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DIY/great idea thread

5K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  unch 
#1 ·
If there is already a thread of this nature, I apologize. I've searched, but cant find anything like it. I would like to start a thread for folks to share their ideas or things they have built to assist in their fishing game (Rod racks, fly boxes, Gear storage, travel tips, etc). Hope it gets some traction!!

Quade.
 
#4 ·
-Old fly line to make some lanyards for nippers, hook hone, hemostats and such
-Old shovel handle with some paracord wrapping/knots for a wading staff
-Framed up a couple flies and photos using off the shelf shadowboxes/frames and mat boards. Not nearly as nice of a final product as the few that Gary posted, but worked well enough for me. I would love the space and tools to get into woodworking one day.
-Fly storage box (similar to the Cliff Bugger Beast) using a craft storage box, foam and spray adhesive
-Lamp wire with the copper removed as junction tubing for old school intruder rigging
-Pony bead lacing (another craft store find) as Ultrarig tubing

All I can think of at the moment
 
#10 ·
#6 ·
Good idea in itself !! Can't wait to see some ideas....

A lot of DIY ideas have evolved into reaching a wider following. ie: A few years back I McGyvered wading staffs for my wife and I out of some used tent poles. With a few tweaks and requests from friends, the idea morphed into my Riverstick wading staff. I'm a firm believer in the potential of DIY ideas.

Here's my latest McGyver: A while back I noticed I was having trouble with some of the new thinner running lines looping back inside the gap between the cage and spool of my open-caged reels. To remedy the problem, I decided to put a dot/bump of Loon UV Knot-sense on the points where the cage meets the spool (4 points). It worked surprising well, and I haven't had a problem since.
 

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#8 ·
I feel like each great DIY idea probably deserves a thread of its own. But I obsessed for about a year working out my ideal single-piece wading staff - there is a missing one in the sequence that I lost in MT that implemented the short-lived idea of having a hook on the end - a better solution turned out to be to stop putting flies in the trees in the first place. The bottom one is the final version ... and then I modified a climbing harness so I could attach it, and finally ditch my pack.

I tend to obsess at the beginning of a project. My first one had hand-engraved fish and other decorations on the wood, and a built-in ruler optimistically going up to 45”. Minimalism always seems, unfortunately, to come last with me rather than first. :Eyecrazy:
 

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#9 ·

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#11 ·
Diy

I'm just an old unstable guy on the river, and I always have my wading staff in my hand before moving my feet. In order to keep the staff (always fully extended and ready to use yet still out of the way) I've employed a landing net magnet. Attach one side of the magnet to the holster and the other looped into the line securing the staff to the holster. Adjustments to the position that you would normally reach for the staff, and with just a little practice you will find that you can hear the magnets click without always having to look to see if you can release the handle of the staff. It will keep the staff right where you want it when you need it.
 
#12 ·
......before moving my feet.
This reminded me of one of my first lessons in mountaineering - only move and reposition one appendage at a time. One foot, or one hand, but never two.

Same thing applies here! Wading staff and two feet - two should be planted whenever you're moving! :wink2:
 
#13 ·
I built a super cheap rack to carry two rods inside my 4Runner. One Home Depot paint yard stick, some pipe insulation, velcro, and some speaker carpet. Cut two pieces out of the yard stick, drill two holes that correspond to the headrest posts, and stick everything else on.

Also, I always have a magnetic money clip in my pocket. Even with waders on it holds flies while changing or untangling knots.

The stretchy cords that come with conference name tag holders make great zinger/retractors.
 

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#17 ·
I built a super cheap rack to carry two rods inside my 4Runner. One Home Depot paint yard stick, some pipe insulation, velcro, and some speaker carpet. Cut two pieces out of the yard stick, drill two holes that correspond to the headrest posts, and stick everything else on.

This is perfect. I've just been sliding my rods through the headrest posts on the front and back passenger sides, but love this setup much more. Thanks for sharing!
 
#15 ·
A home made boot dryer I made last season out of some scrap I had laying around. I plug an old hair dryer into the port in the bottom.

Improves: eventually, I will unscrew the lid on the box and add a hinge and latch so that i can store the vertical pipes and the hair dryer inside for travel or storage


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
#18 · (Edited)
I have a few DIY projects that are useful. Many have been shown before on Spey Pages. Any questions about the details of the designs will gladly be shared through posts or PMs.

