishing requires longer harnesses, mud flats I like to go with a 4-5 ' harness. For this reason I store the majority of my harnesses tied to a longer length but not beaded. Colorado blades of different sizes and colors will handle the majority of needs, I also use Willow leaf blades for late summer speed trolling and Mack blades whenever I want to run very slow. Color does matter, for this reason i started airbrushing my own last year and that's also the reason I use quick change clevices. Not sure how much bead color matters. (says the guy with every color and size under the son). Some guys use red exclusively. I use a lot of peg floats in my harnesses too, and when i do I just add a bead at each end. I rarely buy glass beads as I like too keep the weight to a minimum and they are more costly.

 

 

http://www.walleyewo...op.com/node/154

Edited October 19, 2012 by doubleheader

[RangerGuy]

I found a great video on youtube I will try and track it down. This fella pre-ties all his snells but for the actual bead section he rigs them on a short 30# lbs test loop and puts them on a safety pin kind of like the slip bobber stops.

 

So if you want certian colour beads on your harness, you take end of the harness line pass it through the bead loop, hold both ends and pull. The beads come off the loop onto your snell perfectly, clevis, blade everything. It's a great idea. I will be using this idea this winter. You could tie hundreds of diffent patterns and they would store way easier.

[G.mech]

Thanks for all the tips

For mounting my own harnesses I have always just used the Lindy riggers - but the pool noodle sounds like a good idea as well.

I used 12 lb seaguar this time-thought the 15 lb would be too stiff - time will tell (or a lost walleye I guess )

One question-does anyone know a good online site where you can get a good mixed pack of blades? Would like to have back ups in my terminal tackle box along with quick change clevices to match the hatch when applicable

Cheers

Gordy

 

 

 

 

 

Luremaking.com has assortments of bladesm clevises and all. They are Canadian, cheap and ship fast:

 

 

 

http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/blades-index.htm

[adempsey]

I found a great video on youtube I will try and track it down. This fella pre-ties all his snells but for the actual bead section he rigs them on a short 30# lbs test loop and puts them on a safety pin kind of like the slip bobber stops.

 

So if you want certian colour beads on your harness, you take end of the harness line pass it through the bead loop, hold both ends and pull. The beads come off the loop onto your snell perfectly, clevis, blade everything. It's a great idea. I will be using this idea this winter. You could tie hundreds of diffent patterns and they would store way easier.

 

Good idea. Just tried it and it works like a charm.

[Lunker777]

im about to place my order today.

 

I think its going to be a great way to pass the winter months by !

 

Im going with the basics though, brass /silver/ chartreuse, white, red, #3/4 blades, Metal clevises, #02/04 gamagatsu hooks

 

I still need to purchase line and my swivels. Im going to go with SPRO swivels and Im thinking a heavier mono line for all the musky in LSC.

[Lunker777]

Get the black nickel finish instead of the red. I bought the red ones first time around. The hooks will be buried in the crawler anyways, and the red plating peels off after a few fish.

 

 

 

Go with 14lb fluoro and take your chances, just IMO.

 

Yea, thanks for reminding me about the red hooks. I bought some red hooks to try when drop shotting and after a few fish the red starts to wear off anyhow.

 

14lb fluoro would be "ok" but I think I will tie a few stronger ones just to see how they work. Also, I orders some #6 hooks to try some smaller, lighter harnesses for perch on LSC..... I caught a couple of the biggest perch I have ever caught dragging harnesses out on the main lake.

[kickingfrog]

The red also comes off when you sharpen the hook.

[gordy28]

In terms of looking for an assortment - ive ordered off of luremaking the first time - but was more oooking for something like what kickingfrog mentioned from Cabelas (105 pieces assortment of blades - sizes, shapes etc) - but without paying shipping and duty from Cabelas - makes it more expensive for me to tie my own than to just buy. Luremaking doesnt seem to have some of the more advanced/off the wall colour patterns I'd like to try. Would love to have a little kit with me on our walleye trips - berads, diffent blades and pre rigged snells to be able to match the hatch if needed. On our trip this summer one of the things the guide told us(and it was very true) was that there were certain colour patterns that were always productive but it would change day to day even hour to hour - so he had 5 basic patterns (firetiger, gold/orange, purple/silver, gold, pink/white and charteuse) - and when he stopped getting bit, he'd change and then get us to change

 

I have been using the red hooks on my top placement (based on some reading) but agree that its probably a waste - next order will be all black or chrome

 

The video posted before (with the gentlemen using 2 vices) was a great resource to me - the know is simple but effective

 

Anyway - liking my little hobby - thanks to all for tips etc