I never see a spoon build on here, so I thought I'd share:

A couple of years ago I asked about spoon fishing on the other species section. I've been fishing since the mid '90's and had never knew how to fish a spoon. The good folks here helped me out and I got addicted to them, especially for fall fishing. I decided that winter to build one. I never posted the build so here it is:

It's based on a Little Cleo:

I traced the pattern on a hallmark card and transferred it to a piece of aluminum.

Cut the aluminum shape, file and sand and now you have a permanent template:

Transfer to a sheet of Nickel Silver Alloy, trace and cut out:

A little shaping, sanding and polishing. Added reflective tape:

There she is:

It's about 2 1/4" and runs about 7/16 oz

 

Sweet.

Man, they'll start stocking trout around here in about a month and a 1/8oz Little Cleo is one of my best baits, I gotta try this. Where do you buy the nickel at? Do you form it any after cutting or just leave it straight?

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Man, they'll start stocking trout around here in about a month and a 1/8oz Little Cleo is one of my best baits, I gotta try this. Where do you buy the nickel at? Do you form it any after cutting or just leave it straight?

On the second to last pic you'll see a carriage bolt mounted on the PT wood as well as a wood dowel. The spoon is shaped using the carriage bolt and the wood dowel is used as a guide to test for the concsve shape

The ends of the spoon are bent as a Little Cleo is. To bend the ends I sawed kerfs in the wood and used as a vise. 

The spoon you see is a Little Cleo clone. 

http://www.jewelrysupply.com/Copper-Brass-Nickel-Sheet

Fun project, I hope I answered your question.

20 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

On the second to last pic you'll see a carriage bolt mounted on the PT wood as well as a wood dowel. The spoon is shaped using the carriage bolt and the wood dowel is used as a guide to test for the concsve shape

The ends of the spoon are bent as a Little Cleo is. To bend the ends I sawed kerfs in the wood and used as a vise. 

The spoon you see is a Little Cleo clone. 

http://www.jewelrysupply.com/Copper-Brass-Nickel-Sheet

Fun project, I hope I answered your question.

Yes, I should have noticed the dowel and realized what that was for. That's perfect, thank you, I'll be trying this before the trout are stocked here. 

14 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Yes, I should have noticed the dowel and realized what that was for. That's perfect, thank you, I'll be trying this before the trout are stocked here. 

Forgot to mention, try and get a minimum thickness of 16 ga material. 

10 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Forgot to mention, try and get a minimum thickness of 16 ga material. 

I was thinking the heavier gauge would be best otherwise it will be too light to work properly. Sounds like I'm headed the right direction. 

14 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I was thinking the heavier gauge would be best otherwise it will be too light to work properly. Sounds like I'm headed the right direction. 

You are! The Cleo is a little thicker, I believe 14 ga material. It can be worked, but you'll find out that the 16 ga stock is perfect for shaping and had enough weight to it for casting. 

I'm hoping to make some more, but lately time hasn't been on my side. I wanted different widths, lengths, not curvature, less curvature etc. All the above provides different attributes to the action. Almost endless in what you get by varying the design.

Good luck. Would love to see your version.

I like the trailer on it!

14 minutes ago, EricTheAngler said:

I like the trailer on it!

A mini Ika, huh? LOL

4 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

A mini Ika, huh? LOL

Is that what its called?

I looks like one but...no, I'll post a link for you. 

9 minutes ago, EricTheAngler said:

Is that what its called?

Here ya go bud:

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/netcraft-dominator-baits/520412.aspx

Thanks! They look like some crappie jigs i had a while back.

I use those and Zoom 1-2" tubes on spoons and inline spinners as trailers when the going gets tough....can't beat it

2 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I use those and Zoom 1-2" tubes on spoons and inline spinners as trailers when the going gets tough....can beat it

how do you get the trailer on the spinners with trebs on them?

The treble hook on the spinners need to be sacrificed...I clip them off and replace with new trebles on a split ring. Slide the tube over the eye, add the split ring attach to the bait. Or: Add a mosquito hook on a split ring, attach to your lure and rig the crappie bait.

I'd like to test one of these out at wachusett