Instruction For Making a 5" Bait Dropper
I have found such a large dropper invaluable at times, where the Barbel are easily spooked I have had only to put in one or two droppers full. This increases the chances of the Barbel settling down in your swim without the need for frequent re visits to top up.
My Bait dropper, this will take about one (well nearly) pint of Hemp. At this stage I should tell you that you would have to make a slight modification to the "V" spreader block of your net handle to be able to swing out the bait dropper. This is only minor. Drill a hole in the "V" and fit a medium to small key ring, this is to pass the bait dropper cord through. To enable you to lower the dropper to the river bed don't let go of the cord (only joking) in all it will take about a day to complete unless you use Araldite Rapid. I cannot explain any easier than this, but it will all fall into place as you go on.
Components needed as follows:
1/ 5"fine metal mesh sieve 2/ 10" of 1/8th welding rod 3/ 7" old rod top or similar diameter tube to suite the welding rod. 4/ 2 small cable ties. 5/ 1 1oz pear shaped lead. 6/ junior hack saw 7/ Araldite 8/ drill and 1/8th drill 9/ 5" diameter perforated plastic. Thin nylon cord as required. (3 yards plus)A 10/ 1 old metal coat hanger.
Instructions
Cut the handle of the sieve as close as possible 2/ shape the sieve to give it a flat back.
3/ make a small hole top and bottom as close to the rim of the sieve as possible, (in line) push through the rod top and cut off leaving a ," top and bottom protruding. Now Araldite this in position, and leave to set.
4/ cut the perforated plastic into a circle that covers the diameter of the sieve
Now out of an old ice cream tub cut a 5" diameter circle in from the edge of this circle about ," make another circle and cut it out to look like the diagram this is the reinforcing ring for the flap door
5/ Araldite this to the perforated plastic and that is the flap for the bait dropper..
6/ next put the flap on the bait dropper front and make two holes about two inches apart about ," of an inch up from the bottom, be careful not to drill to close to the edge in case the plastic splits. Now fit the flap to the bait dropper it is better to experiment by turning the cable ties over so they do not lock and playing until you get the flap opening smoothly. You might have to cut a sliver off the bottom of the flap to assist a smooth opening.
7/ now is the only tricky bit bend the end of the welding wire into a "U" shape, with the short end just long enough to lock the flap.
8/ push the welding rod through the bait dropper. At this stage, from the bottom push up the welding rod 1" of the old rod top this acts as a stop. Drill the lead and fill it with Araldite push on to the welding rod and leave to set. Once set Araldite the 1inch piece of tube down against the lead
9/ the hanging loop. Take a couple of inches of old metal coat hanger, and bend it into a U shape. With the loop make a couple of holes in the top of the bait dropper, be careful to position it so that the balance of the dropper is correct, and the dropper hangs straight, once that is correct bend or make loops so That the hanger is secure. JOB DONE spray black if you like
It will pay you to reinforce all the holes you make with Araldite once it is finished you will have to fine tune everything. I know this may sound complicated but belive me it is not. As you go on I am sure everything will fall into place. If there are any problems please feel free to mail me good luck.
Allan Marshall