when starting out the whole concept of how to do this can be overwhelming. what do i need, where do i get it, how's it done, can i even do it? the questions list goes on and on. if your starting out my best advice would be to just ''remake'' one of your own. i don't mean copy it, just cut the wire and replace the wire back like it was. this way you get a feel of what it takes. besides all those bucks you have that are bent, not working right, or need a new hook can be used again. that was why i got into it in the first place, repairing bad baits. then gradually i saw all the options i had that i could'nt find and got into it deeper, then , as one poster so eloquently put it, it turned something akin to crack. what you need: a pair of round nose pliars with large handles and inset elbow joints, a 7 or 8'' pair of needle nose pliars with a strong elbow, a 5-6'' short nose needle nose, a medium long nose vise grips, a medium flat vise grips, a large hook nose/hawk beak vice grips, a quality 8- 10'' sidecutters or at least a nice wire cutters. wire in same size,.051 is most common in muskie baits, although .062 is used in some and even .072 in others but we'll concentrate on .051-.062 .042 is in some too, and used in smaller applications. .035 or .032 in even smaller stuff. where to get, in the metro (where i am) the wire and most tools can be found at thorne bros. the rest at hardware stores. outstate i don't know other than the net. mabe other memmbers can help there. what to do: i put more tools in the list than is probably needed mainly because you may feel more comfortable using one and not the other. for this purpose i'm using just three of them where it's easiest for me but not nessassarily the best for you. change and use 'em all to see what you like. there are things you can build and/or buy to do this but this is beginner's 101. study your bait, look at the distance from the last component to the tie loop, measure it and write it down, not to the wraps but to the bottom of the loop itself, in some the top of the wraps is'nt even right. put your round nose pliars inside the tie loop to see if it reaches the bottom of the shaft. most times it will on bigger stuff, if not mark that spot with something, a marker or whatever. just a dot will do. to study your bait again... to be continued

i have to restart because i've had long posts be considered no longer valid and all that typing was wasted, soooo.... study your bait again and see how it's put together, write it down or take a picture if you want, or just lay it out in the next step. cut the tip off, i know this hurts, but just close your eyes and snip it. now open your eyes and carefully remove the parts with wire pointing up and lay them down in order on the table, study how the clevises are on if it's two blades, some overlap some don't. inline blades have no clevis, or buzzblades. some are tied with springs( the hair/feathers) and come off here. if there are hooks you have to cut it again. cut the bottom loop and remove hook/hooks and study it to get an idea of how they are made. put in memmory and set aside. now for the fun part. put your round nose pliars on the wire about 2''s ( your a beginner, later this is shorter), oops i should mention you want 12'' wire for begginer, grip the wire very very tight or it will slide around, and force the wire around the pliars to form a complete loop so it looks like an ''L'' with a loop in the bottom outside corner. look at this L and imagine a loop on the outside bottom corner, that's what you want. ok, now put your short long nose pliars about (this step destroys round nose pliars) 1/4 inch through the loop and grip it where it forms the ''V'' on the longer shaft and bend it back to form what looks like an ''R''. then grip the short end and grip it directly across from and below the bottom of the half loop formed from last step, and bend it back to form what looks like a partly opened cotter pin. now take your hook or splitring and put it on so it's inside the loop. make sure the two bends are touching each other then take your hook nose vise grips, nice because theres open jaws for more room, and grip right where they meet, or just a smidgeon up. lock it down. using any other pliars , except round nose, turn the short wire around the long one, about two or three times and snip as tight as you can. try and keep the wraps close together and tightly wrapped. (oops WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES!!!). there, your first loop. now put everything back on in order and repeat the above loop without the hardware making sure that the round nose pliars is at the distance on the first step of the loop as your prior measurement. and your done. feel free to ask questions. i'll answer what i can until ice out, after that i'll be fishing alot . i am' puter stupid so if anyone has the time and you are able to put pics to these words please take the time. it'll help the rookies... er... beginners.. thanks

ok over a hundred hit's no reply's. is this to hard to follow? or is so easy to understand no questions are needed? is anyone ready for step two? also i should mention. in case you did'nt think of it, you can use any wire to practice with. even a paper clip will work to get the feel for it. thinner wire is easy to bend, start there if you like.

