Eel skin spinners.

No, I'm not turning! :-)

Anyone know anything of the history of these things or how they were made
.... a 100 years ago or more :-)

I've seen the eelskin bucktail surf sites: and the skin of sand-eels
appears to be used as bait for seatrout in the UK. But no mention of the
spinner which I have an idea may have been used on Seatrout lures well back
into the 1800s

Why? Historical sidebar to a 1900s newspaper article.



Steve (mmmmm ... pork rinds ....

"Stephen Welsh" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. 1.4...
No, I'm not turning! :-)

Anyone know anything of the history of these things or how they were made
... a 100 years ago or more :-)

I've seen the eelskin bucktail surf sites: and the skin of sand-eels
appears to be used as bait for seatrout in the UK. But no mention of the
spinner which I have an idea may have been used on Seatrout lures well
back
into the 1800s

Why? Historical sidebar to a 1900s newspaper article.



Steve (mmmmm ... pork rinds ....


I have seen these made of leather, and of course eel skin. The eels were
usually smoked, and the skin then removed. Smoked eelskin is as tough as old
boots! And lasts forever. There may also be other ways of preparing the
skin. There is a dutch guy, Jan Reniers who ties eelskin flies.And there
are a few others doing it as well.

The "flying "c" (ondom)" looks very similar to some of the original
spinners.
http://www.jackfish.net/acatalog/spinner_flying_c.jpg
This was usually a double skirt of leather, or eelskin, with two tapering
ends, sewn up together at the broad end, leeaving the "tails" flapping, and
attached at the head over a weight, and usually with a spinner blade in
front. Some had spon type blades, and some had none.

One very old traditional lure, known as a "Huchenzopf". ( Huchen = Donau
salmon) "Zopf" = bunch, as of hair, etc) Was used specifically for these
large salmonids, which can reach weights in excess of 50 Kg. This is also
the same principle.

I have seen these made of strips of white and brown leather, and also of
fish skin. The theory is that these things imitate lampreys.

This thing has similarities, in miniature, but is made entirely of modern
materials of course.
http://www.sal****erflies.com/gummyminnow.html

If the "skirt" was split, it would look like some of the old eel or suede
spinners. Somewhere, I have a couple of these old spinners. These
particular ones are made of kid goat skin, and are very old. If you want, I
will try and find them and post you some pictures.

Here are some modern variations;
http://www.worldseafishing.com/tackl...g_lures2.shtml


The principle for these "skin" lures is nearly always the same. Two tapering
pieces of the skin are sewn together at the broad end ( nowadays one would
glue them), and this is placed over a weight, which is attached at on end to
a swivel, and at the other to the hook. There are pretty rank trebles on
the ones I have ( Very badly rusted, the last time I saw them!), and they
are about six inches long, so I imagine they were built for pike. Possibly
for trolling. The blades are the "propeller" type, ( Like a "pistol pete"),
and not spoons, as in the "flying "C"".

Rubber evetually took over from leather etc, and now we have silicone etc
etc;
http://espn.go.com/outdoors/general/...n/1618051.html

Interesting subject anyway. There is still room for a lot of
experimentation here, although the realms of "fly-fishing" and
"Lure-fishing" tend to become rather foggy!

TL
MC

"Mike Connor" wrote in
:



I have seen these made of leather, and of course eel skin. The eels
were usually smoked, and the skin then removed. Smoked eelskin is as
tough as old boots! And lasts forever. There may also be other ways of
preparing the skin. There is a dutch guy, Jan Reniers who ties
eelskin flies.And there are a few others doing it as well.

The "flying "c" (ondom)" looks very similar to some of the original
spinners.
http://www.jackfish.net/acatalog/spinner_flying_c.jpg
This was usually a double skirt of leather, or eelskin, with two
tapering ends, sewn up together at the broad end, leeaving the "tails"
flapping, and attached at the head over a weight, and usually with a
spinner blade in front. Some had spon type blades, and some had none.


