# Wire Fishing Tricks?



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

HI;

I've been having pretty good luck with fishing. I have a flat tape, fiber fish sticks, flex bit and extension, glow stick - fiber fish stick, fiber tape, etc.

The one think I am getting stuck on is I have some spaces where I need to go up the wall and into the attic, well, I can drill up into the attic with the extension bit, but the attic space is tiny, maybe 4 inches at one end and 8 inches at the other, so no room to crawl in. Once I drill through with a extension flex bit, how can I get the wire up or down through that hole? It is about a 10X15' room and I have one access point in the attic in the middle, so I will have to reach with fish stick. I just can't figure out how to get something up the hole I drilled, since there is no way I can pull the flex bit up through there with the limited space available. Any ideas?

Thanks
Jamie


----------



## kbsparky (Sep 11, 2008)

Many of those flex bits have a fishin' hole near the tip. 

Simply take a small wire, such as a doorbell type, and form a hook shape in the end. Loosely tape it to the end of a 10-foot pole (½" EMT can do nicely). Use this extension pole to help you to carefully thread the wire into the hole of your bit that is extended into the attic space.

Once you have the bell wire threaded thru the end of the d'versibit, then slowly reverse the drill, twisting the wire tight into the bit, and retracting it back down the wall at the same time. It will pull that doorbell wire down along with it, giving you a pull string to work with. :thumbup:


----------



## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

How long is the flex bit and extension combo you are using and what diameter. Also what size of cable are you fishing up the hole?Are you fishing through an insulated or uninsulated wall or is teh wall open below


----------



## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

If you use a very small jack chain or the chain found on (pull chain fixtures) it will fall into the hole from above and you can find it below with an extending magnetic pickup tool.


----------



## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

I have used a fishing weight the same way as it will drop plumb in an open wall. But the chain might be even better since it will sag down into the hole if it doesn't hit dead center.


----------



## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

Chemist1961 said:


> I have used a fishing weight the same way as it will drop plumb in an open wall. But the chain might be even better since it will sag down into the hole if it doesn't hit dead center.


Exactly. Just throw it new the hole and wiggle, the gravity will pull it it into the hole. You can also tie the magnetic pick up to your long drill bit from below and catch it at the top of the hole. Use the chain to pull in a string then the fish tape so it is not lost when pulling the wire around the tight turn in the attic.


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

Chemist1961 said:


> How long is the flex bit and extension combo you are using and what diameter. Also what size of cable are you fishing up the hole?Are you fishing through an insulated or uninsulated wall or is teh wall open below


Insulated walls. 5/8" bit, about 12' with the extension. Romex 12-2 with ground.
Thanks
Jamie


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

kbsparky said:


> Many of those flex bits have a fishin' hole near the tip.
> 
> Simply take a small wire, such as a doorbell type, and form a hook shape in the end. Loosely tape it to the end of a 10-foot pole (½" EMT can do nicely). Use this extension pole to help you to carefully thread the wire into the hole of your bit that is extended into the attic space.
> 
> Once you have the bell wire threaded thru the end of the d'versibit, then slowly reverse the drill, twisting the wire tight into the bit, and retracting it back down the wall at the same time. It will pull that doorbell wire down along with it, giving you a pull string to work with. :thumbup:


Thanks. I am pretty sure there is a small hole on my bit. The challenge will be to thread it from the small space in the attic. 

Thanks
Jamie


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

Chemist1961 said:


> I have used a fishing weight the same way as it will drop plumb in an open wall. But the chain might be even better since it will sag down into the hole if it doesn't hit dead center.


I have thought about the chain, but can't figure out how to get it across the ceiling (in the attic space that is only about 8" high or so) and them to get it down the hole. Also the walls are filled with insulation, and I don't think it would drop down very well.

I'm keeping the chain idea in mind for other situations though.

Jamie


----------



## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

Fishing 101???? Tie or tape a loop or bulge of high test fishing line to the tip of your bit in a way that it can spring open when it's passed through the top plate. Lying flat reach out and snag it with a coat hanger or your fishing rod. Use a bit smaller than 5/8 for the tip then the loop will feed through the 5/8 hole and bulge open.:thumbsup:.


----------



## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

It will not work in walls that are insulated. On outside walls I just make a small slice on the drywall at the wall/ceiling run the wire, using quick dry patching compound (10min) sand finish coat, prime, paint.


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

Chemist1961 said:


> Fishing 101???? Tie or tape a loop or bulge of high test fishing line to the tip of your bit in a way that it can spring open when it's passed through the top plate. Lying flat reach out and snag it with a coat hanger or your fishing rod. Use a bit smaller than 5/8 for the tip then the loop will feed through the 5/8 hole and bulge open.:thumbsup:.



