Paperclips, Versatile and Marvelous

Paperclips, Bent into certain positions then can be used as well good Bait Clips, inexpensive and useful.

Ive used them as rotten bottoms on occasion too - if the lead gets stuck the clip will bend out easily :D

Hi Bob, K2

The only thing to remember when using paperclips for rotten bottom fishing is that you can not cast very far without the risk of taking someone's head off with a loose lead! Only good for a lob cast from the rocks or boat fishing, not even sure I would trust them uptiding from a boat.

One of the skippers down in Kilmore uses elastic bands but it was pointed out to me that they can result in lots of tangles in the terminal tackle, especially if you are using one or more booms.

I know someone else who uses blue tack which is quite heavy and can be molded to hold a nice heavy bolt... says that it improves the aerodynamics but you would not catch me standing next to him when he winds up on a long distance cast! :shock:

I think the best approach to rotten bottoms is one I picked up from an article by Mike Thrussel in which he opens the eye on a wire to form an inverted "L" and then uses a loop to hold the weight in the cast. A lighter line is then tied from loop to below the invert "L". Incredibly I only made one last year for use off rocks in Achill and I still have it! Ain't that always the way... expect to lose it and it always comes back :D :D

FWIW...

8) Never use Rotten Bottoms 8)
But you can'tdeny the sanity of the Bait Clip Idea.
Also, if you are using a Long tailed grip lead, 4 twists of the straightened clip around the tail is good, see pic.
[img]http://tinypic.com/1g5gef[/img]
sorry quality aint that good.