padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

Thanx, they work well, especially after some tweaking. Next iteration I'll add beads.

DC Loc: Washington state

I am not familiar with this style of sinker is the purpose of the wire to act like mini anchors to grab bottom? I have made sinkers with the wires bent down instead of up, for drift fishing on rivers where the wire ends taps the rocks first and the spread helps keeps from getting hung up in the rocks but I'm thinking that is the opposite purpose for which the one you made is for.

padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

DC, that's exactly what the fingers do. Once cast and you reel in slightly, the fingers act like an anchor, dig into the sand and create tension on the line, keeping the bait above the bottom. When ready to retrieve you simply tug on the sinker, the fingers swivel back and it becomes less of a challenge.
S. Padre Island has sandy bottoms, and these sinkers are ideal.

Justoldjim Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.

why drill just heat the wire and push it in

Brownsville Tony Loc: Brownsville - Laguna Madre

Oh I'm not that busy, just things have been a bit hectic. Also we are either in the middle of a monster heat wave or the wind is blowing like crazy and the water is all roiled up. Anyway, things get kicked off this week! The new urologist, after apologizing eloquently, said he would really have liked to accept all the records and reports we have gathered from other doctors but he prefers to look for himself as he somewhat disagrees with the sequencing of events that they had set up - SO - I get to have a whole new cystocopy exam on Thursday of this week. Then, depending on scheduling, the slicing and dicing begins. First the tumor comes out and resectioning of the bladder happens and we take about a two week recovery break. Then the TURP thing with the prostrate happens. Optimal conditions = we should be all finished by mid-late August.

I feel absolutely naked without a boat even if I wouldn't have been able to get out even if I had one. But, Padre's bottom grabber works great. He gave me a copy of the prototype and it is ready for a You-Tube academy award. I always knew he was more than just a pretty face!

padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

Sounds good, but do you think a soldering iron can heat up 14 gauge wire hot enough to melt lead?

Justoldjim Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.

no, pick up a small butane torch like Harbor Freight sells. I think I paid about $12.00 for mine,
operates on lighter fluid

Ted A Loc: Eastern Washington

We use similar sinkers in the Snake River for springer fishing.

Here is a picture of some I made.

padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

Ted, those are some excellent, and good looking weights. Well done.
Never seen that design before; do you sell them?

agatemaggot Loc: iowa

You can buy that mold from the Do It Corporation and place tinned wires in the sprue hole before pouring in the lead, just pour the lead around the tinned wire !

Bluetarheel Loc: Oregon

Nice work, Padrebino. Do the wires fold back when you retrieve the spider sinker?

padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

Thanx. Yes they do retract. As soon as I locate some beads, I'll add them to make retraction smoother.

padrebino Loc: BROWNSVILLE, TX / SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX

Thanx for the tip agate!
If I were a younger man with fewer health issues, I would attempt it.
I usually wear gloves when working with sinkers. Working around heated lead can be a hazard, especially when around lead fumes.

Ted A Loc: Eastern Washington

Padrebino,

I made the molds from some tapered aluminum tubing that I bought many years ago from Boeing Surplus. I have no idea what that aluminum tubing was used for. The small end of the taper was threaded so I made and threaded a plug with a hole through it for the wire to stick through. The plug is long enough that the lead hardens before running all the way through. I use 14 gauge fence wire that I form for the claws. Short claws are more rigid but tangle in the line less. The longer claws that I prefer will bend easier so I can usually get my sinker back. I use 12 to 15 lb. line on the sinker so it'll break easier than the 25+ line to the hook. I pour from the large end which is open so I can make different weight sinkers depending on how full I make the pour. The ones in the picture are 4 to 6 oz. but I can make them 10 to 12 oz if I fill them full. I have 4 molds that I load and pour at a time. The most time is spent preparing the wires.

Hope that gives you some ideas. lead doesn't stick to aluminum but if it does get a little sticky you can smoke the inside of the mold with soot from a carbon rich torch. or spray silicon into the mold as a releasing agent.

Do It does make some molds that most people use but mine were already available when I made mine.

I don't sell sinkers because I don't want to work that cheap. Sometimes I'll give some away while out fishing but that's my choice. I'm retired but I would rather go fishing than make sinkers. That said, I still make lots of things but usually 1 or 2 of a kind.

If you.re interested I might be able to dig up a picture of my molds.

DCGravity Loc: Fairfax, VA (by way of Cleveland OH)

PB - the timing of your post is impeccable. In a couple weeks I'm hauling the fam to the shore (Assateague to be exact) for a week of beach vacation, the bulk of which will consist of surfcasting. We've only recently picked up beach fishing in the past 5 or so years and up to this point have been using pyramid sinkers to counter the drift, but some days they didn't get the job done. Sputnik sinkers were recommended by more than a couple folk with way more experience, but I balked when I saw how much they cost. So I just might give your design a go! I still have a handful of 3 - 5 oz dropper sinkers from our earliest attempts at surfcasting.