April 26, 2024: this nice chinook salmon was caught near Victoria, BC, on a 3.25" Black Chrome trolling spoon, customized in a variation of the "Blueberry Muffin" pattern popular on the Great Lakes. One other fish was caught that day on a similar spoon. I can assemble for you almost any custom pattern/size/color of spoon you can dream of. If there is a spoon you used to like but got discontinued by the manufacturer, I can reproduce it or even improve it with high-visibility lure tape.
June 10, 2024: after several weeks of windy weather that seriously limited salmon fishing, the guides are out again and the salmon are falling victim to the Black Chrome spoons. Victoria, BC. Nickel-plated or silver spoons enhanced with green and chartreuse lure tape have also been producing numerous chinook salmon.
June 20: fish have developed a taste for the 2.5" spoons in the last few days, while the 3.25" spoons remain productive as well. Top-producing colors have been: Black Chrome with chartreuse stripe/pink dots, True Gold with silver stripe, nickel-plated with chartreuse/green stripe. True Gold Che'gegon spoon with green "glow in the dark" stripe has also done well.
July 19: 2.5" gold trolling spoon with chartreuse/green stripe has been effective for salmon:
July 28: some nice hatchery chinook caught on a heavy duty Black Chrome spoon with chartreuse stripe (Bumblebee spoon).
August 3: My friend Neil entered a derby and asked me to assemble just for him "the hottest spoon possible". Here it is: "Neil's Sardine", inspired by pictures of Pacific sardines. Built on a light-duty (.018" thick) 3.25" long True Gold spoon, for maximum fluttering action. Of course, now everyone and his brother wants me to make them a "Sardine". I have posted below pictures of "Blue Sardine", "Green Sardine", "Bronze Sardine", "Purple Sardine". The spoons are available in the size and thickness of your choice, on a gold, nickel, or black-based spoon. $16.00 to $18.00.
Here is an order I just delivered to a client in Sooke. Someone is going to be catching some nice fish soon. "Rathead" spoon, Heavy Duty Black Chrome 50-50 green glow/red, Blueberry Muffin with dots on the back side, Bloody Herring.
Another order ready for a client in Colwood, who wants to try the "Sardine" and "Herring" spoon in a few of the many available colors and finishes: Green Herring on a True Gold spoon, Natural Blue Sardine, UV Peacock Sardine, Glo Purple Sardine on a Black Chrome spoon. Between the 2 pictures, a subtle change in ambient light at my workbench really changed the way these spoons are perceived by the human eye. You can imagine how much more dramatic that change is in the water, when light conditions change. This is what makes these spoons so effective. When I was commissioned to develop these spoons by a client last week, I must admit that I was skeptical. I usually prefer to "let the plating do the talking", and favor subtle color highlights. I like to develop spoons that catch fish, not fishermen. But testing over the weekend revealed the irrefutable effectiveness of the Sardine patterns during difficult fishing conditions. In the hands of experienced charter captains, these spoons outfished bait and other lures by the following ratios: 6 to 1 in Sidney, 3 to 0, 3 to 2 in Sooke. The "Natural" pattern looks especially lively, as it uses 3 colors of tape with the same coarse glitter texture that imitate fish scales well. The "Natural" pattern will perform best in the top 50 feet of water. In deeper water, UV or Glo patterns will be more visible. The UV reflection is provided by the chartreuse centerline shown on the 3rd (Blue/Green) spoon. "Glow in the dark" is provided by the Green Glo centerline shown on the 4th (Purple) spoon.
Coho Lover in 2 inch shown here in custom "Herring" patterns ($14.00). Regular production models are available for $10.00, with the color stripe(s) of your choice. These spoons are absolutely deadly on coho and chinook salmon.
