How to Make a Yo-Yo for Fishing

Yo-yo fishing rigs were developed by survivalists to catch fish automatically. They consist of a spring that is loaded into a sheet metal spool. The spool is then strung with hook, line and bait and hung onto tree limbs or floats and left unattended. When the fish takes the bait, the spool begins automatically pulling the line up. The fisherman comes back the next day and gathers the fish. You can make your own yo-yo rig setup if you have a spring-loaded spool. The spool part of the yo yo rig is cheap. You can't make one cheaper.

Things You'll Need

  • Spring loaded spool
  • 20-pound test fishing line
  • Swivel
  • Hooks
  • Bait
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Instructions

    • 1

      Pull the line out of the spring loaded spool. Tie a 1/8-inch swivel to the end of the line. Open the swivel and slip a No. 6 hook with a leader onto it.

    • 2

      Tie a 20-pound fishing line leader to the hole on the opposite end from the point where the hook and line emerge. One side of the spool is partially flat, and the hook and line will emerge from one side of the flat spot. On the other side of the flat spot, opposite the point where the line emerges, there is a hole in the spool. Tie the 20-pound line to that hole.

    • 3

      Tie the 20-pound line to a limb or branch of a tree that is extending out over the water where you want to fish. Tie it off so that the spool hangs between the water and the branch. Pull out enough line from the hook end of the swivel to hang at least 6 feet underwater.

    • 4

      Bait the hook and drop the line into the water. Pull the line up slightly and loop it twice around a small shiny bead on the spool, which is the line release trigger. It is on the side of the flat spot between the point where the two lines emerge. When the fish pulls on the line, the small bead will flip down, the looped line will come off the bead and it will release the spring. The spring will gradually pull the line in with the fish on it.