HiYa Folk! Most here are likely aware of my fascination with chasing salmon along the WCVI. These days there is quite the selection of weapons to deploy in that pursuit, some might even suggest perhaps a little
too much to choose from! LOL! But amongst that arsenal, the one thing I've always found lacking has been a spoon designed to successfully imitate Needlefish. This little prey item represents a rather large component of the diet for most salmon species, and especially so for those huge springs we encounter out there.
While there are some decent hootchies that do the job, I greatly prefer to engage the fish without a flasher between us. So, over the years, I've experimented with a LOT of the various spoons out there, and found that while some do work, they simply were not consistent enough for me. What I've been seeking is something that will get a response pretty much every time I send it down, in a word,
DEADLY.
About 4 years ago I decided that if the market didn't have what I wanted in this regard, perhaps I'd just have to
Cowboy Up and design it myself. So, I sat down at the drawing board, and began to fiddle with a few ideas I thought might do the job. Over the next few years, I took my idea to several manufacturers, both here and offshore. To a one their responses were:
Cost prohibitive to produce, too many bends to be practical, too complicated a design and finish... I really didn't agree, and surmised that this was likely their way of simply brushing me off. Jaded by their responses, I thought the idea would simply never wither and die a quiet death...
But the thing was something I wanted, and wanted BAD. Then this spring I casually mentioned the idea on one of the Forums, and to my pleasant surprise, one of the Members responded suggesting he might be willing to take the task on of getting the idea to the next step! So, I partnered up with him, fired off the specs, and anxiously awaited the first of the blanks that he ran off for testing...
Then a package arrived in the mail! Kinda surprising that something as simple as a handful of oval brass blanks could get me so pumped, but that it did! I immediately set out applying varying bends, concaves and more to the blanks, so many varying types it was tough to keep track! Afternoons found me standing in one of the local flows, dressed for the chase of steel, but instead staring wide eyed at the varying actions of the spoon the different combinations created! Standing mid-stream with that spoon dangling 5 feet off my rod must have been comical to those that wandered by methinks! After trying many variations of bends, hook sizes, flipper tails etc, I finally found the action I was looking for: a few flips like many spoons do, graduating to the distinct snake-like swimming action of a mature needlefish!
Walla! The time for a REAL test was now at hand...
Late April found me working springs off the troller along the "
Highway" out of Nootka. Nary a needlefish to be found in their tummies or on the sounder - krill and the odd herring were the items of choice. But I decided to give the prototype a whirl, and sent it down. Immediate reaction! Good Spring
ON! Over the course of the afternoon, the little bugger outperformed our best hootchies, as the springs bypassed them from below to get at the spoon! After a dozen or so of the Large variety, I was satisfied. Even without needlefish around, the fish were convinced!!
A little better than a week later, we found ourselves off Solander Island / Cape Cook:
The nearshore areas there are comprised of huge needlefish beds, and the springs were working them. Down went the spoon again - time for the best test I could come up with.
Let the fish decide I mumbled as the spoon slid beneath the waves...
And again the reaction was nearly instant! A rather large spring let me know he liked the little offering, and that was shortly followed by many
many more!! Approaching the number 30, my Partner finally demanded I pull the spoon and tuck it away.
HUH? Lose that one what the hell will you send to the plant he queried.
That one there is a KILLER. Reproduce it, and it alone. Don't risk losing it...
Kinda hurt to take it off the gear, but I realized he was right. Couldn't help but Grin though - a long time in the making being realized!!
I did take a good handful of pictures, but the damn memory card in the camera failed - lost them all. Dammit!
For testing purposes, I had simply taken one of the brass blanks, shot a coat of aluminum Tremclad over it, and painted it up with permanent Sharpies. Not an overly tough finish by any means, and it didn't take the fish long to beat most of that, and the holographic eye right off the blank. Still caught them quickly though, so I surmised the action was as much or even more key than the finish.
Here's a shot of what the spoon looked like when I pulled it -
Ravaged!
The eventual product will be much more refined obviously! Nickle/Silver plating on top of the brass, and quality airbrush paint jobs to finish it off. Loads of work remain to be done, but we're finally on the way, and I couldn't be much happier!!
Here's the design template:
Kinda wrestled with myself whether to put that one up or not. Hate to have someone snitch the idea this far into the game! Ah, but if they did, they'd soon understand why it took four bloody years of finicky fiddling to get the action just right!! So, that concern has been somewhat alleviated!!
Hopefully we'll have them up and ready for this year's impending offshore season! Already have so damn many orders I don't know when I'll find the time to get out there and use them myself, but you can bet your bottom dollar
I WILL!! 
Cheers,
Nog
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Topic: Needlefish Spoon Prototype Test - A New KILLER Emerges! (Read 10166 times)