3D printable Salmon Trolling Fender

thingiverse

Salmon fenders are exorbitantly pricey for what they offer - a hunk of plastic that flails about and roughly resembles a school of fish, intended to lure salmon towards the bait presented in the terminal tackle several feet beyond the dodger. These items cost $10-20 apiece and typically consist of a bent piece of acrylic adorned with stickers. Fabricating these from glow-in-the-dark PLA makes them remarkably affordable and incorporates an attractant during production. Initially, I tried to incorporate the fender's bending into the design and printing process, but this added unnecessary intricacy. It's more beneficial to print the part as a straightforward flat solid, then utilize the properties of thermoplastic to mold the ends of the dodger into their final, water-splashed shape.