That's what I was after, thanks Mike. I have a couple of obscure
references to eelskin lures and spinners ( a distinction? - perhaps)
being used in the Lakes region of Tasmania back in the 1870's.
The references really didn't describe either at all ... I suspect one
will have the blade as in the flying C, and another may have just been
eelskin over weight and a hook.

Thanks for the thought, but don't worry abbout goat kid skin lure
pictures. My curiousity is satisfied now that I know roughly what the
things look(ed) like.

Steve

Stephen Welsh wrote:
"Mike Connor" wrote in
:


That's what I was after, thanks Mike. I have a couple of obscure
references to eelskin lures and spinners ( a distinction? - perhaps)
being used in the Lakes region of Tasmania back in the 1870's.
The references really didn't describe either at all ... I suspect one
will have the blade as in the flying C, and another may have just been
eelskin over weight and a hook.

Thanks for the thought, but don't worry abbout goat kid skin lure
pictures. My curiousity is satisfied now that I know roughly what the
things look(ed) like.

Steve

Have a read at the following site, gives the distinction of inventing the
lure to a Mr. Jones, a roadman in Tasmania I think (possibly the one you
already have).

"About the time when we first had Barren Plain, the fish had become numerous
in the Lake, and could be seen basking side by side all along the shore off
Beckett's Bay, about 10 yards out. Then, the water was as clear as gin in
the Lake. Soon it became as it is today, clouded and carrying much impurity:
this was caused by the fish burrowing amid the water grass with which the
Lake bed was covered, so allowing the action off the water to stir up the
sediment. At that time too, the fish would take no lure, probably because of
the crystal clear water. It was not until a man named Jones, who was working
on the roads in the district made a spinner which he covered with eelskin
that the trout began to be taken by rod and line. Prior to then they were
either netted or speared."

http://www.vision.net.au/~dburbury/texts/chr_06.htm

Another link to lures made by Cape Cod Canal fishers.

http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/su...n%20jigs.shtml


--
Don`t Worry, Be Happy

Sandy
--

E-Mail:-
Website:- http://www.ftscotland.co.uk
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ICQ : 41266150

"Sandy" wrote in
news

Have a read at the following site, gives the distinction of inventing
the lure to a Mr. Jones, a roadman in Tasmania I think (possibly the
one you already have).

Thanks Sandy thats one of the two references I have, the other is from a
newspaper around 1907. I'll be posting a link in a day or so, and the
reason I ended up asking ... it all started with a Bunyip sighting.


At the same link:

"It is unfortunate that the snipe seem to have deserted the locality. The
late A.T. Gibson and I once shot twenty brace of them in one day on Silver
Plains. The snipe is a bird which is here today and gone tomorrow."

Nothing much changes.


Steve

"Stephen Welsh" wrote in message
. 1.4...


At the same link:

"It is unfortunate that the snipe seem to have deserted the locality. The
late A.T. Gibson and I once shot twenty brace of them in one day on Silver
Plains. The snipe is a bird which is here today and gone tomorrow."

Nothing much changes.


Chalk that up under "Boy, we used to hunt those things all day, and kill
thousands at a time. Wonder where they all went?"

...."deserted the locality".... sheesh. Talk about deflecting blame.

--riverman

I can't speak for eel skin spinners but back in the good ole days on Cape
Cod an eel skin was a standard bait for trolling for striped bass and
bluefish. The used to sell rigs and even the skins in brine at bait shops.
The rig consisted of the chain normally used for the pull handle on a toilet
tank coupled to a piece of open pipe at the front and a couple of large
hooks. The eel skin (American Eel are a fine meal when caught in salt water
and a fighting fish - yes they are a true fish) is pulled off the animal
like rolling down a sock. It ends up inside out with a blueish cast. It
was then threaded over the chain and tied around the pipe opening. When
trolled water would fill the eel skin like a wind sock and the skin and
chain assembly would wobble back and forth much like the animal did in life.
It was a tough bait which could be used to catch many stripers, though a
bluefish would tear it to shreds in minutes. It was often trolled on a monel
metal line (nasty thing, that) very deep during low tide in holes and scours
where the bass would hold until the tide changed.

I still have an eel skin rig and will attempt to post a picture of it to
ABPF later today.

Joe C.