Saturday 26 January 2013

Salmon Spinners of Old.


Here is the selection of old salmon spinners and devons that were given to me by my grandfather many years ago. Some are still in use today, such as the weighted wooden devons and even pieces of copper were shaped and polished to spin and flutter and catch salmon. Definitely the most successful spinner in the group was the Golden Sprat, it was actually a fish with a lead core going through it and then heavily varnished. This accounted for many salmon especially in the early months of February and March as being weighted it would fish near the bottom where the springers were. There was some rivalry between anglers as to who made the best Golden Sprats and as you can see these having been made by my grandfather could be fished tomorrow  with a touch up of epoxy and i'd bet that they would catch salmon even now. Actually i have talked myself into a bet, i will fish them on the Lee during open season and we will see if they can work their magic once more.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Paul thanks for the info your blog its a great resource. I will i'm sure be back with more queries and info about myself but for now can i ask why don't you think salmon will not take soft plastics. These lures and infact the fish covered in resin resemble fish and the soft plastics seen to do this better than most hard lures or indeed spinners.

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  2. Hi Ben, to be honest i think that salmon will take soft plastics in the right environment as the change from Tobys to Flying C's swept the angling population when people started getting a lot of salmon on them so will the day come for soft plastics. All it takes is one guy catching a lot of salmon on a soft plastic and there you go we'll all be doing it. The problem is that the older anglers are set in there ways and casting downstream and across is all they do but when i started upstream spinning with Flying C's and catching large numbers of fish people followed and the same will happen with soft plastics. I'm using size 15 double salar salmon flies and catching big salmon with these and other anglers are now trying these small flies and finding good success with them also, if i get a chance i will try the soft plastics on one of my salmon sessions and let you know how i get on. Paul.

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  3. Hi Paul, thanks for the responce. I had your similiar train of thought but was put off by something I read on the internet! I have some fantastic soft plastics that have caught me lots of big sea trout (my best last yr 8.5lb) in the sea North side Dublin. I recently moved to Cork and the opportunity to Salmon fish seems to good here not to try. I have been using shrimp (which feels odd as a fly/lure man) and lost 2 fish, I will aslo give my plastics a go and let you know. Ben

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    1. Hi Ben, i never read anything about fishing, i just study the water and the fish and then i adjust my tactics to suit each species. Most of the people writing stuff about fishing spend more time writing and less time fishing and to be honest i can learn more by sitting on a river bank than looking into a book. Try the soft plastics and remember i have taken 10 different species of fish on one fly / lure just in different sizes but it still caught them all so i think that you will succeed given time. Paul.

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  4. Thanks Paul I think thats great advise and when reflect thats how I learnt to fish. My Grandfather started me out at age 4 on the canals in manchester uk. I have fished all my life and never stop learning at 41. Moving to Ireland has given me the oppurtinty to learn so much more. I spent a day with Jim Hendrick (I'm sure you have come accross him if not I think you would enjoy his site probassfisher and coastalflyshop) bass fishing and I believe you share a similar ethos. He explained the basics and encouraged me to think and study. I am now really enjoying my Bass fishing and discovering new marks all the time.
    Paul do you know a salmon fly fishing guide who could as with Jim teach the basics? I am a fairly experianced still water trout fisherman but have no experiance of salmon or river. benowenis@hotmail.com. Thanks again Paul Tight Lines. Ben

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    1. Hi Ben, my fishing buddy is a top casting instructor and is fully qualified to teach salmon spey casting and fishing, his name is Kieran Conlon and he has a blog called Speyguide, kspey-speyguide.blogspot.com and all his contact details etc., are there Regards Paul.

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