Improvisation - what have you made work?

I picked up a copy of the latest Western Angler magazine today and read an interesting article by Peter Anderton about how he made a trolling teaser out of wire traces and cd's.  Good read.  Got me thinking that there are probably lots of other instances of improvisation out there, perhaps some even subject to patent pending!  In the past i have seen spanners and padlocks used as sinkers, but what are some of the more interesting creations you have seen or made?

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Fish! HARD!


Posts: 109

Date Joined: 24/01/12

Old sparkplugs make for good

Tue, 2012-10-09 18:36

Old sparkplugs make for good sinkers.......ive seen ring spanners used as jigs.....ali can teasers.....

Posts: 215

Date Joined: 10/06/12

PVC pipe rod racks, PVC

Tue, 2012-10-09 18:41

PVC pipe rod racks, PVC swivel mount rod holders for my tinny, kids lunchboxes to protect the sounder, milk crate & a piece of pine to make a secure place to put the battery in the tinny, fridge door shelves as removable storage in the tinny (tacklebox trays work well to), old wooden clothes pegs turned into poppers. My favourite though is taking the foam padding off the bars of old BMX bikes & using it to store made up rigs, lasts for donkeys & no kinks in the rigs.

Posts: 6454

Date Joined: 08/08/11

I like the last idea!I have

Tue, 2012-10-09 18:50

I like the last idea!

I have used pvc pipe as beach rod holders, and seen the bottom cut out of a milk crate, turned upside down and added a toilet seat for a camping dunny.

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Fish! HARD!

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Date Joined: 08/08/11

 Pool noodles could work for

Tue, 2012-10-09 19:44

 Pool noodles could work for the last one as well

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bayliner's picture

Posts: 90

Date Joined: 14/08/12

x 2 on the pool noodle

Thu, 2012-10-11 19:58

x 2 on the pool noodle for rigs i bury the hook into it and wrap the rig around the noodle and put a corkboard pin into the swivel. keeps everything neat and tidy........... pop it in an old cd plastic container.

 

Posts: 215

Date Joined: 10/06/12

PVC is wonderfull stuff, I

Tue, 2012-10-09 18:53

PVC is wonderfull stuff, I really should whip up another rod rack, the dodgy one I've got now (made in woodwork by the kids) is full. I like the milk crate camp dunny idea, that's a corker. Probably shouldn't forget the old 5kg dumbell that I used to use as an anchor for the old mans canoe or the 2.5lt fish food bucket (aquarium fish) that I melted holes in with the soldering iron & use as my berley bucket. There's also a gaff that I made out of some ali pipe, heavy wire & some nylon rope to bind it together, bit short for landbased but works a treat for the tinny.

I have a very strict budget so I do lots of improvising.

Leemo's picture

Posts: 3712

Date Joined: 22/02/07

 orange peel to catch

Tue, 2012-10-09 19:37

 orange peel to catch herring, worked it like a wonder wobbler, cloth from a shirt to catch herring again, mostly stuff when I was younger fishing hilaries with no bait

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bludgin' since 94'

TheJettyRat's picture

Posts: 733

Date Joined: 02/03/12

Just about anything will

Mon, 2012-10-15 08:19

Just about anything will catch herring, a peice of red cloth is a old busso jetty trick they used back in the day.

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Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 808

Date Joined: 02/01/11

modified one of these steps

Tue, 2012-10-09 19:58

modified one of these steps into a filleting bench, hangs over my spare wheel

Posts: 6454

Date Joined: 08/08/11

 We took an ironing board to

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:09

 We took an ironing board to steep point this year as a filleting table.  What was that before you modified it?

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Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 808

Date Joined: 02/01/11

that is just a pic i found on

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:20

that is just a pic i found on the net, it is a step that hangs on the tyre, supose it's to be able to reach up to a roof rack or something like that, i don't have a pic of the filleting bench tho.

up to how big a fish can you fillet on an ironing board?,  my bench was made with the intention of filleting black jew(average weight 12kg)

Posts: 6454

Date Joined: 08/08/11

 One of the maccies was

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:32

 One of the maccies was longer than the board!

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Fish! HARD!

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Date Joined: 08/08/11

 Just need an extra pair

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:37

 Just need an extra pair hands to stop the board from tipping!

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Alan James's picture

Posts: 2260

Date Joined: 30/06/09

Improvise, tent pegs

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:41

around the base

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Alan James's picture

Posts: 2260

Date Joined: 30/06/09

If you think the fish is too big

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:38

for an ironing board improvise and prop it.  Ironing boards are great.  Someone else commented on an earlier thread that they were concerned with the bits and pieces dropping to the ground in a home situation.  Solution, get a large sack and lay over the ironing board.  Stops those slippery cod slipping off too. 

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Boydy's picture

Posts: 623

Date Joined: 26/09/12

Size

Wed, 2012-10-10 07:52

I've used an ironing board for about the last 10years to clean my fish on, picked it up from a curb side collection!

Tech screwed some construction ply to the top works a treat, the wahoo in this months POTM comp was filleted on it. Size no problem.

Posts: 104

Date Joined: 09/09/09

When i lived...

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:15

When I lived up on Xmas island, i used to fish live baits on the bottom in 100m of water. As i wanted the live baits to swim free, a heavy sinker was out of the question, so instead i collected half a dozen big rocks from the beach before i left and connected them to the rig with a peice of cotton. They got the bait down quick, and one jerk of the rod and the cotton snapped, leaving the livey to swim around unhindered. Live baits never lasted long up there though :)

Posts: 6454

Date Joined: 08/08/11

 Recycling! With benefits!

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:39

 Recycling! With benefits!

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quindieselbrad's picture

Posts: 329

Date Joined: 01/09/10

nice

Thu, 2012-10-11 23:36

1 rock at a time we can make that detention centre smaller.

