The spoon is one of the best lures the angler can use in fresh- or salt­water fishing. It is compact and heavy enough to cast well especially in the smaller sizes. It can be used when casting or trolling, and attracts all kinds of fish because of its brilliant "flash" and lively, swaying action.

The spoon is also one of the oldest fishing lures used by man, having its origins in the dim past. The lure we know as the spoon was used a long time ago in the Scandinavian countries. In this country the spoon was developed and perfected in the early 1800's. The story goes that a fisherman named Julio T. Buel dropped a teaspoon into the water. As he watched it twist and turn it gave him an idea. He started experimenting and soldered a hook to the end of another teaspoon and attached his line to the handle, which was partly cut off. It caught fish and then he went into the business of making spoons for fishermen.

You can make a spoon lure of sorts by merely taking a teaspoon or table­spoon and cut off the handle. Holes can be drilled at each end for holding the hook and line. Such a homemade spoon lure will catch fish, but is too deeply dished and the action is not the best. A much better spoon can be made by following the design shown in Fig. 55. This is one of the basic de­signs patterned after the famous "Dardevle" copied by many fishing tackle manufacturers.

To make a fresh-water spoon from scratch you have obtain brass or cop­per sheet metal in various thicknesses. The smaller-size spoons which run only from IV2 to 2;/2 in. in length use thinner-gauge metal than the larger spoons which measure from 3 to 5 in. in length.

This metal must be cut out and filed out to the size desired, then bent and hammered into the proper concave shape. This is a lot of work if done with hand tools, and takes time even with the aid of power tools. Then the holes to take the hooks and line have to be drilled. If the hook is soldered to the spoon that's another operation. Next, you have the spoons plated in nickel, chrome, gold, or silver. Or, if you want to use the brass or copper of the original metal, you must polish or buff it.

Frankly, when one figures the time, energy, and money spent in making fresh-water spoons from the raw material it really doesn't pay—not unless one is willing to go to the expense of having a die made to stamp out the spoons on a punch press. With such a die one can stamp out enough spoons to last a lifetime. Such a die runs into quite a bit of money and unless you need hundreds or thousands of spoons it isn't worth it.

Fortunately, you don't have to go to the trouble of shaping your own fresh-water spoons or spend money for expensive dies. Some of the mail­order houses carry spoons in various sizes, shapes, and weights. They are all complete with shiny gold, silver, brass, copper, chrome, or painted finishes and can be bought cheaply, especially in larger quantities. You can buy a dozen of the spoons and the other parts, such as split rings and hooks, and then assemble the spoons.

Split rings come in various sizes; the smaller ones are used for small spoons while the larger ones are needed for the bigger spoons. They are usually made from spring steel or solid brass. The steel split rings are plated and are suitable for fresh-water spoons, but for salt-water the solid brass rings are much better.

Fig. 56 shows how to use a knife blade to spread a split ring apart so that it can be forced into the hole on the spoon. Once you have the split ring started, just keep turning it until it snaps on completely. You can put two split rings on most spoons, one in front for the fishing line and the other in the back, to which a treble hook is attached. The treble hook can be plain or it can be wound with bucktail hair.

Although spoons with metal finishes are the most popular you can paint them in various colors—such as all white, all yellow, or red and white stripes —if you want to do so. Usually only the convex side is painted, the con­cave side retaining the metal silver or nickel finish. You can also paint or spray the convex side with a natural fish-scale finish. For painting by hand with a brush, enamels are best. For spraying, use the quicker drying lac­quers. Clear lacquer or varnish can also be sprayed on a metal finish to keep it from tarnishing.

Although it doesn't pay to cut or stamp out your own fresh-water spoons, it's a different matter when we come to the larger salt-water spoons. These are more expensive and it often pays to make your own. Also, you cannot buy the larger metal spoon bodies already stamped out and plated, as you can the smaller fresh-water ones. So you either buy the finished spoon or make your own.

For pounding and shaping salt-water spoons you need a wooden anvil, which is nothing but a rectangular block of wood. Any block of hard wood such as oak or Douglas fir, about 12 in. long and 5 or 6 in. thick, is suitable. Toward one end of the block, drill a big hole and insert a peg of hard wood. You can also dig out some shallow holes and grooves along the working faces of the wood block. See Fig. 57. When shaping a spoon lay the sheet metal on the peg or over the shallow holes and pound it with a wooden mal­let.  See Fig. 58.

As an aid in shaping the metal, make some punches out of hard wood. The sheet metal is placed over the hole or groove on the wood block and the punch is held at the spot where you want the metal to be formed. Then strike the wood punch with the mallet to shape the spoon.

