easy and better way to make slinkies

[fish-bones]

I,m going to try to be as clear as i can to show how to make slinkies i feel are better and easier to tell what size to use under different water conditions.
I use parachute cord and .250 lead shot you can get at G.I. Joes or Fishermans Marine.
Cut the cord into an 18 inch length.Use a match,candle,or cigarette lighter and melt one end of the cord and squeeze with pliers to seal the end.it should be flat hardened when dry.On the other end you will take the sharpened end of a pencil and push it into the cord.you will now melt the end of the cord around the pencil.when it is cool,you take the pencil out of the cord and you now have a funnel on the end of the cord.Take the shot and fill most of the cord.Now you can make different size slinkies by counting the shot and cutting the cord off as least 3/8 inch above the shot.Burn the end and squash with pliers to seal it tight against the shot.when you finish, you should have a variety of weights ,sealed and flattened on both ends.I than take a safety pin heated with a match and push it through one end making a hole to put a snap-swivel through.I hope it doesn,t sound to complicated because it,s real fast and easy to do.Make up a bunch of 2,3,4,5and 6 shot slinkies and put them on big safety pins through the hole on one end and your ready to go fishing . if this is to hard to understand I can try to put some pictures on a post.

[GOT2FISH]

If you use a candle it seems to go easyer and you can put the point of a large pin in the flame so you can poke a hole in the top of the slinky for your snap.Just a thought. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Snapset]

Fishbones, Thanks for the brilliant idea! I hate the fraying of the top of the slinker as I pound the BB's down. I will try your idea next time I start making slinkers. That sounds like a major step forward.

[fish-bones]

Your right, but i just said match for a source to melt the cord.I did mention the candle in the first part of the post.thats fine and you can use what ever is easiest.

fish-bones

[Lund]

You can avoid having to use a snap swivel and melting a hole in your slinkie if you just tie a loop of line as your lead dropper and use a half hitch above the first bb in the wieght. I'll try to make a drawing.........

[ 01-16-2004, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: lund ]

[fish-bones]

The idea of the hole in the slinky is to change it fast and easy.I use it drift fishing and its fast and easy to unsnap the swivel and change the slinky.EXAMPLE,,, IF IM,E USING A FOUR SHOT SLINKY AND ITS NOT HEAVY ENOUGH,I JUST UNSNAP AND CHANGE TO A 5 OR A 6 SHOT AND TRY IT OUT.THATS HOW EASY THAT IS.Another thing i do is slide a small snap-swivel on my main line followed by a bead and ending with a barrel-swivel.I than tie on a leader and start fishing,after I put on the slinky,,of course.
FISH-BONES


QUOTE]Originally posted by lund:
You can avoid having to use a snap swivel and melting a hole in your slinkie if you just tie a loop of line as your lead dropper and use a half hitch above the first bb in the wieght. I'll try to make a drawing......... [/QUOTE]

[nitroduk]

i just use 71/2 to 8 lead shot, and a small funnel to pour it with, remember to get a funnel with straight walls on the feed tube,small lead shot gets jammed in a funnel with a tapered feed tube. sportsmans warehouse has p. cord for about .15 cents a foot. this is a lot cheaper than buying the larger shot. along with being cheaper it seems to make the slinkies more flexible.

[ 01-16-2004, 09:35 PM: Message edited by: nitroduk ]

[Thumb Burner]

I have never used slinkies. But would like to try it. Pencil lead has always been the way I have drifted. Is there really much difference on how much lead you loose? The thing that has always kept me using hollow lead is cause if I get hung up I always get my gear back. But if you use a slinky and your lead gets hung up wouldnt you likely loose your whole rigging? Maybe I am getting the set up wrong. Or maybe you dont hang up as much so it doesnt matter? Please fill me in I would like to try this.

[AnnaDraMoss]

when using the snap swivel, you can make it a slider down your mainline also.

[fish-bones]

Your right about that,but I said that in my example about sliding a snap-swivel on my main line followed by a bead and ending with a barrel swivel on the end to tie your leader to.the slinky is now a slider,which is a good way to use them when drift-fishing.with the heavier shot,you have a shorter slinky that is less to catch on thing,s.

Originally posted by AnnaDraMoss:
when using the snap swivel, you can make it a slider down your mainline also.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">

[sliverslinger]

I usually melt a swivel into one end of the slinky material so that I can have a sliding sinker. all you have to do is push the cheap brass barrel swivel Size 10 into one end and then heat it up to melt the material. wet your fingers and roll it around the swivel. add your shot and melt the other end and you done. I can post a pic if you want me to.

[fish-bones]

[


You can do it any way that your used to,but I can use one snap-swivel on all the slinkies where your using a snap in each slinky.thats a lot more snaps to do the same job.But hey, thats just the way I do it suit yourself.I,m real conservative.

FISH-BONES-- THE TIGHTWAD



QUOTE]Originally posted by sliverslinger2001:
I usually melt a swivel into one end of the slinky material so that I can have a sliding sinker. all you have to do is push the cheap brass barrel swivel Size 10 into one end and then heat it up to melt the material. wet your fingers and roll it around the swivel. add your shot and melt the other end and you done. I can post a pic if you want me to. [/QUOTE]

[mike5097]

Here's my slinky tip.
This makes higher density slinkys that get down fast.

Take solid core lead, and cut of a piece as long as you would like your slinky to be.

