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lonellr

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There are so many kinds of tins designed to do so many different things...it does seem like you could make a tin free hand - as long as it was symmetrical on both sides of the keel - you can probably find something for it to do :)

 

The main types of squid - not counting all the plated lead jigs people have started called "tins" in the most recent 20 years - were:

 

1. fixed hook tin squids:

  • generally long and thin designed to imitate sandeels
  • lure is poured around the hook
  • saddle hackle or bucktail tied along shank where hook exits lure
  • rubber eel or sluggo or finsfish can be used in place of saddle hackle

2. swinging hook tin squids:

  • beefier and heavier than fixed hook squids
  • generally deeper bodied, heavy lures designed to reach feeding fish casting into the wind
  • much wider range of prey items imitated - sandeels, mullet, butterfish, peanuts...even squid and lizardfish
  • large, single hook historically tied with saddle hackle or bucktail
  • can be used with small tube tails
  • rubber eel or sluggo or finsfish can also be used

3. eel squids:

  • fixed hooks - the lures are poured around a jig hook leaving the hook eye exposed on the flat side/top of the lure for attaching the dacron used to "rig" the eel
  • generally much wider in the front that the back using the drag of the eel to swim/pivot
  • used to imitate eels or sandeels
  • rubber or real eels

 

Tins require bending by the user to make them swim properly - the user controls the action. There are two basic bends - one near the waist and one near the lip. Here's a picture to help :) The red lines show where these two squids are bent. This is just how they fish best for me most of the time. I'll change the bends after rigging an eel on them to make them thump the way I want. But the location of the two bends won't change - just their angle. I guess if I had to I'd call the for bend, at the eye, the "lip" for lack of a better term. And the middle section between the two bends as the "neck". And the part after the second bend the "body". Never really heard them called anything, but it helps for the purposes of discussion :) GENERALLY - and I mean that as there are no hard/fast rules, you can bend these however you find they swim best for you - generally I like the bend at the body to be kinda smooth and gradual - and the bend at the lip to be sharper. This is truly a YMMV kinda thing...how the lure swims depends on lots of variable, primarily what is on the back and how you have it attached. Here's the picture...it happened to also contact two tin squids that haven't been bent yet. The top tin squid can be used as an eel squid - it has the hook eye on which you would tie the dacron exiting the mouth of your rigged eel...it's thin nature makes it a better tin squid but rigged with an 8" Ultimus or Felmlee eel is makes a pretty good eel squid as well.

bending tin squids - eel squids

 

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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Ok I’ve been working on my molds for a few days but not done yet. This is a Hopkins shorty. I still have to but the gas scratch lines in them, Drevel out the area where my wire is going to go and the funnel. Now I think the funnel is gonna go where I put the red line in the pic. Am I correct or wrong, I assume I have to put a funnel channel on both molds?? Little help here. 52DDB62B-2FBC-402E-9E13-A425AFC8D3CC.thumb.jpeg.3dccbfc409077296a07d21ca5176853e.jpeg

Edited by Mark L
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Yes, you need to cut the funnel into both sides so that they line up. You want the funnel to have a pretty big opening into the mold. A Dremel drill make it easier. 

 

One thing to note - you might need to mix up the two Bondo components a little better - those real dark and light spots look like areas of unmixed Bondo...if that's what they are, those spots are gonna be weak.

 

TimS

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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  • 3 months later...

Well it’s been a few months since this thread came out and at the time I thought why not try it. I just want to thanks Tim S for the multiple page tutorial, since he spent the time writing instructions out I figured I owed him something. Our in house Tinman Dan also helped me figure things out so a big thanks to you. It was a interesting process and since I didn’t own a true tin lure to copy. I looked at all of the Graves and PJ tins, so I came up with my own visual copy designs. I was only gonna start with one and ended up with 5 different shapes.  Needless to say I spent some cold sessions casting and watching my lures swim in the cold winter waters. Hopefully when the fish show up in a month or so they will take notice of my lures. So thanks Tim and Dan for the addiction. What I made is now my avatar, they are not perfect but I wasn’t going for that. Just something that my grandkids and family can say someday that I made from complete scratch, hand made from start to finish. Good luck this season boys. 

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15 hours ago, Mark L said:

Well it’s been a few months since this thread came out and at the time I thought why not try it. I just want to thanks Tim S for the multiple page tutorial, since he spent the time writing instructions out I figured I owed him something. Our in house Tinman Dan also helped me figure things out so a big thanks to you. It was a interesting process and since I didn’t own a true tin lure to copy. I looked at all of the Graves and PJ tins, so I came up with my own visual copy designs. I was only gonna start with one and ended up with 5 different shapes.  Needless to say I spent some cold sessions casting and watching my lures swim in the cold winter waters. Hopefully when the fish show up in a month or so they will take notice of my lures. So thanks Tim and Dan for the addiction. What I made is now my avatar, they are not perfect but I wasn’t going for that. Just something that my grandkids and family can say someday that I made from complete scratch, hand made from start to finish. Good luck this season boys. 

I started this topic to do exactly what you did!! Nice work!! I eventually said screw it and stuck with building wood plugs. I'm sure I will give it another go though. I have some questions for ya. What did you use for the mold. Where did you get the grommets for them? Can you post more detailed photos?

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
 

-Doug Larson

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When you say mold are you asking what I used to make the initial lure design? If so I used sculpting clay that you bake. I wired the lures thru no grommets. My loops aren’t pretty and I’ve tried every thing I’ve seen. But they work so I’m not complaining. I’ll take some pics when I get home from work. Like I said they aren’t pretty but they swim. Just have to catch fish on them. 

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14 hours ago, Mark L said:

From left to right in ounces in tinF369F895-F778-4874-A31F-021B8BAFBA16.thumb.jpeg.d1b6045ce87433f32e9149c78e0aa23a.jpegA498D6BD-37B1-437D-9606-2D04053C2131.thumb.jpeg.b52dd6a8ae6369d7894a1b406c9745e1.jpeg

1.4, 1.15, 1.2, 2.75, 1.95 

Hope that helps lonellr

They look fantastic! Great work. 

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
 

-Doug Larson

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for the compliment, I’ve gotten a few bass and a blue on them since spring. The middle one seems to have the best action, plan on trying a few changes this winter when time allows. Thanks again, quit rewarding when one catches a fish on a lure they made. 

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