Ok, Cool, thanks I understand what your saying. The flex bit I have is molded to the flex rod. I might have to get a different one with am interchangeable bit.

Thanks
Jamie


----------



## Chemist1961 (Dec 13, 2008)

It might still clear if you spiral the fishing line through the thread


----------



## HouseHelper (Mar 20, 2007)

Any access from outside through the soffitt? You could cut a hole there, do all your fishing, then either patch or cover with an exterior vent. Or, just go ahead and cut another hole in the ceiling and patch when finished.


----------



## drtbk4ever (Dec 29, 2008)

Newbie here with no experience, but with a suggestion.

Tie the fishing line onto the drill bit. Don't wrap it too tight along the length of the bit. And you may want to ensure you wrap it around the drill bit in the opposite direction of rotation. That way it will not get tighter on the bit as you drill the hole. Hopefully it will not come loose when drilling through the top plate. 

Leave the drill bit protruding through the hole. Then with your fish tape, (is that what they call that wire with the little hook on the end?) reach across the attic and snag the fishing line with the tape and pull the slack of the fishing line towards you.


----------



## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

Try a coat hanger with a hook on the end; spin this sucker in an electric drill and it will snag any other wire in the vicinity that was fished in from the other end.
But you have to have overlap, so mark your wires so you know when you have a foot or so overlap.


----------



## 220/221 (Oct 9, 2007)

Just cut/patch the drywall. It's not that difficult.

You could screw around for an hour finding the hole with your fish and hooking it with another fish....or you could cut and patch.


----------



## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

220/221 said:


> Just cut/patch the drywall. It's not that difficult.
> 
> You could screw around for an hour finding the hole with your fish and hooking it with another fish....or you could cut and patch.


Somebody makes 18# sacks of drywall compound that cure in 20 minutes. Figure on doing several layers, wet-sanding in-between with special sponges made for this purpose.

If you notch studs to pass the Romex don't forget to use nailing plates.


----------



## ponch37300 (Nov 27, 2007)

Jamie, If I understand you right you can't reach the hole in the top plate because of the roof in the attic? If this is the case here is a link to a 15' fiberglass pull rod from home depot, I'm from appleton and have seen them at our local home depot. You should be able to push them up threw the top plate and then use the roof sheeting to curve them over so you can reach them. The other suggestion that might work would be to run a stick of 1/2" conduit threw the wall and use the conduit to guide your fiberglass fish tape threw the conduit and into the attic and you should be able to feed your fish tape in the attic till you can reach it.


----------



## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

ponch37300 said:


> Jamie, If I understand you right you can't reach the hole in the top plate because of the roof in the attic? If this is the case here is a link to a 15' fiberglass pull rod from home depot, I'm from appleton and have seen them at our local home depot. You should be able to push them up threw the top plate and then use the roof sheeting to curve them over so you can reach them. The other suggestion that might work would be to run a stick of 1/2" conduit threw the wall and use the conduit to guide your fiberglass fish tape threw the conduit and into the attic and you should be able to feed your fish tape in the attic till you can reach it.


These push/pull sticks were made for suspended ceiling work, but we use them all the time for pulling wire also. But how can you guide that into a hole in the plate from a wall cutout while guiding it through insulation. And how do you get a piece of EMT into a wall? Just having a hard time picture this. Did you ever do this?


----------



## ponch37300 (Nov 27, 2007)

Sorry I never posted the link before, http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...10053&productId=100258069&N=10000003+10164006Guess I still don't know if he is fishing from the basement to the attic or from a light switch to the attic. If it is from the basement I have used a 3/4 flex bit with extension to drill from the basement threw the top plate and the used a stick of 1/2" conduit threw the holes and then used my fish tape pushed threw the conduit and once it reaches the attic it follows the roof sheeting till I can reach it. If it is from a light switch I have used the fiberglass rods in the above link to go in threw the switch hole, then threw the top plate and then follow the roof sheeting till I could reach it. 

http://www.greenlee.com/cat_docs/Fishing08_lowrez.pdf This is a link to the green lee site pull rods and accessories. They make a couple of tips that screw on the ends like the hook and whisk tips that can grab the wires.


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

Well this room I am speaking of is a second floor room, with a finished kitchen below. I have Fish Stix, and the Glow Sticks, that Greenlee makes that they sell at Home Depot. The room is rather large, so If I have to cut drywall and fish go through the studs, it's going to be something like 50 ln feet of drywall to repair.