ok. step 2. basic marabou. tools, all of the above since you have them, also a heavy duty straight rotating bucktail vise. thorne brothers has a decent one for about forty bucks. they have different styles. it's basicly just a long nose vice grips welded to table clamp. fly tying tools, i.e. scissors, bobbins, threader, heavy thread, hard as hull head cement, super glue and talc powder. . good thing to get is a basic tying kit and work from that. also get assorted strung marabou blood quill colors in black, yellow, white, and red. if you see one you like grab it. set your vise up and clamp a 5/0 treble hook (better go cheap to start)by the hook end that lets you spin the vise and have access to all three gaps between hooks. tighten T screw. thread bobbin, lay length of thread long way on shank, secure with one hand and wrap thread around to cover shank with a thin coat. it's ok if you still see hook underneath. apply super glue, 1 drop is good. have talc on plate or something and get a little on your fingers. remove a quill from ( for this purpose we'll do black and white) the black marabou and lay on shank with any curves turned toward hook, wrap 5-6 times, apply super glue, turn vise and repeat with white on next gap between hook and 1 drop glue, repeat on next gap, one drop glue. add talc to fingers if nessasary, if your getting stuck easy you need it. keep adding marabou of the same color in the same gap as you nput there before one feather at a time in each gap until you get the desired bulk you want. always add glue after thread is wrapped. i should mention after the first level you dont need to be so dilegent about turning the curves inward. takes about four or five levels for a decent cover but add more if you want. now form the head with continuous wraps of thread, this is called building the head, about every ten to a dozen turns add glue. after about fourty-fifty wraps add the hard as hull head cement, wrap ten more add more cement, ten more add enough to cover but not alot. use a finishing knot. several half hitches will do. about 5 is ok. let dry until hard, coat with a heavy coat but no drips are wanted. let dry hard. coat one last time. remember this is just a basic tie. i never do it this way anymore but this is for you, the begginner. in advanced the fun starts. using springs to tie on, epoxy and dye for the epoxies, adding glitter, really long heads, eyes, all sorts of fun stuff. never just use superglue as all super glue breaks down in water and makes it all come apart. allways use at least three coats of quality cement. good luck. if this is hard to understand let me know, if it's easy let me know, lol. clean fingers and tools with rubbing alchohol.

I just can't read a big block of text, I think there is some great info in there, but breaking it up in paragraphs or something resembling them, I mean were not english majors, were trying to make fishing lures, but I would bet alot of people are not reading everything to the end.

Just offering some advice to why there may be no replys, not trying to critize at all, I read everything and found it to be very informative.

don't think twice about it man. no problem. if in the future i post more i'll do that. good advice. was'nt really worried too much about the 0 posts so much as wondering if it was easy to understand or not. you know if ya do something alot you might explain it in a way that can't be easily understood by a begginer.

thanks again for the advice. when i get time i'll put in tying actual bucktails with hair. pretty hard to do first. figured i'd put in feathers first. alot easier.

yup this does look easier to read. i'm not retyping all that so i hope peeps can deal with it

Well, I tried it...

I took a #5 musky buck from mepps and cliped it. (Put a [PoorWordUsage] of a notch in my best tin snips too ) Then I snipped the wire from a bottom bouncer and put the hole thing back together. It took three tries but I wanted to take of the #5 french blade and replace it with 2 Colorado's from some old spinnerbaits I was tossing out. Now I am ready to go hole hog.

My question is can I get by with the fly tieing jig that I have or do I need something heavier? And were do I get the raw components? Like I said, before I cut up a $10 bucktail and an old mepps spinner to get the parts to make another. There has to be a spot to get the parts.

Neighbor - take a trip down to Thorne and you can get everything you need, if not Staminainc.com has most of the stuff I need

Bigfish, can you elaborate on laying the maribou curved towards the hook, I can't quit picture it. Thanks.

most bou feathers have a slight curve from quill to top, but you actually want to have it curve away from the hook intead of toward the hook

Kinda what I thought, you get more 'flare' that way. Thanks.

really this is a matter of prefference in the long run. i've done it both ways and i've found the hook is hidden better when i turn the first few inward. don't really notice a hook up difference. turning them out does give the bait more volume with less marabou, yes, but i'm tying my own and really put alot on anyway. but to each his own.
in answer to your question cooter, find the thicker quills in your string and start with those curved inward. some curve broadside others sheerside, tie what side curves in for the first few.

also thorne has bucktail tying vises made from long nose visegrips,and a shaftclamp. theres like three mabe four styles and they go for 40 bucks. i made my own with a few modifications for ease of use with springs. but your vise for flys will work, it's just not optimal for holding big hooks and tying room, and for ease of turning the hook. if you want to use springs buy the vise from thorne.. but for here and there it's ok i guess.