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Spoon fed gills
Post 10 Nov 2021, 20:41 • #1 
Guide
Joined: 02/26/15
Posts: 219
Location: US-north ga.
I fished our local tailwater yesterday.
After a couple of hours of streamer fishing
with no action,I started rummaging around in my
my tackle and found some small fly rod size
spoons.I haven't fished with them in years.
I rigged up with one of the little spoons and started fishing it in the calm eddy water and
caught a bunch of nice bluegill.






I guess that's flyfishing, as much as some other
things that's going on nowadays.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 10 Nov 2021, 20:54 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/19/14
Posts: 3924
Location: USA - Illinois
That is cool stuff - way to save the day!


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 10 Nov 2021, 21:33 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
Cool!

I bought some fly rod-size spoons made by Dick Nite, Yakima (Triple Teaser) and another company I can't remember --and it's really bugging me-- to fish for rainbows in the mountain ponds near my sister's house outside of Bremerton, WA when I was visiting there as a teenager.

I ended up never getting my fly rod shipped to me while I was there so I fished them on an ultralight outfit and 2lb.-test line.

The other spoons were from a popular tackle company --maybe from the Pacific Northwest-- and their big-selling model was half nickel/half copper (brass?) length-wise, down the middle. They were of very good quality, thin, and sold in sizes from tiny fly rod versions up to ones large enough for conventional spinning gear. The were similar to the Dick Nite or Gibbs FST spoons. I still have a couple around somewhere. Anyone here remember the brand they might have been?

I had a devil of a time figuring out those rainbows and ended up using tiny fluorescent yellow or pink marshmallows (made as fishing bait) at the advice of my brother-in-law, who was not a fly fisherman. I clobbered 'em with those on my super ultralight gear.

I'm going to try to find where I stashed those tiny spoons and put them in my panfish fly box for next season! Thanks for the post.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 00:54 • #4 
Master Guide
Joined: 01/11/17
Posts: 436
Location: Missouri Ozarks
Desmobob, from your description the spoon you describe sounds like a Thomas Colorado spoon.



The smallest size is 1/10th oz. They work well on our Ozark streams for trout, bass and goggle eye.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 02:44 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/20/17
Posts: 387
Location: Portland, OR
Canadian Wonder were popular spoons in the Pacific Northwest of the era that were split finished down the middle, along with Dick Nite…Luhr-Jensen Super Duper, Kastmaster, Daredevil…I used Flatfish and Triple Teaser the most.

Sandman


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 03:42 • #6 
Master Guide
Joined: 12/11/20
Posts: 378
Location: Dallas, TX
I had no idea that spoons came in such small sizes. Those top two spoons look like miniature versions of the exact gold spoons we use to catch redfish and speckled trout on traditional tackle on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I’ve bought and tried “spoon” flies with feather or other materials acting as streamy tails on my fly rod but haven’t ever caught a fish with one. I’m going to try them again, and will look for some of those little ones!


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 06:19 • #7 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
Sandman and Baldlknobber1,

Those weren't the spoons. They looked very much like the Dick Nite spoons and I keep thinking the company name neatly stamped on them was a name from the Pacific Northwest, like Yakima (but I don't think they were Yakima Bait Co. spoons).

I'll see if I can find one of them today and I'll post a photo.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 09:26 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
I have a few Pflueger puppies and a few other fly rod spoons.You can buy plated brass ice spoons that you solder hooks to that are quite small.If I lived somewhere that had trout streams with hatches I doubt I would ever throw anything sub surface.I do love to tinker and have made some small spoons for panfishing with up gear.They worked well.Now you guys got me thinking.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 10:50 • #9 
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Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
Nice bluegill. I've been curious about some of the smaller spoons, and those sold on the JDM market. The guy who runs the tenkara bum site also imports these, apparently (finesse-fishing).