August 15: Let's talk about spoon longevity. For trout fishing, there are no issues. Trout teeth are not sharp enough to cause significant damage. For salmon fishing I have often heard complaints about spoons from my competitors, from fishermen and charter captains (tape peeling off or spoons getting bent out of shape after only a few fish). I have designed my "regular production" spoons with durability in mind. I use only the finest quality of spoon blanks made in the USA. I position the lure tape near the top of the spoon as much as possible, away from fish teeth. "Regular production" spoons have been used for 4 months now, without any significant damage happening. That is, until August, when large numbers of large chinook salmon have appeared. On one spoon, after 50 fish, noticeable damage has been done to the stripe of chartreuse lure tape, but the spoon itself did not get bent, and is still catching fish at the same rate. Some scratches have been inflicted to the plating of one Black Chrome spoon, without affecting its fish-catching ability. Not one client has complained about durability of the spoons. For custom spoons that use complex designs of lure tape, I was concerned about long-term durability, after seeing a picture of a Sardine spoon with tape damage after only a few fish caught. But I am pleased to report that this spoon still looks the same after 50+ fish caught. So please do not be alarmed if a spoon shows tape damage after only a few fish caught. It seems that the damage gets done early on, and does not progress at the same rate afterwards. Fish-catching ability is still excellent even with damaged tape. In fact, let's start a fun challenge: I would appreciate it if my clients would send me pictures of their spoons after 100 fish caught, to see how the damage progresses over time. I will post the pictures here. Then we will do a 200 fish challenge, 300 fish, etc.
"Sardine" spoon after a few fish caught. I suggested that the client use a razor blade to cut the peeling tape, to prevent
further peeling.
A Black Chrome spoon (Bumblebee spoon) after 60+ fish caught. We can still see the reflection of the photographer's phone on the spoon. This means that the spoon still reflects light in the water.
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The same spoon after 50+ fish caught in 2 weeks.
The same spoon after 100+ fish in 4 weeks. Clear coat and plating are heavily scratched, the spoon is still catching fish, and the tape has held up well. The hook had to be replaced at the 100 fish mark. Let's see if it will reach the 200 fish mark.
The Coho Lover Heavy Duty line of products: 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch. Shown here in "Natural Green Herring" custom pattern ($14.00 for 2 inch and 3 inch, $15.00 for 4 inch). Also available in "regular production" models with diagonal stripe(s) in the color(s) of your choice (for a limited time, special price of $10.00 for 2 inch and 3 inch, $11.00 for 4 inch).
August 24: someone was wondering why no manufacturer has developed a spoon to match the Betsy flasher. I found out why when I tried to assemble such a spoon. I could not find a yellow tape to match the centerline, so I was forced to improve the design by using a color-shifting yellow/pink tape for the centerline. The "Betty" spoon is built on a 3.25" nickel spoon. The "Gold Betty" spoon is built on a True 24k Gold spoon. I can also build "Black Betty" on a Black Chrome spoon. $14.00, $16.00 for Heavy Duty versions. As you can see in the pictures below, the color-shifting ability of "Betty" and "Gold Betty" is unparalleled. She blushes...
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Update: the first gentleman to try the Gold Betty spoon released a 97 cm chinook (close to 30 lb) in less than 30 minutes, and caught a keeper chinook 45 minutes later.
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September 1st: new color: "Blood Orange". It has a color-shifting pearl/orange/pink centerline, with glittery red, and glittery gold halves. Very effective for coho and chinook. The first charter captain testing it caught a 15 lb chinook in less than one hour.
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September 7: new colors: "Copper/blue/yellow herring", "Polka Dots", "Halloween".
Sept. 11: New colors: Blue Pearl Coming soon: Copper UV Hornet (on True Gold or Black Chrome spoons), Silver Hornet (on True Gold or Black Chrome spoons), Yellow Hornet (on True Gold, Premium Nickel, or Black Chrome spoons).
Sept. 28: the discovery of a new opal lure tape that combines UV reflection and "glow in the dark" characteristics, has allowed me to greatly improve most of the custom spoons. A uv reflective eye also increases visibility of the lure in deep water.
