To get you geared up for the "March" toward openwater fishing, here's a basic tutorial on crafting reliable pike and muskie spinners at home for a fraction of the price you would pay in a sporting-goods store!

Of all leisure activities, fishing has to be the most recession-proof.  No matter how much bait, gas, gear and lures might cost, it is tough to say, “I can’t afford to fish.”  But if you’re a die-hard pike or muskie angler, baits that run ten, twenty or even thirty dollars a pop can put a dent in your wallet.  An enjoyable, and less expensive remedy for a dwindling tackle slush fund is the activity of tying and assembling your own bucktail spinners for pike and muskies.

What follows is a basic tutorial for those anglers who are interested in saving money, turning out a commercial-quality spinner and reveling in the satisfaction of landing a big fish on a homemade lure.  For this example we’ll be tying a light-colored treble and assembling a silver spinner for a perfect baitfish imitator.

PART I: DRESSING THE TREBLE (Click for Tutorial Image)

For constructing the business end of the lure, you will need a strong fly-tying vise to hold the 5/0 treble hook as in Figure 1.  For attraction, we will first tie in three red hackle feathers.  Over the hackle feathers, we will tie in two layers of bucktail in white and gray.  We’ll hold it all together with red Size E tying thread and liquid cement. 

Once the hook is secured in the vise, make several wraps with your bobbin to form a thread bed where you will be tying in the red hackle feathers.  Apply the liquid cement to the wraps and allow a minute or two for it to sink in and set.  Place the first hackle feather flat on the hook shank with the curvature facing up.  Make three wraps down the hackle.  Rotate the hook and do the same with the second and third hackle.  Wrap the thread back up the hook shank, trim the excess hackle stem, apply cement and allow it to set. Your hook should look like the example in Figure 2.

Next, select a clump of hairs from a white bucktail to begin the first collar.  In a fashion similar to the hackles, tie in the first clump of bucktail hairs on the flat portion of the hook, right over the first hackle feather, as in Figure 3.  Fan the hairs evenly over the hook shank.  Applying more tension with the thread when you wrap will flare the hairs, giving the bucktail a fuller appearance.  Secure the hairs with several thread wraps and apply cement, letting it set for a few minutes.  Your first portion of the collar should look like the example in Figure 4.

For the rest of the collar, tie in similar amounts of bucktail, fanning evenly and securing in the same fashion.  Before starting the thread head, use a small scissors to trim the butts of the hairs so they taper toward the hook eye.  This will help form a more secure head.  Do this by trimming the upper hair butts to the last thread wrap, and the middle hair butts to the midpoint.  The bottom hair butts should be left a bit longer.  From that point, tie the butts down with tight, adjacent wraps that sit evenly against each other.  Cement the thread head liberally and allow for a few minutes of drying time. The completed first collar is shown in Figure 5.

Following the same steps, form the second collar of bucktail, this time using gray bucktail hair.  Place your first clump at an angle along the thread head. The butt ends should be close to the eye of the hook, but not in it as in Figure 6.  Secure the hairs with thread wraps. Cement and let dry.  Repeat the process with the next two portions of the second collar, being certain there is no open space between the three sections.  To ensure proper placement, check and see that there is no thread from below showing between the tied-in clumps.  If there is, fan the hairs out by pinching and moving fibers until there is an even distribution that conceals the first thread head.  Complete the second collar in the same manner as the first as seen in Figure 7. 

Gently taper the butt ends toward the eye of the hook. Wrap them carefully and securely forming an even, tapered head and apply more cement. Wrap again, and whip finish or half-hitch several times near the hook eye and cut the tying thread.  Cement the thread head once again and let it dry.  Once dry, cement the thread head one final time to provide a lacquered look.  These lures will have to stand up to some abuse – including repeated castings and hopefully a few esox attacks - so rest assured, the multiple applications of cement are warranted.  Your finished treble should look like the one in Figure 8. 

PART II – ASSEMBLING THE SPINNER (Click for Tutorial Image)

Now, we’ll complete the package with the crafting of a silver spinner body with the components in Figure 1, making an inexpensive lure that will trigger the wariest of pike and muskie in the same manner that a twelve-dollar bucktail would. 

We will start with a twelve-inch long, .051-inch diameter inline spinner shaft.  A pre-looped shaft allows for a perfectly formed connection point where the body components can stack up as we add them.

Select four nickel beads and a nickel body with at least .051-inch diameter holes.  These silvery components fit in perfectly with our treble hook’s wounded baitfish color scheme.  Most bead and body components will have a slightly flared hole on the bottom and a narrower hole on the top to aid in assembly.  Thread two beads on the wire shaft and add the larger lure body on top of the beads. Then add two more nickel beads above the lure body, as illustrated in Figure 2.

To create turbulence which will not only cause the bucktail hairs on the business end of the lure to pulsate, but also send a vibration to the lateral lines of pike and muskies, we will now add a spinner blade.  Select a large blade, such as a #7 fluted Indiana blade, and a properly sized clevis.  Place the bottom hole of the clevis on the spinner shaft, thread the blade onto the clevis with the cup of the blade facing the shaft, and thread the top hole of the clevis onto the shaft. Your spinner should now resemble the one in Figure 3.

In order to create the lure’s connection point, you will need a pair of pliers and some muscle.  Grasp the spinner shaft with a pair of round- or needle-nose pliers approximately one inch above the clevis.  With your other hand, grab the unused tag-end portion of the spinner shaft extending above the pliers and bend it 270 degrees around the nose of the pliers.  Do not bend the shaft of the spinner below the pliers as this could prevent the lure from rotating correctly, only bend the unused tag end. A proper bending of the tie-in point is illustrated in Figure 4. 

Applying a little more elbow grease, begin to wrap the tag end of the wire around the shaft below the pliers.  Make three wraps around the shaft, forming a secure tie-in point that will not be bent straight by a big fish.  Using a tin snips or small bolt cutter, clip the tag end of the wire shaft off, leaving a secure connection point for your leader as shown in Figure 5. 

To connect the bucktail treble to the spinner, open a heavy-duty split ring with a pair of split ring pliers as in Figure 6.  Thread it completely onto the eye of the dressed treble hook, as in Figure 7.  Open the split ring again with the split-ring pliers and thread it into the pre-formed opening.  Secure the loop inside the split ring.  Your lure is now complete and should look like the completed spinner pictured in Figure 8. 

The total cost of the lure pictured is a hair under three dollars.  Over the open water season of 2008, the eight-inch spinner in the tutorial accounted for nearly two dozen pike, and a 37-inch muskie before the final treble was cut to facilitate a release.   Even after the last hook was removed, the bucktail maintained its fullness and sturdiness on the hook shank, due to the care (and ample cement) used during its construction. A similar eight-inch bucktail would run between eight and twelve dollars at any sporting goods store and might not hold up nearly as well.

With this tutorial and the experience gained after making a few of these standard models, you can experiment with adjustments in length, weight, and color. Try using other dressing materials such as marabou, silicone skirts, and flashabou, along with multiple hooks and oversized blades to help tame the trophies you are after.