Shannon Twin Spinner imitation

[Fly Boy]

I intend to have some twin spinners made this winter based on the old Shannon Twin Spinner.  What type and size of spinner blade did the Shannon use?  I m under the impression that the blades were Indiana blades size one, but I my be mistaken.

[Guest]

Deleted.

[rps]

I have made twin spins. For rivers make 1/4 ounce heads with #1 or #2 blades. For lake purposes, make 3/8 heads with #2 or #3 blades. Keep the arm/head/blade ratio compact and use an oversize and high grade hook. Good luck.

 

[Mitch f]

I know Al has made them for decades, and knows the best way to rig them so the arms aren't constantly getting hung up in the line.

[Gavin]

You will need some round bend pliers but not hard to make out of standard spinnerbait frames. Pauls used to have some unique blades. Not sure if the are still in biz.

[Fly Boy]

Thank you for your helpful replies.  Now that I have confirmed that Indiana blades were used in the old Shannon Twin Spinner, I have arranged for Mary at Jerry's Tackle and Guns in Highland, Illinois, to make some for me to purchase.  She is a nice, knowledgeable lady who makes a twin spin that copies the old Shannon, and will even add the wire leader to the line tie upon request. For people like me who don't feel up to making a spinner from scratch, Mary seems to be a good alternative.

Here's a follow-up question on the subject of rigging the Shannon for fishing.  I plan on using a three inch curly-tail grub as a trailer, and assumed I would just thread it on the hook. However, I have also heard about nose hooking the grub on the hook.  What does that phrase mean?  And which method, threading or nose hooking, do you think is better? 

[fishinwrench]

Threading definitely.  Nose hooking looks stupid and you risk the grub swinging around and preventing a decent hook set.

Are they tying on Bucktail or are you going with a different skirt material?

[Old plug]

I made them way back in thc 60s and early 70's they were all bucktail. Sold a lot of them in the St. Louis area. If I was doing it today I would be using different hooks etc. But  still bucktail. And your right wrench anything other than bucktail is a mess. Both plastic skirts and long trailors will get fouled in the spinners and frame area. They can snag a lot easier than you think as well. to be truthful I never seen them do all that better than conventional spinners. 

[rps]

1 hour ago, Old plug said:

I made them way back in thc 60s and early 70's they were all bucktail. Sold a lot of them in the St. Louis area. If I was doing it today I would be using different hooks etc. But  still bucktail. And your right wrench anything other than bucktail is a mess. Both plastic skirts and long trailors will get fouled in the spinners and frame area. They can snag a lot easier than you think as well. to be truthful I never seen them do all that better than conventional spinners. 

They are superior in two important regards. When you "kill" it or if you are fishing the bait as if it were a jig and eel, the twin spin drops with the hook riding point up. Better hook ups and fewer hangs. Second, if you are fishing an area where you drag over timber or limbs, the twin arms reduce the number of hangs, IMHO.

[Al Agnew]

Here's one of mine.  I've been fishing them religiously ever since I was a kid (and that was back when you could buy real Shannons), and have probably caught more big river bass on them than any other lure I fish.

1.  The wire leader is absolutely necessary, because it is what keeps your line from continually wrapping around the spinner arms.  It should be a bit longer than the arms.

2.  I make mine from regular spinnerbait heads, cutting off much of the shaft and forming a round eyelet from it.  It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but I like the bit of the shaft that's left to slant upwards at about a 30 degree angle, which lifts the arms up a bit, then the arms don't slant a whole lot farther upward nor back.  

3.  You might be able to tell how I form the loops on the ends of the arms.  Double loop with a tag end that tucks into the sharp bend that I put in the arms near the loop.  This helps keep the spinner/split ring/swivel from tangling around the loop.  Ideally, you could do them like the old Shannons were done and just have a simple loop with a bit of solder closing the "eye" of the loop.  But I can't solder stainless steel.

4.  Unlike Wrench, I absolutely want the curly tail trailer to be nose hooked, not threaded on.  Of course, this is partly because you can't thread it on if you're going to use a trailer hook.  But also there isn't one of this little pointy things that keeps the plastic on, and the trailer will be continually sliding down the hook shaft and twisting sideways if you thread it on. I also want the curly tail to curve upward, not downward.  And even though I've made quite a few casts over the years after losing the curly tail trailer, I don't think I've ever caught a fish on the thing without the trailer.  Doesn't have to be a curly tail grub, can be a double tail spinnerbait trailer, and back in the old days we used a piece of pork rind.  But the grub works beautifully so it's all I ever use.

5.  Trailer hook...it probably isn't completely necessary.  90% of the fish I hook are on the main hook, not the trailer hook.  But it's that other 10% that I worry about.  I want the trailer hook to be free-swinging, so I put it on, then put on a little round tab punched out of a coffee can lid with a hole punch for putting holes in paper.  

6.  I make them in two sizes...this is with #1 blades, 1/4th ounce head.  I use the same size head but a bit longer arms and #2 blades.  However, 90% of the time I'm using the smaller one.  I make them in fluorescent yellow like this one, white, cream and fluorescent yellow mixed, natural brown, and black.  However, 90% of the time I'm going to be throwing the light colors.  

7.  Where they really shine for me is in clear water.  The clearer the better, and that includes the kind of clarity you see in Huzzah and Courtois Creek or the upper Black River.  Only one way to fish them in that kind of water...long casts and burn it back, keeping it just under the surface so that it makes a bulge on the surface.  They are finesse spinnerbaits.  They don't work as well in big, murky rivers, although you can certainly still catch a lot of fish on them in those kinds of waters.  You can fish them slowly, let them drop; but I really don't do that very much.