# Home made Gotchas. Fishing tip # ???



## captken

I have no idea what the tip # is for this one and haven't got time to look for it. The photos were close at hand, though.

I would imagine you can figure out how to do this from these photos but if you can't, I'll look up the tip and post it.

I'm showing this with brass cases but Nickel plated cases look better. The hose can be colored with magic markers or worm dip. You can use PVC pipe or the bottom section of ball point pens. I sometimes use Poly ski rope if I want a wild color. I'm showing this with 00 buckshot but a split shot will work fine too.


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## ironman172

What size shell case is that?


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## Splittine

Thats pretty cool, how well does it work?


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## captken

I use everything from .22 up to .45 Colt Long. The one in the pic is .45ACP.

I much prefer the longer nickel plated cases. I used chrome plated copper tubing for lots of years.

Going fishng in a few minutes. I'll make up severaldifferent kindsthis evening.


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## Danno

I laughted at first, but you know that not a bad idea. Do you leave the primer in or pop it out. I reload everything from 9mm to 30.06 got plenty of casings.


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## Framerguy

what kind of action do you get with your lures in the water? 

Do they wobble at all or do they simply track straight and not "swim"?

With that vinyl coated braided tubing, does the lure track with the "tail" up or does it track pretty straight?

Doesn't the brass tarnish really quickly in salt water?

I always like to see what others are using for making their own lures. My dad and I used to tie flies to match the hatch on the water that day when I was growing up in PA. I can remember going to a "fly fishing only" stocked trout stream inBellfonte, PA when I was a kid and the minimum keeper for Browns and Rainbows was 18", Brookies were 16" if my memory serves. This place was called "Fisherman's Paradise" for good reason! 

Anyway, the people would stand on the bridge crossovers on this little creek and toss bread to the fish below to see how large some of these trout actually had gotten. My dad immediately went back to our station wagon and got out the fly tying equipment and started doing some really weird thing with a piece of bucktail on a small hook!! When I asked, he merely replied, "You'll see son, you'll see." Good ol' Dad, always one to keep me in suspense.

Well, he fashioned the nearest thing to a little bread crumb out of that piece of deer hair that I had ever seen and we proceeded to start catching so many fish that the creek marshalls came over and asked us to leave!!! They accused us of using _real bait_ which was against the rules for that part of the creek where the special fish were dumped in each morning. My dad had to show them up close and personal what we were using before they let us continue fishing! By then our "secret" lure was out but those other guys didn't know the real secret to how to hold that deer hair onto the small hook with all that hair pointing in the right direction so, when it was finally trimmed to look like a piece of bread, it looked natural. 

That's what separated my dad from all the other fishermen that I have known in my life.


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## captken

A Gotcha/Jerkjigger/Seahawk has no action but what you give it with the rod. The lures I make track straight on a straight retrieve but dart all over the place as you jerk it.

5.65 and 7.62 ammo works too. Degrease the cases with acetone then etch them with vinegar then dry and paint to get any color you like. Yeah, brass tarnishes almost instantly but you can scrape it with a pocket knife. 

BTW, I seldom paint jig heads. I just scrape them with my knife to make them sparkle.

The lead shot in the head rattles, giving the lure some sound.

I sometimes punch the primers, especially if I am making trolling lures.

The vinyl tubing shown is stiff and tough no action at all other than what you give it.


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## Backlash

Those look pretty good Ken , what do you use for the eyes ? I showed my wife the pics , and she thinks she could make some, how cool is that...:clap


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## captken

The eyes are made by Witchcraft Tape Products. I use them in a lot of applications. 

Witchcraft makes a lot of really great proucts. They have a website. Google them. I think Bass Pro carries their stuff and know that Jann's/Netcraft does.


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## ironman172

There was a guy on the pier that made them out of arrow shafts, he had a jig mold made for the head, used piano wireto mountthe hooks,he put colorful tape on them for the finish.....he was from Michigan, I always saw them in the spring.they looked just like a gotcha....and worked great!!!!!


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## SheYakFishr

Wow... they look great!!! :bowdown


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## pcolapaddler

Sounds like a great idea. What happened to the pictures?


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## captken

I can see the photos just fine.

RE: lead head mold for Gotchas. Easy enough to make a mold for whatever size tubing you choose. You can make a decent mold out of oak or aluminum.

To make an oak mold, all you need is a drill press, a couple of drill bits,a piece of 2" thick oak and a band saw. If you have everything at hand, it takes about10 minutes to make the mold. I no longer have a band saw so I cannot illustrate it but I can tell you how to make the mold.


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## sailfish23

how do the hooks stay in place?


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## captken

I didn't show the split ring I usually use. The split ring won't allow the hook or wire to back out of the hole.

I'll try to remember to make some with nickle plated .44 Magnum cases in the morning. Thanks for pointing out the omission. I'm sure others wondered too.


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## TWINKIE6816

Did you ever get the new pics with the split rings?


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## captken

Sorry Mike, I never even thought of it after making the last post. All the split ring does is keeps the eye of the hook from coming back out the hole. A snap or snap swivel does the same thing.


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## captken

Moved to top on 11/26 for a post re: Gotcha's.


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## timeflies

there it is! thanks ken, I knew you had this somewhere. I have seen them out of arrow shafts, old pens, cast net leads, whatever.....once you get the idea its pretty easy.


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## captken

*A little update on the Gotcha's*

There are a heck of a lot of possible variations. Here is one made with a .357 case and 3/16" hollow braid Polyethylene rope. 1/4" would be better but I didn't have any.

Notice the way the swivel is attached. You gotta buy the book to learn how to do that. You can do pretty much the same thing with a snap swivel of split ring, though. The hook will not stay in place unless you have a stopper of some sort that is bigger than the hole drilled in the shell case.



















The eye on these jig hooks is too small for a decent split ring so I use a swivel or snap-swivel. I can catch a bunch of fish before the tail gets torn up. The tail is cheap and easily replaced. You can also use Christmas tree icicles in place of the rope. I really like to use a willow leaf spinner blade. With the spinner blade it is almost indestructible.


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## captken

*Taking them a step or two forward.*

Here are some more versions.

Nothing much to making them. The top 2 are .357 cases and the bottom one is .45ACP


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## captken

*They work great but---*

You don't foul hook as many fish as you do with the 6 prong models and you don't lose as many to snags.


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