The simplest fishing tackle is a float rod. Each of its components can be made with your own hands from improvised material, found in abundance in human habitats.
Modern fishermen cannot complain about the meager range of fishing accessories, but nevertheless, the ability to make a fishing rod with your own hands can be very useful, for example, in extreme situations or for novice fishermen who are not yet sure that they will be fishing seriously and for a long time. …
Making a rod
Any material is suitable as a basis for a rod - plastic, metal rod, wood. The easiest way to make a rod is made of wood: hazel, bird cherry, larch, birch, mountain ash, or, as an extreme option, maple are suitable for these purposes. The branch should be straight and strong. The most successful and reliable rods are made of wood harvested in autumn.
The length of the rod will depend on the place of future fishing: for small, narrow reservoirs, a branch about 2-3 m long is suitable, when fishing from the shore of a lake or from a boat - 3-4, 5 m. The tree branch must be cut off with a knife, cutting off excess knots and removing the thin skin so that in the future the wood does not lose its elasticity and flexibility.
To give the rod smoothness and eliminate various irregularities, it must be carefully sanded with sandpaper. To preserve the wood from water, it is advisable to saturate the branch with linseed oil or vegetable oil, and after drying, cover it with varnish. A good rod is lightweight, resilient, flexible and able to support about 300g of load weight.
Rod equipment
If there is no special device at hand for winding and securing the fishing line - a reel, you should make a small cut at the upper end of the rod, wind the fishing line on it and secure it with a strong knot; if possible, the place of attachment of the fishing line can be fixed with tape. The working length of the line should be about 30-50 cm longer than the length of the rod. For catching large fish, a fishing line with a thickness of 0.3-0.8 mm is suitable, for medium and small fish - up to 0.25 mm. Purchased fishing line can be replaced by a strong rope loose into separate fibers, waist belts cut into thin cords or shoe laces tied together.
A hook is carefully attached to the lower end of the line. A flattened nail, a piece of metal wire, a safety pin, or a piece from a key ring can replace an industrially made hook.
The line float should be bright and visible in the water. For homemade floats, you can use cork, styrofoam, bark, or bird feathers, cleaned of lint and weighted with pieces of wood. The shape of the float should be such that it can float vertically on the water, submerging about a third of its length.
At a distance of 12-15 cm from the hook, a sinker is attached to the fishing line, weighing 1-3 g. The sinker ensures the vertical position of the float and the immersion of the bait for the fish to the required depth. As a homemade sinker, you can use a nut, bolt, lead plate crimped around a fishing line, or a nail.
