When I was a kid growing up in Yorkshire several of the local fishing boats used to use feathers on their longlines instead of baited hooks. Their catches were always good, but then that was before the EU when we still had fish in British waters A couple of years ago I was fishing up near Mallaig in the Western Highlands of Scotland and saw a similar system being used on their Killer Rigs. After thinking about it for a while I came up with this version...
Not quite a traditional feather but very simple to make using the minimum of components:
• A 4/0 or 6/0 Aberdeen hook
• Red insulating tape (for Pollack) or white tape (for Cod)
• Mylar tape (or strips cut from old biscuit wrappers, crisp packets, etc)
• Optional - stick on eyes and superglue
Construction is easy - cut off a 100 - 120mm length of insulating tape and start wrapping it tightly just behind the eye of the hook.
With the 'sticky' side up start sticking strips of shiny mylar onto the tape, leaving a small gap between each strip. I use 4 or 5 strips of 6mm Holographic Mylar Tape that I found at Hobbycraft in their floral/wedding department but these days the inside wrapper of many types of biscuit and crisp packets are made from shiny mylar sheet. The strips need to be about 1½ times longer than the hook.
When all the strips are in place continue winding the insulating tape around the hook, sticking down the mylar strips at the same time. Once all the strips are firmly taped in place, trim off any excess insulating tape and if desired put a blob of superglue just behind the eye of the hook to seal the tape in place.
For finishing touches I cut up the middle of each mylar strip to make two finer 3mm strips and give the lure more of a 'frilly' appearance and more reflecting surfaces. I also paint on or stick on "wobbly eyes" (also bought at Hobbycraft) but I think the eyes appeal more to me than the fish as I haven't noticed much difference in catch rates in the eyeless versions
To use these lures simply use them anywhere you would use a Muppet. I put them as the top lure on a killer rig but have also have a lot of action on them by adding a trapped drilled bullet just before them on a trace and deep spinning for Pollack. As they're so easy and cheap to make I don't mind losing them in snaggy areas and have even quickly made them up 'on-site' whilst out on the rocks when no other lures seemed to be working.