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 11:00 • #10 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
They are readily available on the BFS (Bait Finesse System) shops' websites. I haven't ordered any but have received at least three different micro-spoons as free gifts when ordering JDM items from Asian suppliers.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 13:35 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/16/05
Posts: 2537
Location: Georgia
Nice. What rod and line are you using with those spoons?


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 13:40 • #12 
Guide
Joined: 02/26/15
Posts: 219
Location: US-north ga.
Hey desmobob, the spoon I was using
is a wee dick nite spoon.
and hersh ,I believe two of the spoons are exactly what you said.
hooks soldered to them.
I believe ice fishing spoons.

Fish catching little rascals


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 14:17 • #13 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
I have a couple of those tiny Dick Nite spoons that I bought out west for trout fishing, as well as a few of the Yakima Bait Company's tiny-sized spoons. You can still get Yakima's tiniest Triple Teazer spoon that's 13/16" long and 1/64oz. in 48 colors(!) for about four bucks. The JDM offerings like the tiny spoons from Daiwa seem to be twice as expensive.

And I found the one I couldn't think of the name of... it's the "Les Davis Canadian Wonder" made in Tacoma, WA. I was sort of mistaken thinking the name had something to do with the Pacific Northwest.

They were very nicely made and had welded ring to connect the included swivel and the Siwash hook. Strong, but not so convenient if your hook gets damaged or rusty (like mine is starting to get). Sorry for the quality of the quick scan done on my printer/scanner... this is a larger one and I believe I had a few very small "fly rod size" ones.



Last edited by desmobob on 11 Nov 2021, 14:33, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 14:32 • #14 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/20/17
Posts: 387
Location: Portland, OR
Yes, that was my first guess from what you described (see above)...they came in many sizes...I used them mostly for Salmon in the Puget Sound....along with Pearl Wobblers...caught many Salmon between 12" and 25lbs on those...I still have them...mostly larger sizes...

Sandman


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 14:51 • #15 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
Sandman,

You hit the nail right on the head and I was so convinced the name was something sounding Washington/Oregon/Idaho-ish, it didn't jar my feeble brain!

When searching for more information, I was sad to see the company is no longer in business and the trademark was retired in 2001.

I have some really nice memories of fishing those little spoons in the beautiful little lakes above Bremerton when I was 16 (1977). It was my first and only trip to Washington and I stayed at my sister's place most of the summer, trolling for salmon with my brother-in-law and fishing for trout on my own. I didn't want to come home! After my two week visit had stretched to six weeks, my parents made my sister put me on a plane back to NY. :)

I did a lot of trolling on Puget Sound and Hood Canal. We used flashers (or was it dodgers?) behind heavy lead sinkers in a spring-loaded sinker release that dropped them when you hooked a fish. I remember buying whole frozen bait (herring?) to use on those rigs.

We varied the size of the sinkers (they were huge -- like maybe 8-12oz.?) and how many strips of line off the reel we had trolling behind us to adjust depth. At that tender age, I was exposed to my first experience with fishermen fibbing: We had some nice fish in the boat. As another guy trolled by in the opposite direction he asked how we were doing so we hoisted a couple of big salmon. When he asked how much weight and how many strips back, my BIL yelled out some totally bogus combination. I was completely shocked that he would lie to another fisherman like that! He's a funny guy and I really think he did it more to surprise me than to hide the information. I'll never forget it though!


Last edited by desmobob on 11 Nov 2021, 15:10, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 14:59 • #16 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/20/17
Posts: 387
Location: Portland, OR
The Olympic Peninsula is a beautiful place...my parents grew up in Bremerton/Port Orchard and I still have relatives there, and I too spent many days fishing those lakes and the Sound...here a few I still have...with nice patina on the brass side from the salt...my dad had told me that when he grew up fishing the Sound with his dad and all they fished for was Salmon, because they couldn't sell the Halibut and "bottom" fish...

And yes, in line Banana weight, dodgers and herring was the method most used...caught many that way too...my largest was 32lbs.

