Classic slingshot: how to make
The basis is a wooden spear with notches. The size and thickness can be varied as desired. It is recommended to use an elastic medical “Martens bandage”. The required length is measured with a ruler to obtain equal segments so that the shot is fired straight and does not go sideways. For the saddle - a piece of leather, suede, thick fabric. The “bag” for shells is quite large, 10x4 cm, with a margin for holes that match the width of the rubber. The parts are connected using regular threads. You need to cut the bandage carefully, without burrs or cuts, since when stretched it can tear and cause injury.
How to increase your catch
In order to increase the fish's appetite, special preparations are used that can activate the bite. The composition of such preparations includes natural biologically active substances called ferromones. It is quite possible that such drugs may be banned, but for now they are on sale and can be purchased. In case you cannot find the right slingshot, you can cut a slingshot with a much larger fork. It will need to be adjusted during drying. To do this, the ends of the fork need to be tied with a rope and left to dry in this form. After the workpiece has dried, the rope can be removed and the installation of the gear can begin. In order for the fishing line to be securely fixed to the slingshot, one small screw should be screwed into each slingshot. It is not recommended to hammer nails as they can split the wood. To prevent this from happening, before screwing in the screws, you can drill a hole in their place with a diameter slightly smaller than the thickness of the screws. To secure the fishing line in the butt of the slingshot, you should cut a groove. For such gear, you can use a fishing line with a diameter of 0.5 mm and a length of about 5-10 m. It is also possible to use a nylon cord instead of a fishing line; after all, pike is a strong fish, and even a specimen can bite a large one. The fixed fishing line is fixed to the rod using a figure-of-eight winding. To secure the end of the fishing line, you need to make a narrow cut in one of the rods. To ensure that the tackle is fully equipped, a sliding sinker and a leash with a tee are put on the fishing line. The size of the threesome depends on which specimen of the predator is intended to be caught. It’s worth remembering that the leash should be made of a material that the pike will not be able to handle. After this, you can go to the pond and try to catch a predator, but first you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of using a slingshot.
How to choose a slingshot installation location
Pike avoids cold and rocky rivers with fast currents. Calm rivers and flowing lakes with grassy banks, reed thickets and bays are where you can meet this predator. It can also be found in ponds that do not freeze in winter, and sometimes in swamps that give rise to rivers. Pike usually stay near the banks, in grass and reeds, under snags and under bushes, only large individuals prefer holes. Being in its shelter, as if in ambush, the predator lies in wait for its prey, which it rushes at with lightning speed. Pike is a sedentary fish; it hunts from its favorite places, rarely going to shallows and places with fast currents. And only during spawning can it leave them. The pike eats three or four times a year, the most severe in the fall, in September-October. This period is difficult to name exactly, it all depends on the weather. During a feast, she loses caution and rushes at everything she considers her prey.
DIY hunting slingshot
The quality of the product depends on the chosen material. For a spear with an elongated handle, take a forked branch of lilac. Strips of strong, well-stretchable rubber are cut from the cylinder of a damaged soccer ball. The leather for the saddle should be strong, not too tight, and bend well (can be from old shoes). Oleg explains the importance of the correct ratio of the size of the selected projectiles and the working surface of the saddle, reliable fixation of parts (using nylon thread) for maximum tension. It is recommended to use strictly for its intended purpose, as a means for hunting small game.
Bait is the key to effective fishing
Bait is an important fishing attribute that should be taken care of in advance. Especially if you plan to hunt fish with specific tastes. The modern fishing products industry offers a wide selection of these products. There are baits:
- universal;
- for certain types of fish (carp, roach, bream, etc.);
- containing special pheromones;
- including specific odors.
All this diversity is developed by scientific chemists, ichthyologists, and researchers in order to ensure maximum bite. So, what does feeding fish provide:
attracting individuals to bait; contributes to an exacerbation of hunger in aquatic inhabitants; relaxes the attention, caution of the fish.
Many fishermen prepare bait with their own hands; everyone has their own recipes. This process is simple, and the necessary products are most often available in any home. At the same time, finances are saved significantly, and there is also the opportunity to generously feed the fish.
Slingshot for fishing
The author of the “Fishing” channel introduces the viewer to the intricacies of baiting fish using a slingshot. The base is made from branches of willow or other suitable strong trees diverging to the side at an angle of 30-40 degrees. A leather cone-shaped bag is attached to an elastic rubber bandage, into which balls of porridge, peas, and corn kernels are placed. The shot can be fired at a selected location at a great distance from the shore. The product is useful for throwing weights into hard-to-reach reeds. Accuracy comes with practice. If you add gravel stones instead of food, this is a good protection against small predators, rats, and stray dogs. Convenient, long-range, does not take up much space, recommended for use by beginning fishermen.
Fishing with girders in winter
Pike on a zherlitsa in winter There is an opinion that catching pike on a zherlitsa in winter is an unsportsmanlike, passive way of winter fishing. One could agree with this, if not for a few “buts”: catching pike with girders in winter means catching live bait, drilling a large number of holes, the angler running to the girder that “shot” (signals a bite), rearranging the girders. All these “buts” taken together require so much effort that actively catching pike with a balance beam or lure will seem like just a rest.
