Another popular spinner is the type known as the "Cherry Bobber" or "Cherry Drifter" shown in Fig. 74. This spinner makes use of a wooden, pear-shaped body which gives it buoyancy and prevents it from sinking too fast. You can make these bodies from any light wood, but balsa is preferred because it is easy to work. You can also order these wood bodies, all ready shaped from a mail-order house.

The wood body is then painted a bright red—a daylight fluorescent lacquer is best for this. Likewise, fluorescent plastic beads are slipped on the wire shaft to act as bearings. A small treble hook is attached to the tail end of the spinner.

Still another old-time favorite among spinners is the "Colorado" shown in Fig. 75. Here, instead of using a wire shaft, you use two barrel swivels and two split rings. The blade, which is the round type Colorado, is attached to the split ring as shown. The split ring at the tail holds either two single hooks or one treble hook.

Most of the spinners above are used for trolling, but they can also be cast if you add a small clincher sinker or other weight to the leader. You can also get some sheet lead and cut out a small rudder which is then folded over the wire shaft of the spinner in front of the blade. See Fig. 76. To keep it from slid­ing down the shaft, make more turns than usual when forming the eye of the spinner. Then crimp the lead rudder on these turns with pliers. In addition to serving as a casting weight, the lead rudder also acts as a keel and pre­vents the spinner from twisting the line. You can paint this lead weight in any color you want and even add an eye on each side.

You can also make special casting or trolling weights which are detach­able and can be added to the spinner at the front. See Chapter 11 on mak­ing sinkers for details on how such weights can be made.

For easy casting, however, you can't beat the "French" type of spinner shown in Fig. 77. These usually have short wire shafts on which one or more heavy brass body weights are added.  These body weights come in various shapes, sizes, and designs shown in Fig. 63. French-type spinners also use a special heavier blade than the regular kinds. Both the body weights and blades can be ordered from many of the supply houses. These casting type spinners usually have a small treble hook attached.

Other casting type spinners use heavy brass beads for body weight, as shown in Fig. 78. These beads come in different sizes and are usually ar­ranged as shown in the illustration. You can also use lead body weights which come in bullet, torpedo, or double taper shapes. See Fig. 79. They have a center hole and come in different weights and sizes. You can order such lead weights either unpainted or painted.

Another way to make spinners is to use nylon leader material instead of wire to serve as a shaft. You can buy the nylon material in coils of various diameters and strengths.  Cut off a length, tie a loop for an eye up front, slip on the beads, plus a clevis with a blade, and then tie either a single hook or treble hook on the tail end. The larger glass or plastic beads are best for this because they have bigger holes through which the nylon leader material can be threaded. If you want the spinner blade to revolve well above the hook, tie knots on the leader to act as stops against which the beads will rest. Fig. 80 shows different types of spinners you can make, using the nylon leader material. You can easily work out many of your own combinations.

The salt-water spinners are very similar to the fresh-water types described above. In fact, you can use many of the fresh-water spinners for salt-water fishing if you use heavier wire shafts, bigger blades, and stronger hooks.

One special kind of salt-water spinner is the "willow leaf type shown in Fig. 81. To make this spinner you will have to cut out and shape your own blades since they can be bought finished only in the smaller sizes. For salt­water fishing the willow leaf blade should be at least 2% in. long and 5/s in. wide. This spinner also has an extension, either cut out from the blade itself or soldered to it, to keep it revolving at a fixed distance from the shaft. And instead of using a clevis, the blade is bent in front and a hole is drilled. An­other hole is drilled in the extension arm and the wire shaft is then slipped through both holes. If you use stainless steel to make the blade you don't have to plate it, but merely polish it.

When making this spinner or any other salt-water type, use heavy wire for the shaft. When attaching the hook or swivel to the front and rear of the shaft, you form a permanent eye. However, if you want to change hooks or swivels you can form a locking snap or clasp-type loop as shown in Fig. 82. Full instructions for forming such a snap can be found in Chapter 12, on mak­ing leaders and connections.

The willow leaf spinner usually has a gang of two or three hooks attached behind it, baited with a whole baitfish, worms, a strip of pork rind, or squid.

Another salt-water spinner often used is the so-called "fluke" spinner shown in Fig. 83. A pair of Colorado-shaped blades are used to make this spinner, mounting them on a heavy wire shaft with big glass or plastic beads. A single long-shank Carlisle hook is attached behind the blades and this is baited with a live killifish or other salt-water minnow.

A somewhat similar spinner, which makes use of smaller Indiana type blades, is the "snapper" shown in Fig. 84. This also has a long-shanked hook, such as the Bridegport snapper pattern, attached at the rear.

The spinners described and illustrated above do not cover every type made. But they are the basic types from which you can go on and make endless combinations of your own.

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