CLofchik Posted August 6, 2010 Report Share Posted August 6, 2010 Seeing as how we're on the cusp of another fishing season starting (there's fish other than King Salmon? Yeah, they're called "sunfish", "minnows" & "practice"), I thought it might be timely to put up my favourite bait for them. Places like Dalhousie & Port Credit are notorious lure eaters and with glo spoons going for $5 a pop it gets costly pretty quick. So here's a relatively easy & cheap way to make a pile of spoons for $2 a piece. First, wait for your wife/girlfriend/mom/landlord to leave. It doesn't leave an odour but some reason non-angler killjoys can occasionally have a problem with open flames and words like "shush, I'm trying something new". Pay them no heed. Next gather all your supplies, what we'll need is: 1) Glo paint, you can use tape or water soluble paint found in craft stores but I like the harder & tougher powder coat. Luremaking.com has it for $7/bottle with is enough to do fifty or so spoons. 2) Spoons, cruising dollar stores and bargain bins will find you cheap stamped steel spoons but I really like solid brass. Yes there is a difference in the water. 3) Upgraded hooks, a big King will chew up and spit out the cheap bronzed trebles that come with most spoons. Single siwash on 80lb split rings will never open up. Peter's Tackle & Bronte Outdoors have decent prices on bulk split rings, hooks & coastlock snap swivels. 4) Heat source, need to heat up the spoon to melt the powder coat. Plumber's torch or heat gun 5) Clearcoat, there's a pile of options but Crappy Tire automotive clearcoat works fine. First take all the spoons out of the packaging and strip off all the old paint, hooks & split rings. Even if a spoon has a plain silver or gold finish there's usually some coating on it. Paint stripper is fine but a soak in dollar store nail polish remover is cheaper (seeing a trend here? ) Hitting them with coarse sandpaper to rough up the spoon so the paint grips better can't hurt. Heat up the spoon for the paint, not glowing red hot but just warm enough to melt the powder coat. Too hot and the paint will burn, and no self respecting salmon wants a burnt dinner. Better too cold than too hot, 30secs is usually all it takes. Sprinkle powder paint on, don't be afraid to dump it on then shake off the excess over newspaper. Only the paint that will melt will stick, if it doesn't melt all the way reheat it slowly until all the paint is melted on. DO NOT apply open flame to the paint, that would be bad, heat from the backside. Any holes or gaps sprinkle some more paint on until covered completely. You can take your time delicately sprinkling colours, shades & patterns but I never noticed any improvement over just a plain white green glo, and salmon don't care if your spoon looks a little fugly. After all the spoons are painted throw them in a 350 oven for half an hour, this bakes the powder coat rock hard. Then spray on a couple coats of the clearcoat, bake again. After they've cooled throw on some split rings (I like rings front & back) and new hooks (Owner or Eagle Claw 3/0 Siwash). Tah dah, six spoons for a net cost less than a pair of Cleo's, and you can do higher action spoons like Len Thompson's or Krocodiles that are a pain to find with a glo paint. FISH ON! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steellee Posted August 7, 2010 Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 Nice method. Do the spoons have any odor after from all the self processing? Also is there other glow colors available other than the straight glow you used? I find that salmon have the most finicky sense of smell and any foreign odor reduces your catch rate. Most people do not realize the importance of scent when salmon fishing even with hardbaits like the spoons. Last few years I have done the best using the 4.5 inch white spoon blanks I buy in bulk and then doctoring them with strips of glow tape front and back. This seems to work better than than solid color glow in the water and having a little glow on the underside of the spoon helps as the spoon wobbles. You can take your time and create some very unique patterns on the spoon and when it gets torn up by a few fish just peel off and start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted August 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2010 Forgot to put a link up for the powder coat. http://luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-...wder_paints.htm Not a big fan of the tape, wears off too quick and you have to charge it alot more than the paint, I've got spoons I've been using for years that still haven't chipped (record holder is one that's 9yrs old, though it doesn't hold a charge worth beans anymore). There is an extended super glo available (similar to Moonshine's), but ever since the mussels have done their thing I only use them when the water is really coloured. Patterns and different colours don't really matter at night, some guys swear by green, others by red or orange, I've never seen any difference using them head to head, other than the dark blue doesn't catch squat off the piers. Sometimes I'll put a black dot on, or NBK tiger stripes...again never noticed any difference. I did notice painting both sides of a spoon sucks balls, the alternating light/dark flash seems to work like a trigger. Now spoon SHAPE is a ton more important than colour. Some nights a long thin blank like a Kroc or Cyclops kills them, other nights shorter fatter spoons like a Strobe or Wobbler gets them. Or just chuck a Len Thompson #1. Scent...I've stubbed a cigar out on a spoon and nailed one on my first cast. I was next to a guy on the pier who was insisting for half an hour that scent was a HUGE factor. Like temp these soon to be spawning Kings have other things on their mind, I used to do the WD40 thing but don't bother anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Bump. Oh and MotoMaster stopped making their own line of paints, so to finish just use any clear urethane paint you can find. Urethane, NOT enamel or laquer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogman Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Very nice write up. I love the DIY stuff. I've made a few spoons from actual dollar store spoons (the kind you eat with) with the handle cut off. You just need to drill a couple holes and bend them a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymikey Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 <br />Bump.