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Catchn dhuies off the smell of an oily rag :)

Posts: 695

Date Joined: 12/03/12

made heaps of salmon lures

Tue, 2012-10-09 20:53

made heaps of salmon lures out of knives even some broom handle for a popper. salmon eat anything

r.gates's picture

Posts: 573

Date Joined: 15/11/10

90mm storm water pipe

Tue, 2012-10-09 21:18

Made a submersible berley bucket using a short length of storm water pipe, a glue on end cap on the bottom and a joiner/screw on end cap for the other end. Drilled a series of holes in it, attached a loop of old cord and attached it to a heavy handline...a couple of big bolts for ballast, add some berley pellets, etc and lower it over the side to whatever depth you want...give it a jiggle every few minutes...works a treat. Don't forget to retrieve it before you move the boat or you'll cut the line with the prop. Been there done that twice.

I like the milk crate idea for a camp dunny.

regards
rusty...

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If life is boring, you must be doing it wrong!

jighead's picture

Posts: 739

Date Joined: 03/02/12

Teaser

Thu, 2012-10-11 11:10

Used a teaser made from about eight 85gram metal slices joined by pre made wire traces tied to a heavy handline up north this year and it seemed to work a treat. The sailfish didn't mind checking it out.

Paul H's picture

Posts: 2104

Date Joined: 18/01/07

Kill switch clip deceided to

Thu, 2012-10-11 11:21

Kill switch clip deceided to bugger up one day out on the water. after taking an hour to find the problem 1/2 a roll of elect tape got us going (taped switch in).

Teaser - wire trace, three bird teasers interspaced with glitter bug floats - works a treat..

Best I can remember was years ago in my Torana GTR - were on our way fishing when the accelerator started to lose power but was okay revving it at the motor.  The accelerator linkage was stuffed and we were in the middle of nowhere - solution rig some wire shark trace from the pedal to the carby, took a few adjustments on length to get it right but I drove it for a month before replacing the linkage (and it had more power then it ever did as it pulled the carby open more).  Wouldn't recommend it though as it had the potential to jam open which could've been nasty in hindsight.

 

Cheers

Paul

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scottnofish's picture

Posts: 1621

Date Joined: 28/08/07

had the same thing happen years ago

Fri, 2012-10-12 09:45

throtle linkage shit it self so i diconnected the choke cable and hooked it up to the throtle and drove home pulling on the choke

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 18185

Date Joined: 11/03/08

one of my well used things

Thu, 2012-10-11 20:06

one of my well used things was a small piece of foil out of a smoke pack wrapped around the old style round cylinder fuses. only prob was they tend to burn out if left in place too long. got me out of the s#@t a few times

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RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

quindieselbrad's picture

Posts: 329

Date Joined: 01/09/10

i ran out of elevator jig heads up north

Thu, 2012-10-11 23:34

so i used stainless wire to make a ball sinker into a elevator style jig head and added spit ring from lure and a gape hook , carefull positioning of the wire eyelts assures the same motion of the elevator heads.

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Catchn dhuies off the smell of an oily rag :)

Posts: 22

Date Joined: 01/08/12

Emu export can teasers

Sat, 2012-10-13 14:10

 Sure you have heard this one before but i someTie export cans on some rope and tow around for teasers. Put some cans on backwards and The shape of the bottom of the can works like a popper. I put on about five on backward and three on sideways to spin. The silver and red seems to work well. I have raised marlin, sails and mackies.

Posts: 4588

Date Joined: 01/02/10

What species of marlin?

Tue, 2012-10-16 18:47

What species of marlin?

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Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

Yewiefish85's picture

Posts: 808

Date Joined: 02/01/11

Ha ha ha ha, thats a

Tue, 2012-10-16 19:00

Ha ha ha ha, thats a pisser!

spose it would raise the same type around hedland! ;)

Dizzy's picture

Posts: 753

Date Joined: 21/02/11

An empty tissue box with the

Sat, 2012-10-13 17:29

An empty tissue box with the plastic slit, filled with slightly warmed mince meat and go for broke. 

Or

Get some nail polish, paint your nails then sit on your hand for 40 minutes until it's completely numb. 

Then get an old dunny roll to look through - you'll never know it's your own hand !!!

 

 

Oh, sorry - you mean for fishing stuff ?

Awkward. :P

 

tim-o's picture

Posts: 4657

Date Joined: 24/05/11

Bahahaha, wot about a squid

Mon, 2012-10-15 13:41

Bahahaha, wot about a squid tube hahaha

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I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.

Dizzy's picture

Posts: 753

Date Joined: 21/02/11

Nah, I generally abstain from

Tue, 2012-10-16 20:33

Nah, I generally abstain from putting my dick in anything that smells excessively fishy.   :P

Posts: 6454

Date Joined: 08/08/11

i thought the dunny roll was

Tue, 2012-10-16 18:32

i thought the dunny roll was for the gerbal???

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Dizzy's picture

Posts: 753

Date Joined: 21/02/11

......... and I thought MY

Tue, 2012-10-16 20:34

......... and I thought MY comment was awkward !   :P

Leemo's picture

Posts: 3712

Date Joined: 22/02/07

 just duct tape a hamster

Tue, 2012-10-16 20:56

 just duct tape a hamster

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bludgin' since 94'

Hebbs's picture

Posts: 68

Date Joined: 23/01/12

Got belted by blowies one

Mon, 2012-10-15 00:34

Got belted by blowies one summer a few years back and ran out of softies...

Some frayed old orange anchor rope + 3kg mono to secure it + a jig head = 30cm flounder! :)

 

Still have it sitting on a shelf somewhere

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 It's not rocket surgery...