Doug

Photo Description

1,2 Backing winder for Abel Big Game reels. Main plate and shaft are reversible for #2, #3 spools. Driven by a variable speed drill.

3,4,5 Fly boxes made with local butternut wood.

6,7,8 Rod racks for Volvo XC-70.

9,10 Line labels made from business cards.

11,12 Centering plug for late chuck. Used to hold cork handle rings and drilling center hole for rod blank.

13,14 Line spool winder for drill

15 Line transfer stand. Reel to spool or spool to reel transfer.

16 Dee wing tool

17 Wheatley box clip adjuster for bent clips. This used a #1 1/2 Alec Jackson Spey hook positioned under the clip close to the rivet. Press the raised clip into the box. The clip will have yielded to a fly hook holding position after you remove the AJ hook.

18,19 Tool caddy using two figured woods (curly maple and walnut burl) laminated into a block.

20,21 Organizer boxes for Bronze Mallard feathers.
 

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#24 ·
Blog

Like Gary, I blog most of my DYI

1. We (Wife and I) have 5 staffs. She prefers the altered ski pole and I the wood staff's with copper base. I have also modified, a folstaff as it was easier to do this than get an unit for mounting go-pros.

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/folstaff-hack/

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2019/08/05/home-made-staff/

2. I hacked an Ikea Ivar for holding rods

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/ikea-ivar-hack/

3. Or coat hanger wire and plywood to hanging rods in the van.

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/dyi-rod-carrier-revision-2/

4. As illustrated below, also a rod drying and preparation rack. But this is just a picture.

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/travel-spey-rods-and-more/




5. I have made my own line changing station tower that is unique. There were a couple of considerations, as I wanted to hold also silk lines and other lines after they have been in the salt.

No pictures, until I get a couple of seasons of use.

6. Of course, I make my own leaders, except furled. I have thought of making my own, but the use I get out of them and the choice available from Mike Moline is as good as I can get or want.

7. I like using "super magnets" to hold flies as I am changing them on the water or tools-hooks around on the base of the fly-tying base.

8. And there some tools and holders around the fly-tying station.

9. Prefer to make eyes now.



https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2020/02/02/bead-eye/

10. Over the years, I have posted my dying test, results and use.

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/dye-results/



one of the mega-project. My wife built us a fishing boat (she also has built a few kayak's too)

https://raspberryfisher.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/judys-lutra-laker/

 
#25 ·
I recently traded a rod for a Loop Classic fly reel. Love the reel, hated the handle. Time to upgrade.

Always use enough tool for the job.:chuckle:



Boring center hole to finished size.



Several handles roughed out.



A small hatch of handles profiled and finished.



The Loop reel with the new handle installed. The handle looks a little unconventional, but it's far more comfortable than the skinny factory handle.



Wardrobe changes for the Loop, because why not?:)





A couple of Orvis Battenkill Vs got the same treatment. Decent little reels suffering from awful OEM handles.



Too much time on my hands right now? You bet!

Be well,
Bob
 
#28 · (Edited)
Reel maker Wayne Petrevan suggested that we join forces at his vintage belt driven lathe, to turn the African horn handle for my 4" plate-wind reel which he was finishing; so we took it in delightful turns - fitting and polishing.

Some 15 years before, I had frequented a bead store in Montreal and secured four likely looking horn 'beads' which the owner assured me she had obtained in Africa some 40 years prior. I always hoped that they would come in useful one day.

Malcolm
 

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#30 ·
Wow! Great ideas and solutions to problems we come across.

It's fairly common that we don't have a reel that will not "balance" just the we would like on a certain rod and some have come up with ways to add weight to a reel. I think the best solution /permanent fix occurred to me was to remove and reversing the reel-seat from up-locking to down-locking. I've rebuilding the lower handles on my rods todown-locking. The inch to inch and halve can make all the difference between a reel that is too light into something manageable or just perfect.

Vic.
 
#33 · (Edited)
That is what I meant that it may become "manageable." Anyway it is a DIY project. Not too heavily involved - you know because you build rods. I only tinker.

I think its a great idea too. At least one factory-builder now offers down-locking due to numerous requests from clients and someone else might like to give a try.

Vic.
 
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