I had to take a sawzall to the kitchen ceiling today. (it's pretty amazing how my mom isn't shocked anymore when she comes home from work to find parts of her home knocked to pieces) So I make just chop up enough of the kitchen ceiling to fish wires down from that upstairs room to the kitchen, or I make give the attic a try with some of the tips suggested.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I did manage to fish the bathroom today with any damage to the bathroom, but had to open the kitchen ceiling to help with the bathroom, which had to be done for the kitchen anyway.

I have to be creative and do my best with fishing or my dad is going to be patching and painting for months (plus it is hard to match some of the plaster textures).

3000sqft + basement is a HUGE rewire job, especially when we are working to preserve original wood work and plaster from 1913. We have made alot of progress, but it is still daunting as to the amount of work left.

Jamie


----------



## jamiedolan (Sep 2, 2008)

ponch37300 said:


> Jamie, If I understand you right you can't reach the hole in the top plate because of the roof in the attic? If this is the case here is a link to a 15' fiberglass pull rod from home depot, I'm from appleton and have seen them at our local home depot. You should be able to push them up threw the top plate and then use the roof sheeting to curve them over so you can reach them. The other suggestion that might work would be to run a stick of 1/2" conduit threw the wall and use the conduit to guide your fiberglass fish tape threw the conduit and into the attic and you should be able to feed your fish tape in the attic till you can reach it.


Yep, I have those sticks from home depot, the space is so tight, I don't know if I am going to manage it with any tools short of a sawzall. 

I will likely get into some more attic work tomorrow. We ran EMT up to the attic and put a big Jbox on it. The attic has Bats! Despite years of attempting to bat proof the attic. My dad is going to clean up the attic some more before we work up there, it's pretty gross from all the bats. 

No soffit access, arts and craft style home. I'll have to take some photos and post them, then you will have a much better idea of the challenges we are facing. 

Jamie


----------



## gailquilter2 (Feb 16, 2010)

*fishing thru a very tight attic*

Hi, new here, is it ok to ask a related question?
Well the HD link to fiberglass fish stick no longer works but the other link to the catalog does, but a catalog with no prices is strange.

I need to fish from the upper attic to the lower attic in my house, really one attic but it pinches down to about 6" and that's my problem. I can probably reach the pinch from the upper attic, but from there it is about 25 feet to the opening to the lower attic. The ceiling under the attic from the pinch on down is approximately 45 degrees down from horizontal. The ceiling under the upper attic is horizontal.

1. Fish guns are too expensive. 
2. I have thought of a sling shot and 
3. bow and arrow but I would not have enough control thru a 6" pinch. 4. My final thought was to attach a string to a kid's ball and try to bounce it down the slope, but the slope is very heavily insulated with blown in stuff, quite lumpy.

So I have been searching this site: Are the fish stix flexible enough to put up the attic access and bend enough for the very low roof? Do you think this would work? It says they will bend in 6+ inches but it needs to bend by itself as I cannot get my hands on both sides of the bend. If bends too easily it will impale itself into the insulation.
Any idea of where to find one where I could touch before I buy?
Any ideas of anything which will help?

I wish to run tv cable now and I would permanently attach something like an old fashioned circular clothesline so I never have to go thru this again. Might need it for pulling more insulation, furnace ductwork, telephone, computer, and electric lines at some future time.
thanks
gail


----------



## Bob Mariani (Dec 1, 2008)

tie a string to a cat and call the cat from the other end. I used this many times with my Ferret.


----------



## ponch37300 (Nov 27, 2007)

Wow this is an old thread that just popped up in my email! Here is a link to the home depot fish sticks since the old one doesn't work anymore http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 

Harbor freight even sells a set now. You could go to either of them to see the sticks before you buy, and I'm sure lowes has some also or any store that sells electrical tools should have some. From you picture I would say they would work for you. 

You can run a "pull string" when you do this so there will always be a line to pull new runs from.


----------



## gailquilter2 (Feb 16, 2010)

I'll check out harbor freight for the sticks. I'll be about a mile from them. Maybe find my infrared temp detector there too.

Pull string-absolutely, once is enough for this task.

I don't have the cats anymore but yes that would have worked. Unless they decided they liked it up there.

I thought of one more way. Roll freezer paper the opposite way and let 'er loose at the top, it will want to unroll and it will want it to unroll fast so the insulation should not be a problem, it would jump right over the lumps.

thanks for the ideas.
gail


----------



## fishing79 (Jan 23, 2013)

*nice*

Hey Jamie
How lucky you are you get very good stuff of fishing i have much experience of fishing but feel some bad luck as compare to you ohh cheers.......
fresh Louisiana crawfish delivered Houston


----------

