Have you had a good fishing life?
The feathers on the tail of an egi are not decoration. They slow the fall, they steady the posture, and they give the squid something to lock onto in the moment before it grabs.
So when an egi loses a feather, most people quietly drop it into the bin. You do not have to. Replacing the feathers takes about five minutes, costs almost nothing, and the egi swims exactly as it did when it was new.
What you need
The exact parts depend on the maker, but almost every egi on the market can be repaired with the same short list. The one I am fixing here is a Draw4 by Cultiva.
- A craft knife (a box cutter works too)
- Tweezers
- Replacement feathers for egi — sold in packets by Nakajima and others
- Instant glue
- The egi that lost its feathers
Some people use a pin vice or a glue gun for this job. You do not need either. The method below is the cheap one, and it holds.
How to replace the feathers
Here is today’s patient.
One side bare, looking sorry for itself. Let’s bring it back.
Step 1: Lift out the plug
The feathers are not glued straight into the body. They are pinched in place by a small plug — the clear piece in the middle of the photo below. Its shape and colour change from maker to maker, but the job it does is always the same.
Work the tip of the craft knife under the plug from the side and ease it out.
Two things to keep in mind here:
- It is stuck in harder than you expect. Keep your fingers behind the blade.
- Do not lever it. Lift a little from one side, then a little from the other, and walk it out.
Out it comes, like this.
That is all the plug ever does — clamp the feathers into the hole.
Step 2: Trim the new feathers to length
I am using a packet of spare egi feathers made by Nakajima. Any equivalent will do.
Sometimes the plug goes missing along with the feathers. When that happens, make your own — a small craft bead of the right diameter does the job perfectly.
Now trim the feathers to length and shape.
I like them cut a little shorter than the eye of the egi. Long feathers look impressive in the hand, but they tangle around the hooks on the cast and kill the action on the fall.
Step 3: Glue the feathers in and refit the plug
Put a small drop of instant glue on the butt end of the feathers, push them into the hole in the tail, and press the plug back in on top of them.
Use less glue than feels right. Too much and it wicks up into the feathers, stiffens them, and the whole point of the repair is lost.
Done
Back in service.
Summary
I repaired a Draw4 by Cultiva here, but most egi are built the same way at the tail: a hole, a bunch of feathers, and a plug pinching them in. Once you have done one, you can do any of them.
It is worth doing. Feathers are the first thing to go on an egi you actually fish, long before the cloth or the hooks give up, and an egi you like is worth five minutes at the kitchen table.
Eging gear guide: 10 items that make squid fishing better
Eging for beginners: the 4 essentials to start squid fishing
