Unusual split shot

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Duckett
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Duckett »

After trying just about every brand of modern shot, I find that Anchor Double Cut are the easiest to position and remove. Not the rugby ball shaped ones though. I can’t explain why, and it may be my imagination, but the green coloured ones seem to be the softest.
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Liphook
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Liphook »

I've looked long and hard at these unusual items - I wonder if they might be tips to arrows/bolts for knocking down small prey as people in other countries could legally do? They certainly look like they would sit at an odd angle on a line and possibly cause line twist. Outside bet maybe........?

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Tengisgol
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Tengisgol »

I’ve started to use brass rod that you can buy in B&Q, cut to various lengths and sharp edges smoothed with wet n dry. Held to the line with silicone tube. I’ve been meaning to post this on here with pictures for ages.
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Wallys-Cast
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Wallys-Cast »

I think these leads could originally be a form of bifurcated rivet or maybe a crimp on anti tamper seal for gas meters etc.
I have had loads of lead weights that came in various tins or bags over the years and I doubt if any of them were really intended as fishing weights.

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Dave Burr
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Dave Burr »

Tengisgol wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 6:35 am I’ve started to use brass rod that you can buy in B&Q, cut to various lengths and sharp edges smoothed with wet n dry. Held to the line with silicone tube. I’ve been meaning to post this on here with pictures for ages.
Was this influenced by Mark Everard's nails Phil? It is a good idea to have a long, solid weight when trotting I suppose, never got around to trying it though.

What I do dislike about modern lead alternative weights is that anything below a BB is likely to ping off during the fight or should you hit weed etc. I get through loads of the little beggers during a day's trotting unless you hammer them to the line..... which will then break.

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Tengisgol
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Tengisgol »

Dave Burr wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 10:02 am
Tengisgol wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 6:35 am I’ve started to use brass rod that you can buy in B&Q, cut to various lengths and sharp edges smoothed with wet n dry. Held to the line with silicone tube. I’ve been meaning to post this on here with pictures for ages.
Was this influenced by Mark Everard's nails Phil? It is a good idea to have a long, solid weight when trotting I suppose, never got around to trying it though.

What I do dislike about modern lead alternative weights is that anything below a BB is likely to ping off during the fight or should you hit weed etc. I get through loads of the little beggers during a day's trotting unless you hammer them to the line..... which will then break.
That’s exactly right Dave, I have long thought about Mark’s masonry nail approach but they’re a bugger to cut and then you still need to file the edges and paint them. You can see one in the picture below.

I was fed up when I saw the price of a pot of SSG in the tackle shop and that got me thinking. So I had a rummage in B&Q and came up with this idea. The brass rod won’t rust, is easy to cut and file and still quite cheap for a metre length. No reason why these can’t be used as weights in light link ledgers either although at the moment I have only used them for float fishing with weight down.

I did try steel rod first as you can see but (doh) that’s no good for obvious reasons. I expect the brass to fade as they age and did think about putting them in vinegar to dull them.

Image

Image
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Dave Burr
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Dave Burr »

Tengisgol wrote: Thu May 09, 2019 7:15 am
Dave Burr wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 10:02 am
Tengisgol wrote: Tue May 07, 2019 6:35 am I’ve started to use brass rod that you can buy in B&Q, cut to various lengths and sharp edges smoothed with wet n dry. Held to the line with silicone tube. I’ve been meaning to post this on here with pictures for ages.
Was this influenced by Mark Everard's nails Phil? It is a good idea to have a long, solid weight when trotting I suppose, never got around to trying it though.

What I do dislike about modern lead alternative weights is that anything below a BB is likely to ping off during the fight or should you hit weed etc. I get through loads of the little beggers during a day's trotting unless you hammer them to the line..... which will then break.
That’s exactly right Dave, I have long thought about Mark’s masonry nail approach but they’re a bugger to cut and then you still need to file the edges and paint them. You can see one in the picture below.

I was fed up when I saw the price of a pot of SSG in the tackle shop and that got me thinking. So I had a rummage in B&Q and came up with this idea. The brass rod won’t rust, is easy to cut and file and still quite cheap for a metre length. No reason why these can’t be used as weights in light link ledgers either although at the moment I have only used them for float fishing with weight down.

I did try steel rod first as you can see but (doh) that’s no good for obvious reasons. I expect the brass to fade as they age and did think about putting them in vinegar to dull them.

Image

Image
That looks like a very good and cheap alternative to SSG that is currently trading at just below the price of Rhino horn. To colour stones when used for weights, I used tea. Would that work with brass? Any chemists please comment.

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Coral Maestro
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Coral Maestro »

Nobby wrote: Thu Apr 11, 2019 12:10 pm I recently bought a British 'shot and caps' cast carrier with four quill floats on that are probably French.

Image

Inside the storage chamber were these split shot. Remarkably they still open and close...and a darn sight easier than what we use today...even if they aren't as aerodynamic.....

Image


But no one I have asked has ever seen anything like them before...so, are they British or French, I wonder?
I saw some just like that at a Brocante in the Correze which suggests that they are French. I guess they wouldn't be legal in the UK as they're made of lead.
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Nobby
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Re: Unusual split shot

Post by Nobby »

Ah, nice to know....I thought the floats were French, so that makes sense.

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