Take a pair of dikes or nippers or whatever you call them and at 1/4 increments, almost cut through the lead. Don't cut all the way through!

Cut a piece of Parachute cord to fit, melt one end.

Slip the lead down into the parachute cord.

Melt the other end, and flex the slinky to break all the sections loose.

I have been doing this for years, it works, and it beats getting BB's all over the place.

Mike!

[greenbuttskunk]

Mike beat me too it. Using pencil lead is way easier and faster (for me anyway). Just cut 1/2 way through about 1/4 apart. It does work really well. The other tip sounds great too especially if you have a big bunch of shot to use up.
GBS

[fish-bones]

The reason I like the shot is that you can count them and go to more or less shot when you need to change.If you need to go deeper,you just go to more shot until your where you need to be.I understand your method ,and what ever appeals to you is best.the shot isn,t hsrd to put in the cord ,if you flair it out with a pencil and a flame from either a match,candle or cigarete lighter.

FISH-BONES:

Originally posted by mike5097:
Here's my slinky tip.
This makes higher density slinkys that get down fast.

Take solid core lead, and cut of a piece as long as you would like your slinky to be.

Take a pair of dikes or nippers or whatever you call them and at 1/4 increments, almost cut through the lead. Don't cut all the way through!

Cut a piece of Parachute cord to fit, melt one end.

Slip the lead down into the parachute cord.

Melt the other end, and flex the slinky to break all the sections loose.

I have been doing this for years, it works, and it beats getting BB's all over the place.

Mike!

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">

[kingofbacklash]

fish-bones,
This is how I like to use slinky's. I'll leave the top of the slinky open where I've burnt it around a pencil, to add the lead. Then I'll make them long enough with space at the top to either add or subtract leads, depending on the current and water conditions.To secure them to my main line I'll use a snap swivel, snapping the swivel to the slinky and putting the main line through the eye of the snap swivel with a bead to make it a sliding weight to a leader swivel. This way I can have the perfect amount of lead in my slinky to successfully make the drift due to current and location. Example if my drift is too slow I'll start reducing the lead in the slinky to arrive at the proper drift speed. By unsnapping the snap swivel on the main line you can remove the slinky from the snap swivel and slide out lead one at a time or by feel, as to how many to remove. Then I'll resnap the top of the slinky to the snap swivel on the main line and drift again to see if it's just right. Same as if I'm drifting too fast. I'll add to the space I've left available more lead until I obtain the proper drift speed. This way I can take basically only one size of slinky with me at a time. Note: after the first time of fishing the water I've targeted to fish, I get a feel for which size of leads and slinky lengths I'll need to get the proper drift in the section of river I'll be fishing, as the water either drops or rises. There are times in high water condition when I'll use the largest leads possible to fit in the largest p-cord. and vise-a-versa with low water conditions, I'll go to old lead shot sizes in #8 or #9 shot with the smallest p-cord, then kind of melt the cord a little and I mean very little to just secure the shot from sliding in the small slinky width but still flexible enough to drift snag free.IMO the secret to slinky's is the length to be able to snake their way down stream through the drift, yet heavy enough to keep you close to the bottom and at the correct speed to activate the bite.
I use a variety of shot sizes from large to small pre each slinky type. That way when I go fishing I'll take the size slinky type I think suits the water conditions. This way I'm only lugging around so much weight. Because as you know sometimes the hike in can be a long one if your fishing from the bank.
God Bless

fearsnofish

[skeezer]

instead of useing a candle and pliers i use a soldering tool, you can melt it and flatten it at the same time.. works for me

[fish-bones]

Thats a real good idea skeezer.I think that would work great.I don,t have one ,maybe i should look for one at a garage-sale.The only thing I forgot to mention in my post was that ,after I punch a hold through the slinky I cut the corners round to keep less things to catch on.

Fish-bones




T

Originally posted by skeezer:
instead of useing a candle and pliers i use a soldering tool, you can melt it and flatten it at the same time.. works for me

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">

[kayakfisher]

Any one of you guys knows lots more about fishing than I, but I use steel shot because lead is known to cause problems in ducks and geese.

Am I the only one that uses steel?


M.

[fish-bones]

Either lead or steel shot would work ,but I don,t know if they have ,250 shot in steel.I think that steel shot would start leaving rust on anything it comes in contact with after you get it wet,unless you go through the trouble of drying them out.Go with what ever you feel comfortable with.

Fish-bones: :grin:

Originally posted by kayakfisher:
Any one of you guys knows lots more about fishing than I, but I use steel shot because lead is known to cause problems in ducks and geese.

Am I the only one that uses steel?


M.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">

[corkyking]

I used to use pencil lead (still do sometimes) and I would prepare 10-20 before each trip because that's how many I'd lose.

After years and years I decided to try slinkies. I don't know if they just work better or I am better at reading a drift but I only lose about 10% of the weight that I used to. I make all different lengths and throw a few in my pocket. I tie the mainline and leader to the swivel eyes and hang the slinky on the snap.

Last few years I have started using the smallest Corky that I can, usually &lt;1/4" and a #4 hook. Now I lose many more hooks and Corkys than lead.

[Ty]

Just stuff the lead shot in heavey wall tubing, much quicker, can so inline rigs fer bobbers and feels so much better!! [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/icon_argue.gif[/img]