<br /><br /> Oh and MotoMaster stopped making their own line of paints, so to finish just use any clear urethane paint you can find.<br /> Urethane, NOT enamel or laquer.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />URETHANE, OK!<br />Thanks!<br /><br />I've used 55cent spoons from LeBarons.<br /><br /><br />Finally... the quetion is... how many salmons have you landed so far>? you always catch countless amount of salmons every year.by the way,,, can this be used? http://www.vhtpaint.com/caliperpaint.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pike212 Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 I've been trying this with glonation.com powder paint, bought a heat gun and found out the powder doesn't melt onto the spoon, instead it takes the ability to glow away from the powder and blows in your face. Awesome long living stuff tho...now how do I adhere it to my spoons?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 by the way,,, can this be used? http://www.vhtpaint.com/caliperpaint.html I have no idea, never used high temp clear paint. If you already have it, try it. If you are looking to buy something you don't need a high temp clear coat. Only prob would be if it doesn't adhere well to whatever you painted your spoon with. I've been trying this with glonation.com powder paint, bought a heat gun and found out the powder doesn't melt onto the spoon, instead it takes the ability to glow away from the powder and blows in your face. Awesome long living stuff tho...now how do I adhere it to my spoons?? Yeah that stuff needs to be mixed with another medium which is kind of a PITA (and why I prefer the heat & dip) The best would be a 2 pack Epoxy resin, but you could mix it with any clear paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymikey Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 By the way,,, I did 6 spoons of various size and I ended up using almost half a bottle... I am not sure it seems that I've used too much? What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davincan Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 This is great, thanks for sharing! I have dozens of old spoons that I can use for this! What a great way to bring them out of retirement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NINO Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Here is a good website to find alot of different lure building items. Reasonable prices and out of Ontario http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/catalogue-items/economy_casting_spoons.htm Here is another website that for rods and other tackle building items http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/catalogue-items/economy_casting_spoons.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pike212 Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 My attempt at a glow spoon with glonation.com powder http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h362/Slim597/utf-8BSU1BRzA0ODEuanBn.jpg And in the dark... http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h362/Slim597/utf-8BSU1BRzA0ODIuanBn.jpg And a couple other home-made jobbies with $ store eating spoons... http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h362/Slim597/utf-8BSU1BRzA0ODUuanBn.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kazman Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Awesome thread!! Can't wait to make my own, already have most of the stuff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted August 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Bump 'Tis the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Anyone remember the old red-eye spoons ? We used them for pike . They have a nice action and are still being sold . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass2mouth Posted August 28, 2012 Report Share Posted August 28, 2012 Anyone remember the old red-eye spoons ? We used them for pike . They have a nice action and are still being sold . I may have seen some at the fourth ave canadian tire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLofchik Posted September 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2013 Aaaaaaand another bump, 'tis the season. Anyone remember the old red-eye spoons ? We used them for pike . They have a nice action and are still being sold . Shhhhhh, it's werry werry swecret! The Evil Eye's are great to troll behind a yak in Lake O, very speed tolerant and the Bows & Ho's just smash them. Burns Fishing in Burlington is the only shop I've been in that always has them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manutd_jeeves Posted September 20, 2013 Report Share Posted September 20, 2013 Awesome post man! For sure will try this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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