The metal for making spoons can be sheet brass, copper, or stainless steel. Stainless steel is being used more and more, and is especially suitable for salt-water spoons because it doesn't corrode or tarnish. But stainless steel, especially in the heavier gauges, is very hard and springy and tough to work with hand tools. If you have a workshop with power tools you can work with stainless steel. But if you do not have power tools and must use hand tools, you'll find it easier to work with brass, copper, or other soft metals.

Spring brass is a good metal and if you obtain sheets of this material in 1/32 in. thickness you'll be able to make varied sizes of spoons for salt-water fishing. Of course, slightly lighter gauges can be used for the smaller spoons and heavier gauges are more suitable for the larger spoons. The metal used should have enough spring so that it doesn't bend out of shape too readily when a big fish is hooked.

The first step in making a spoon is to draw and cut out a pattern of the shape and size you want from a piece of cardboard or heavy paper. This way, all your spoons will be uniform in size and you don't have to make a new drawing to follow each time. Then trace the pattern outline on the sheet metal. The lighter gauges of brass or copper can be cut with ordinary hand snips, and the heavier gauges can be cut with aviation snips. The duck bill snips are best for cutting the curves. You can also use a hacksaw or other metal saw to remove excess metal. When cutting out the spoons the best procedure is to cut just outside the tracing, leaving some metal. In other words, cut the spoon slightly larger in size than the finished one will be. Then file the spoon down to the finished size.

The shape and size of the spoon will depend, of course, on the type of fishing you do, the weight desired, and the size of the fish to be caught.

The blade can be long and narrow, bigger at the head or at the tail. It can be short and broad and rounded at both ends, or you can shape it like a fish, with two fins and a tail. You can take almost any spoon and make a dupli­cate of it, or you can design your own. Fig. 59 shows some of the different shapes which can be used when making spoons.

Two basic types of spoons are usually made for salt-water fishing. One is based on the principle of the reverse S curve. See Fig. 60, left. Here the spoon is curved in one direction at the head and in the opposite direction at the tail. Both the head and tail are also hollowed or dished. The type of ac­tion you want will depend on how much of a curve you give the spoon. A spoon with a slight curve will have a somewhat faster wobble or wriggle than one which has extreme curves. The spoon with sharp curves and deep hol­lows will have more throw or sway when reeled or trolled. Naturally, ex­perimentation will show just how much to curve or dish a spoon. Before you shape too many spoons, try one out in the water to see if it has the de­sired action.

The other basic type of spoon is the more conventional shape shown in Fig. 60, right. Here the spoon is curved and dished both from the head to the tail and from side to side. This type usually is wider at the head and tapers toward the tail.

The size of the spoon will depend on the type of fishing you do and the fish you seek. Small spoons measuring only 3 or 4 in. long are best for cast­ing and trolling for small salt-water fish. Medium-sized spoons from 4 to 8 in. can be cast with heavier outfits or trolled for bigger fish.  Some of the larger spoons, such as the so-called "bunker" spoons, run up to 12 in. in length and are used for big fish such as striped bass.

The hook used on a salt-water spoon should be strong enough and heavy enough to hold big fish. A single hook is better than a treble hook.

There are various ways to attach the hook to a spoon. The easiest and quickest way is the method usually used on fresh-water spoons, explained earlier. You drill one hole in the head and another in the tail, and insert split rings. Then you slip a big single hook on the split ring at the tail. Solid brass split rings should be used for salt-water spoons, and as an added mea­sure of security the rings should be soldered after they are on the spoon.

Another strong way to attach a hook is to cut a slot in the tail end of the spoon and insert the hook shank through it. You also drill a hole in the body of the spoon where the eye of the hook falls, insert a small bolt through the hole and the hook eye, and fasten it in place with a nut. This is shown in Fig. 61. The advantage of this method is that you can quickly remove an old rusted hook and attach a new one, if needed. For best results, use brass hardware to hold the hook.

If you use brass or copper sheet metal to make your spoons you can use them as they are by polishing them. A metal polish which can be bought in any hardware store can be used for this. However, the most effective finish for salt-water is a nickel-plated or chrome-plated spoon. For plating, you have to take the spoons to a shop which does metal plating, and do this be­fore you assemble the spoons. Some anglers also paint their spoons silver, white, or yellow. Lacquers or enamel can be used for this. Of course, if you made your spoons from stainless steel all you have to do is polish them to a high gloss.

Naturally, home-made spoons will not look exactly like commercial ones. There will be slight imperfections in construction or the finish. But don't let that worry you. The fish don't know the difference and take them just as readily as the ones bought in a fishing tackle store.

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