DIY Fish Stringer!!! Repurposing Old Dog Leashes!

Having the right tackle is very important for every angler. Whether it is the top of the line equipment or my favorite homemade. It doesn't matter either way.

I am Getting ready for the year ahead and all of the fishing I plan to be doing. While I do plan on catch and release, the approaching warm seasons are when I like to try and put some meat on the table. One tool that stands out to me other than a rod, reel or even lures is a stringer.

Stringer through the mouth of a 20" (Paralichthys dentatus), summer flounder AKA fluke.

If you are like me not all of your fishing is done off a boat, in fact close to none for me these days. Because of this I don't bring a cooler and if I do Its not big enough to keep a catch. From the shoreline, wading, or kayaking Stringers are my favorite tool to keep a catch fresh.

To use a stringer you feed the line through where the lower jaw meets the gills. you can exit the mouth, but, if the fish has teeth, simply exit adjacent to where you fed it in. The metal tip on the stringer makes this much easier. Then feed the metal tip through the loop to secure the fish. Finally tie the end of the stringer to something and dip that sucker back in the water.

The stringer allows you to keep the fish alive longer with the added benifit of being able to bleed them out in the water.

As I mentioned above I prefer the homemade option, it's a lot cheaper if you ask me. A friend was recently getting rid of these old dog leashes as he no longer has a dog. At first glance I thought they were fishing stringers, until I saw the puppy on the package. Even so I quickly realize I have some old tent stakes at home and could whip up some quality stringers.

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I start by cutting the clips off of both ends and melting the braid shut with a bic lighter. I know I could have kept the clip on one end. Rated for dogs, Still I dont know how it would stand the test of time and frankly don't care to find out.

So off they came, I trust my surgeons loop (shown above) way more anyhow.

This is the trickiest part, I think, tying the line to the tent stake. Good news if you know how to snell hooks, this is a very similar except without the eye that a typical hook has. Curl the line around the stake and feeding the tag through all the loops including the off set loop on the bottom. Then pull as tight as you can.

The knot should end up looking like the picture above shows. If the knot is too bunched it may not be a good fit with smaller fish. I'll set that knot in the middle and fire up my dremmel.

I cut off the exess length and that pesky bend. It's important to leave a little bit of the elbow in the bend so the knot doesn't slip off.

Finally I flattened 1/3 of the stake and gave it a tip usinng the bench grinder. Doing this makes it easier to slip through any fish's gill plate.

The perfect tool for bringing fish to table? Im not sure, but, it certaintly is my favorite. I will rest assured that I have the right tools for my upcoming year of fishing.

Thank you for reading.

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https://steemit.com/fishing/@nickbuha/largemouth-bassholes

"Got my rod, reel, bait, nuts and were set".