If it is not known at what depth and what places the pike sticks, the first girders are installed in a row from the shore in depth at a distance of 8 - 15 meters from each other, depending on the area of the reservoir and the diversity of the bottom topography.
In real fishing with girders in winter, some of the girders are triggered, while some are completely ignored. The bait fisherman moves non-working baits closer to those that bring fish, maintaining a safe distance (to avoid entanglement, live baits should not reach each other).
How to bet
After the installation scheme for the vents has been determined and the holes have been drilled, we proceed to installing the vents on the ice. The procedure for installing a separate girder on a pike:
- We determine the depth at the installation site of the girder by lowering the equipment under the ice;
- We fix the equipment at the required depth at the bottom by loading the flag;
- We raise the rig of the girder and attach live bait;
- We lower the live bait to the bottom and set the girder in the working position above the hole.
You should not illuminate the holes, especially in shallow water. They are darkened by sprinkling with snow, especially if the base is not in the form of a lid. Even if the base covers the hole, it is still sprinkled with snow - this way the hole does not freeze longer.
At what distance from the bottom is it better to place live bait? When fishing for pike on girders, depending on the depth at the place where the gear is installed, the live bait is raised 20–50 cm from the bottom. It is believed that this way it will be more noticeable to pike. When fishing for burbot, live bait is lowered to the bottom.
With increased power
Modified model with increased power. A convenient handle is cut out of a piece of durable wood with an electric jigsaw and sanded with sandpaper. The rod is cut from a steel sheet with a diameter of 2 mm, the saddle is made from a piece of durable leather. For stretching - medical catheters made of latex. All parts are connected to each other with bolts and nuts and glued with polyester resin. To increase the force of the shot, the author uses a system of blocks of furniture wheels for the bracket. During testing, steel balls leave a through hole in thick cardboard, dents in a wooden block, and break glass bottles.
Arrow slingshot
A handle is cut out of a small board of strong wood with an electric jigsaw, and the rough edges are carefully sharpened and cleaned. A hole for the horns with small hooks with a diameter matching the thickness of the selected wire is drilled in the front part. The tourniquet is an elastic “Martens bandage”, the saddle is made of strong twisted rope. The neck of the canister acts as a round shelf. By replacing the rope with leather, you can shoot steel balls. The product has a high impact force.
Paper slingshot
Have nothing to do with the kids? With this master class you can make a slingshot from A4 office paper. Using a pencil, carefully twist two tubes and secure them with tape. It is shown how to correctly form and glue the structure. The rubber band is also secured with tape on both sides. The simplest version of the product practically does not bend and shoots quite strongly. Bullets are a compacted ball of paper. The target for the test was plastic glasses, which effectively fly apart when hit.
Several useful tips
A slingshot (or a slingshot) is a universal tool for catching an underwater predator. You can use a slingshot in snags, as well as in the presence of aquatic vegetation. It is in such places that the predator hides, waiting for its potential victim. The technique and tactics of slingshot fishing allow you to fish precisely those places where it is not possible to use a spinning rod. The fishing mechanism is as follows:
• to fish hard-to-reach places you will need a straight stick, about 3 or 4 meters long. The slingshot should be tied to the end of the stick using a rope. A rope no longer than 0.5 m is suitable for this; • a slingshot, like a girder, involves the use of live bait. Only freshly caught live bait that has good activity is suitable for this. To catch live bait, you need to take with you a device for such fishing, since a bulky float rod can injure a small fish, and it will not live under water for the required time; • small fish of any type can be used as live bait: redfish, small perch, raft, rudd. As a last resort, you can catch a small frog, the pike will not refuse it either; • then the required amount of fishing line is unwound from the slingshot and fixed in the cut; • live bait is baited on a hook on the upper lip or behind the back, in the area of the fin. If the slingshot is installed in the current, then it is better to attach the bait to the upper lip, and if in still water, then it can be attached to the back. Moreover, it must be fastened carefully so as not to damage the spinal muscles; • after this, the bait is carefully lowered into the water, and the stick is secured on the shore. If there is a pike in the place where the live bait was dropped, then soon you will be able to rejoice at the catch; • pike in the river can be found in floodplains, on sand spits, snags or at the border of water and dense aquatic vegetation; • lake pike can be hunted in thickets of reeds or reeds, in shallow water or in places surrounded by aquatic vegetation; • many fishermen tie the slingshot to an empty plastic bottle, closed with a lid, and let it float freely. It’s not difficult to see a pike bite, just as it’s not difficult to fish it out later, especially if you have a boat.
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Simplified version of the slingshot
The author of the MANDARIN NEW channel shows how to make a mini-slingshot from simple materials. Ordinary ice cream sticks are attached with Moment glue in the form of a small horn. Excess ends are cut off. Using a utility knife, cuts are made to secure the thin elastic. For convenience, the base is wrapped with insulating tape. Safety bullets are made from plain paper and tape. The lightweight version is recommended for home competitions to hit improvised targets (drink cans, other objects).