New high-visibility spoon: built on a 3.25" Black Chrome spoon, with chartreuse fish scale UV reflective tape on one side, and green "glow in the dark" tape on the other side. A large UV reflective pink eye completes the design. $12.00
Sept. 30: this morning I made a few "Anchovy" spoons. They are available in 2", 2.2", 3", 3.6". These spoons combine a natural look with high visibility in the water, due to the UV reflective centerline and eye. The 3.6" version is a true silver plated spoon, not nickel. $14.00
3" Coho Lovers in blue/silver, red/silver, and green/silver. These spoons feature an opal UV reflective and "glow in the dark" centerline. The natural beauty of a bucktail fly, with the durability of a spoon. Should be very effective for fall coho. $14.00
Oct. 4: I have received a limited quantity of large UV reflective fish eyes, that allow me to offer "Frog" spoons at a very competitive price of $12.00 in standard duty configuration ($14.00 for heavy duty). Offered in premium nickel, Black Chrome, or True Gold. 3.25" is the standard length for a conventional trolling spoon, but 3.6", 3.75", 3", 2.5", 2.2", and 2" are also available. I can install dots only, or dots and stripes in the color of your choice. Most popular stripes are UV reflective chartreuse, or green "glow in the dark". Dots are available in UV reflective chartreuse, or pink. I will soon receive some "glow in the dark" large fish eyes, that will offer another choice of color. These spoons should be very effective for fall coho and winter chinook, due to their high visibility. I can also assemble these spoons for trout fishing, with smaller hooks.
Purple and blue are the last two colors to disappear from view when fishing deep. It makes sense to combine them on one spoon to test how the fish react to that combination.
Oct. 11: I have just received a small quantity of painted "glow in the dark" spoon blanks, that allow me to assemble some "classic" patterns at affordable prices. "Glow Cop Car" and "Glow Bloody Nose" are $10.00 each. These spoons have already proven their effectiveness for fall coho and winter chinook (please see Oct. 21 fishing report). We should not expect the same durability from painted spoons than from plated spoons, but so far the durability of these painted spoon blanks made in the USA seems far superior to the competition. Long-term durability testing is currently being done to see how many fish the painted spoons can catch before showing damage from fish teeth. I will report the results here once we have enough data. I can assemble many of our favorite spoon patterns on "glow in the dark" spoons. Just ask. I have already made some "Glow Sardine" spoons, that will combine the effectiveness of the intricate front pattern, with the visibility of a glow back side. Using "glow in the dark" blanks also reduces the price of the finished product to $14.00, as I do not need to add a centerline.
Glow Cop Car, prismatic black ($10.00)
Top: Glow Bloody Nose ($10.00)
Bottom: Glow Brushed Green Sardine ($14.00)
Glow Frog, Red Glow Frog spoons ($12.00)
Oct. 14: Below are a few examples of spoons assembled using the new True Green UV reflective lure tape.
Oct. 14: A custom spoon requested by a client in Sooke: I used a plain metallic emerald tape for the upper part, goldish yellow for centerline, distressed silver for the belly.
Oct. 18: in preparation for trout fishing season, I have assembled some "Mini-Sardine" spoons: built on a 2.5" True Gold spoon, available in many colors. Here we have Natural Green, UV Blue/Cracked Ice, Prismatic Black/Distressed Silver with UV opal centerline. $15.00
Nov. 22: In the last few months I have received a few requests for a "Purple Haze" trolling spoon. Unfortunately the Moon Jelly tapes from 4 different manufacturers were not durable, so I had to figure out the "next best" option. I found a Light Blue "Prism" tape that is durable. So the best I can offer at the moment is a "Blue Prism Purple Haze" spoon. Time will tell if this color will catch fish. None of the tapes are UV-reflective on that spoon ($14.00), but you can see that the prism tape is highly reflective to natural light. In the coming weeks I will experiment with dipping the spoon in a UV-reflective clear coat, and test for durability.