Sandman



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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 15:25 • #17 
Guide
Joined: 02/26/15
Posts: 219
Location: US-north ga.
Hey upstream,
The only rod I had with me was a 9ft8wgt with a medalist clone
loaded with a 10 ft sink tip line.
That's about all I use in the river.
You never know what you might hook down below the dam.
Casting the spoon was no problem .
A 5/6 wgt would be about right


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 15:28 • #18 
Guide
Joined: 08/19/16
Posts: 314
Location: Brazil
It's noteworthy that the spoons shown in the first post were with single hooks. Most, but not all, spoons that I ever had anything to do with were equipped with treble hooks.

When I was growing up (1950s and early 60s), my father's favorite lure for trout fishing was the South Bend Bait Comany's Super Duper. For a while, we were making our own knock-offs in the garage. The material used was brass sheet metal that came from old fire extinguishers. The brass was cut into just the right shape and size with tin snips, 2 holes were drilled in each piece, one for a snap swivel and another for a treble hook. The hooks were fastened using cotter pins, and the lures were painted into all sorts of colors. Of course they had to be bent into just the right shape as well. They were very effective!


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 17:13 • #19 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/27/16
Posts: 2327
Location: US-IL
I tried the treble version on a split ring at the end of an ice spoon blank.Dressed the hook and all.The fish liked it but unhooking them was a nightmare.I bought some mustad silver siwash hooks but never gave them much of a chance.The pflueger pippins are a really cool design,i have them stashed somewhere and will post pics when i find them.Before the local fly shop went under,owner was a very talented tyer, he always had AL'S gold fish on cards on the counter.I was curios as they seemed so out of place in his store.He said people wanted them and bugged him to have them.Every thing was pretty high end ,i went there for hooks and feathers and direction.Owner had fished every where for every thing and was just a great guy, especially to the clueless noobs like me.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 11 Nov 2021, 20:32 • #20 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
When I was searching to identify the Les Davis spoons, I looked at a lot of old spoons and was amazed at how many different brands and types I had owned and used -- back in the '70s, mostly. Lots and lots of 'em!

I guess they were a whole lot more popular in the past. I have a few that were made in my hometown (J.T. Buel spoons) in the early 1900s. The history includes the same story every other person who claimed to invent the fishing spoon uses, but the product did achieve fair success. https://whitehall.bloatedtoe.com/jtbuel.html


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 12 Nov 2021, 11:01 • #21 
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Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Many downeast trollers, who used fly rods rigged with sinking lines or lead core, usually on various Pfueger reels, favored Les Davis products.

Fun to see this account. As a general proposition in fly-fishing, it's a good plan B strategy to try a technique, a fly/fly -rod lure, water/current condition--or a combination of the three that is completely opposite of what you expected to work. If the fish are inactive, period, at least you are not wasting time with same-old, same-old, and usually you will learn something. It's just as much fun when something is working to try the opposite, then figure out why it doesn't work or works just as well.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 12 Nov 2021, 11:23 • #22 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
excellent..

I haven't fished fly rod spoons, do use the new JDM finesse-size spoons on ultralight spin and baitcast gear.. probably could throw these easily on a 7wt though, hm thinks. These spoons all come with single barbless or micro-barb hooks, which are so much nicer that trebles. I've started replacing all my treble hooks with singles.





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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 16 Nov 2021, 13:00 • #23 
Master Guide
Joined: 03/09/15
Posts: 684
Location: Arkansas
I like this thread for sure. Thanks.


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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 16 Nov 2021, 20:19 • #24 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/20/17
Posts: 387
Location: Portland, OR
Always wondered why they were originally called Fly-Rod Flatfish...I guess you could cast them with a fly rod...

Sandman



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Re: Spoon fed gills
Post 16 Nov 2021, 22:44 • #25 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/12/18
Posts: 457
I've had one of those tiny fly rod flatfish (in orange color) since I was a teenager. I don't know if I've ever tied it on!


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