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An article originally written & edited for and published in On The Water Magazine .
The Bluefish "Blues" by Capt. Barry D. Hutchinson
How many times has it happened to you ? If you haven't lost your favorite lure or plug, it has just gotten so
beat up that you don't think it's possible for it to catch one more striper. So you've just gone to the tackle shop
or shops to pick up a few new ones, but alas there is something new & improved out on the shelves. All sure
winners that will catch more bass than you thought possible or have ever caught before. What do we do? We
can't make up our minds which is better; so we buy a complete assortment 2 or 3 of everything we think we
"might need". Fifty, a hundred, two hundred, it isn't hard in this day & age when a single item can sell for twelve
to twenty dollars each,especially when your running a charter boat. We head for home and get out all the tackle
boxes; got to find someplace to store all these new plugs and lures. You get all the tackle reorganized ( well sort
of ); couldn't decide which ones should stay or go with the old stuff. So now I have forty or fifty lures stuffed into
tackle boxes designed to hold twenty items.
Finally a great day for fishing, no fog, the wind isn't blowing at 20-30 knots, the sun is coming up, and you just know
that the "Big" bass are waiting for you, your clients and those new "special" lures. We get the boat ready, pack a lunch,
plenty of bottled water, and put everything on board the boat. Off to launch the boat and meet my customers for today's trip.
They seem to be nice people, first time fishing on the East coast. They are fresh water largemouth fishermen, but have never fished salt water.
Oh! We know or have this feeling that today is going to be the day of days that we all dream about.
There are three with me today on this trip. All the gear is stowed and everyone on board we cast off and head out of the harbor. We go out beyond
the bars and head on into open water as the sun is coming up. We head out varying course looking for signs in the early morning light. Then all of
a sudden we see something on the horizon in the faint light. Is it? Yes it is, birds working, lots of birds. I head the boat in that direction keeping a
wide path up current, the wind is minimal. Going cautiously, don't want to spook the fish, hopefully stripers. I had set up the spinning rods; one
with that wonderful looking $ 18.00 plug, another with the same thing in a different color. Others with another $ 18.00 lure, one with a
$ 12.00 lure and others with $ 6.00 spoons.
I can still see the birds, but can't see any fish. We've arrived about 50 - 70 yards up current. Well - let's just try casting off to the right of those birds
in the direction of the tide. Four lures into the water. A few cranks and all HELL breaks loose. Fish on! Me too! Oh! I lost mine Second guy- I'm
hooked up too! Other guy- me too!I bring mine in, no fish (and I lost that $ 18.00 lure).Now I see the fish coming close to the boat; darn it - they're
Blues. Get those lines in guys, I say, and lets get the wire leaders out. Third guy - Oh ! Lost mine too! ( $ 12.00 lure)
I put wire leaders on theirs, they are thrilled catching any kind of fish. I put 60 lb. Fluorocarbon leader on the one I'm casting out and letting sink to
the bottom before reeling, just in case there are any Bass under the Blues. It would be nice if I could hand off a big Striped Bass for one of these
guys to catch on their first trip to Cape Cod.
Three and a half hours later after catching an amazing amount of Bluefish. Having them so thick that I swear you could walk on them, having them
almost jumping into the boat on their own; they have chafed mono above the wire leaders and also the fluorocarbon. My customers are thrilled by
the non-stop action; and I've got the "Bluefish Blues"- we've lost a total of 8 lures for a cost closing in on a hundred dollars, and worst of all we
haven't even seen a Striped Bass.
True story? Well maybe and maybe not; but one thing is for sure - we've all lost more than our fair share of tackle to those Bluefish. Even when
we've done everything possible - not to.
New method - try lesser lures first. Blues when schooled up feed heavy and tend to hit on anything shiny, like Kasmasters, Hopkins, or other
spoons. If I see birds, but not fish and I'm in an area not limited to Bass. I use cheaper lures first and if nothing happens - then I try those nice
lures the Bass prefer.
And speaking of cheaper lures; how can we get less expensive lures? Let's learn from the Fly fishermen and make our own. There is a way that is
very inexpensive; can be fun, interesting, & greatly rewarding - catching fish on a lure that you made yourself. It allows you to be as creative as you
want or can be.
Old tableware and/or kitchen utensils, stainless steel, especially knife handles can be made into very effective lures. Yard sales, church thrift
shops or the swap shops at the town disposal areas are great places to find old stainless tableware. Don't worry you will never corner the market,
I already have!
One word to the wise, when looking for old items to use for lures, STAY OUT OF YOUR OWN KITCHEN!! if you
want to stay out of the dog house. Wives don't take kindly to us making fishing lures out of their favorite kitchen utensils.
Most of what I'll show you here are made out of knives. I prefer to stick to the all stainless steel ones, that are
solid & one piece. Some have hollow handles or are two piece; some have stainless lades, but plated handles,
all these can cause a lot of problems and aggravation when working with them. I find it a lot easier and faster to
work with those that are one piece stainless steel. I can be a lot more creative and flexible as to designs. I don't
have to worry about where I can or can't drill, cut, or grind. You will find that knives have a lot variety as to size, shape,
pattern, and of course -weight. I do have an advantage over many others that may try making these lures in as much
as I have a complete machine shop for my other business, but I'll explain how most of you can do this at home.
