DIY dodger

For my halibut pseudo-bounce-ball approach, I'm a big fan of Gibbs #3 dodgers. They are wider and heavier than others I've tried, and seem to give good action at typical slower kayak speeds, while still working OK at faster speeds. I very rarely lose them, but I sacrificed 2 to snags last week. Now I don't have any more, and every place I checked is out of stock. So, I decided to try to make something comparable.

They are about 6" long and 2" wide. I figured a 3/4" copper pipe would be about right, so I cut a 6" piece, sawed thru it lengthwise, and bent it out flat. I then polished it, bent it, and added some bling.

I have no idea if it'll work, but I'm planning to give it  a try tomorrow. I suspect it might be a bit too heavy--if so, I'll try again with thin-walled copper pipe.

Good idea.  Thanks

Look forward to seeing something caught with this.

Looks good. I love DIY fishing gear!

Good luck.

Looks good.  I will have to give it a try.

It's cool making your own gear. Copper is kinda soft. Do you think it would hold one of your 40-incher?

If you post a big fish, get ready to sell them 

It worked great! I pedaled out to 50 fow east of the mile buoy, and once I started fishing, I got a rockfish within 2 minutes, and 5 rockfish in about 15 minutes. Then disaster struck, as the swivel broke and I lost the dodger. I still don't know how that happened, as it was a name brand swivel (P-line), new, rated for 70 lbs, and it just literally broke in 2. What a bummer, as I really wanted to get a halibut on it. I'm going to make another one and try again.

Anyways, here is the proof. Just a small rockfish (starting at about 15 seconds), but it was the first fish I caught on it...

That's awesome!  I'm making one

I'll take the DIY flasher for the win Bob !  Nice job NWM. Thanks for sharing. Congrats on the Butt.

It worked great! I pedaled out to 50 fow east of the mile buoy, and once I started fishing, I got a rockfish within 2 minutes, and 5 rockfish in about 15 minutes. Then disaster struck, as the swivel broke and I lost the dodger. I still don't know how that happened, as it was a name brand swivel (P-line), new, rated for 70 lbs, and it just literally broke in 2. What a bummer, as I really wanted to get a halibut on it. I'm going to make another one and try again.

Anyways, here is the proof. Just a small rockfish (starting at about 15 seconds), but it was the first fish I caught on it...

So, the big question is ..... can you mass produce this with attractive pricing and good enough profit margin?  Who knows, you could be the the dude that retires on copper dodger, the Copper Dodger King, CDK Inc!

awesome work!
this reminds me the tv show Alone. kinda similar to custom made spoon in very larger version. i am quite curious of the action under water.

suddenly all the crackheads are going to get competition for unsecured copper pipe!

bummer you lost it, but I'd call the trial a success for sure.

This is a really cool idea. I'll have to dig around in my scrap bin and see if I have anything that might work.

suddenly all the crackheads are going to get competition for unsecured copper pipe!

Ha ha, yes!

I've already got version 2.0 nearly done...

I'm just wondering how you managed to make a saw cut lengthwise.   I like the color, and being copper, I'm sure there's some magic galvanic action going on that big hali's  can't resist, like copper bracelets and back braces!