Glass fishing lure jewelry

Hello, I’ve been lurking on this list for awhile and the range of
knowledge and generosity never ceases to amaze me. So I’m hoping you
can help me with a design problem.

I’m making glass fishing lure jewelry, and using a glass body
(lampworked with dichro), and krystal flash or feathers for the tail.
I want them to look authentic, but I don’t want to use real hooks,
since the possibility of hurting a customer or snagging a favorite
sweater would be way too great. I thought I might be able to use
silicone or some other kinds of plasticky material that could be
molded and that would be flexible enough to bend but would look
solid. Unfortunately, I know NOTHING about molding or plastic
materials, so my ideas have dried up. I thought about flexible
sculpey, but it only comes in bright colors. I need something that
will end up looking like a fairly realistic hook but wouldn’t be
dangerous. And they would need to hold up well. Does anyone have any
ideas for me? Or can you point me towards some group that might be
able to help me?

Thanks,

Jane
Haspel

I have seen some fishing lure jewelry. the hook part was done with
metal. However, the part where the hook barb should have been was
replaced with a small ball of betal which prevented things from
becoming poked or snagged. Michael / QuestFox "

Jane, try this. Go to the sporting goods store and ask to look a
“weedless hook”. It is a hook with a metal springloaded wire. I would
suppose that once one saw the way these are put together one could
make a fake hook out of heavier gauge silver wire then solder the
lightweight wire to the end with no actual point sticking out in
emulation of one of these. But why have hooks in the first place? I
can see that one would strive for perfect emulation as an art form but
people will like caricatures and suggestions as well. I’ve been making
cartoonish glass hummingbirds, bees and wasps for some months now and
nobody ever comments on the dullness of their respective beaks and
stingers nor their lack of realism. I think the important thing is to
make sure the major symbolic representation of the desired object is
strongly portrayed enough so that is is recognizable, in this
illustration the wings. For a cartoonush bee the placement of the
stinger in back means “happy” rather than an “angry” forward
placement, the mouth is a symbolic red and the antennae are mere
bumps. Geo.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gagnrad/pics/beez1.jpg

I used to tie flies, and tackle sellers had a fancy gold plated
hook-and-pin combo that you would dress as a salmon fly. The point of
the hook was covered by a ball of metal. Pity the barb was exposed,
though.

Maybe mashing down the hook barbs and soldering half-drilled balls of
sterling to the hook points will get you by for treble hooks.

Dan Woodard
Indian Jewelers Supply co.

Many thanks for the suggestions for the hook for my fishing lure
jewelry. I’ll get down to my nearest fly fishing and/or tackle shop
to check out the hook and pin combo and weedless hook. I’ll probably
go with sterling silver, and I like the idea of the little ball on the
ends. I’m also thinking of wire wrapping a hook, which would make it
heavier and not authentic looking, but I think it would complement
the glass nicely. I actually make a lot of fantasy fish, so I wanted
to try my hand at something a little different. I love the look of
some of the antique fishing lures, so that’s where I’m taking my
inspiration from. I’ll post a photo on my web page when I get one made
up. Thanks again.

Jane Haspel