Need Priest Ideas

loz · 19 Nov 2008

Ok,

Not a gift for a clergyman, but a stick for beating up fish.

I was donated some oak from a colleague, and i offered to turn something for him, he is a keen angler, so requested a priest. That is all the spec i have.

Anyone any ideas how long, or what shape these things are ? or turned any yourselves ?

I'm imagining its a bit like a rounders bat ?

johnluc · 19 Nov 2008

Hi Loz
if you are looking for a priest for trout it is about 6"- 8" long about 3/4"dia with a brass or similar end about 11/2" which is weighted to dispatch fish quickly.
johnluc.

Jenx · 19 Nov 2008

Hi Loz -- I do an unspeakable amount of fly fishing ... along with a couple of regular pals, -- We prefer a heavier, larger priest, I usually make them out of ebony, as you say, just like a rounders bat, just smaller.... I don't bother with a brass end or anything, just make it meaty enough that it'll take care of all sizes of Salmon, Sea Trout or Brownie's or Rainbows.

They usually end up about 13 or 14 inches, nose to tail, have a good heavy weight to them, and do the job just nicely.
You can make them smaller and more 'ornimental' with the nice brass ends and so on.. and they do look good...

The ones we use, kill the fish instantly with one 'chap tae the heid', and are very hardwearing... we use them on the Breakwater ( which is concrete ) for the cod & mackerel too.. where they get dropped, kicked, thrown & missed etc, and they stand up great to the punishment.

I made one out of cocobolo ( a bit expensive ), but by gawd, its heavy !

As always, there will be a huge range of opinions - but thats what we do with ours :wink:

The Shark · 19 Nov 2008

Another possibility to make it heavier is to drill a hole about 6 inches down the length at the business end, fill with melted lead, and crown with a plug.

Malc

maltrout512 · 19 Nov 2008

I,ve made a few in the past, using wood and for the handle part of an antler. Turn the wood to about 30mm taper to about 20mm and a length of 75mm. The antler wants to be one of the bottom Pins. (first pointy bit)
Drill hole into wood at the thin end then into the antler. Cut the head off a screw and glue into antler. When dry screw the antler into the wood. Using a file take off antler to flush fit the turned wood and use fine sand paper to finnish. I the drill a 12mm hole in the end of the wood about 30mm deep and fill with lead and plug with wood. This may not sound right, I will see if I have some photo's to upload tomorrow.