First of all stainless steel can be very hard depending on the alloy, especially the blades. If you want to be able to
cut, drill and grind easier, or at all on some of them; they will have to be heated and annealed. Annealing is the
process where metal is heated and allowed to cool slowly to render it softer yet still tough. You don't have to anneal
the entire piece but just the areas to be worked. Pick a few that you like the size, weight and shape of. Having in mind
something of a finished pattern for each one. I usually work with groups of 4 - 8 pieces so that lots of heat is not lost
by treating one at a time. When picking out the knives or utensils remember that the thinner the handle the lighter the
finished lure will be since most are about the same length; the other thing that I sometimes do is to shorten the
handle I like thinner broad handle that as a finished product gives you a larger silhouette in the water; or long thin
ones for sand eel imitations.
Take into consideration where you want to cut and drill. If you drill the swivel end in the middle it will tend to ride flat
in the water, but if you drill high center it will keel and give you a much wider profile. The hook end is usually centered.
Also consider the split rings that you will use to attach the hooks. If you cut the handle
short to reduce the weight, the thickness may be too great and distort the split rings
when you try to attach them . You can try to put the hole close to the end to eliminate the
distortion, but don't put it so close that you reduce the strength of finished lure. You could
also grind down the thickness where drilling, but that does take extra time. I generally
use split rings of the 40 lb. class that have an outside diameter of about 5/16 of an inch.
Set those that you want to heat treat onto a heat shielding block or pad. I have a pad that is similar to, but not
asbestos- it does not allow for the transfer of heat. You could use a metal pan with 2 or 3 inches of sand or set up
some fire bricks. You could also clamp the tips of the blades into a vise. You want to heat the desired areas until they
get to a dull red and then allow them to cool slowly. I use an oxygen/ acetylene torch, but propane will work - it just
takes longer to heat them up. After I have heated all the necessary areas to proper temperature, I leave them to cool
slowly and go do something else for a while. Later I come back place them in a vise, one at a time and cut them with
a hack saw in the desired spot. Some are cut up in the handle while some are cut back into the blade; it all depends on the
design that you have "planned". One word of caution if the vise you are using has serrated jaws it would be wise to protect the piece being cut with
something; in my shop I use a piece of leather, but a piece of heavy cloth or two pieces of wood will also do. When working at the bench grinder
and sometimes when drilling I work wearing fireplace gloves because of the heat generated by drilling and especially grinding.
Next comes the drilling. Remember what we've already said about the placement of holes; pick spots to be
drilled and mark and mark with a center punch. I mark them extra heavy (deep Marks) especially on the spots to be
drilled that are not flat, this is to keep the drill bit from wandering. I use a well pointed center punch and hammer. I
don't think that the automatic center punches leave a deep enough mark. I like using the drill press, yet they can be
clamped in a vise and done with a portable drill. Next comes the grinding necessary; I try to avoid lots of grinding if
at all possible it takes the longest amount of time and requires extra polishing and finishing to complete the lure
making process.
Another thing that I've done with some of these lures is to grind in
a gill plate. Using a Dremel tool or flexible shaft too with a 1/2 inch
round squared edge wheel at an angle, I grind in a crescent moon
shaped area approximate to the gill plate and fill it with red paint or
head cement. I like head cement because I believe that it is more
durable. As you can see from this photo this grinding wheel needs to
be replaced since it's rounding down on the upper cutting edge.
I then file off the rough edges and polish on a buffing machine to
clean up any areas that were ground down. I also chamfer all holes to
remove the rough edges. I have a power chamfering tool that I put into
my lathe, it enables me to do about a dozen holes in thirty seconds, but
they can also be done with a hand chamfering tool as pictured. A larger
sized drill bit can be used, finishing with reverse motion. Use special
caution if you use an electric drill for this operation.
Surfaces should also be polished because of heat treating and discoloring. For this purpose I usually use fine
crocus cloth before polishing on the jewelers buffing machine. The crocus cloth polishing would probably be
enough.
Next I take prism tape which comes in many styles and colors;
usually I'll apply it to areas that are recessed in order to give a
little extra protection. On some I've drilled eye holes through,
counter bored and cemented in doll or fly eyes. This is the part
where we can get as creative as we care to, or is practical. And of
course hooks - I have tried a variety of hooks, but "ALWAYS"
use singles. I don't like trebles on Bluefish ( or any other fish for that matter). Some are
bucktails I've tied or just small tubing over the hooks. Tubing is easy, it comes in many
colors; just cut one end on a diagonal and the other square to fit from the eye of the hook to
the bend as pictured. If you don't have the necessary items to tie your own bucktails, you can
always buy them pre-made. I have tried all kinds and sizes of hooks, bucktails, and tubes.
You'll have to decide what is right for you.
Multiples of the same lure; I have made uo more than one of a design when I find 5, 6,
or 11 of a particular Knife pattern. You know, just in case the pattern works well and I lose
one, I'll have others.
I usually use one split ring to attach the hooks, but I have upon occasion used two to get hook
presentation proper to the desired profile. I have also formed the hook for proper presentation.
With all the different types of prism tape, eyes,
bucktails, tubes, hooks, designs of flatware etc., etc.,
etc.; it's possible to have a never ending supply of
new lures to try. It is limited only by our imaginations.
Some patterns of tableware make fantastic lures
and others are just OK. There was one pattern that I had only one piece of and when made
up it made the "BEST" lure. Oh ! what a lure! It was that "SPECIAL ONE", it caught Blues,
Cod, Albies, Bonito, and yes - even Striped Bass. And of course, I lost it ! So if your out there
somewhere, someday picking up old tableware to make lures and some nut grabs what
you've got ; right out of your hand. You'll know it's me - in search of that "SPECIAL" lure !!!
.
That imagination !! I can't stop !!!
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