Spoons: They're Not Just for Cereal!

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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"But do tell: A spoon in a bird's chest?

That is too damn weird - whatup with that?"

NorCal Cazadora

Couldn't resist it, honest!

After Holly's comment on the spoon in the pelican's chest, I promised to have a short discussion on the lures used for fishing that are called spoons.

My near-shore spoon selection:

Dressed nickel spoon, dressed nickel Krocodile, brass Krocodile, dressed nickle KastMaster, smaller dressed nickle KastMaster, hammer finished Hopkins spoon, brass Clark spoon w/swivel, and nickel Clark spoon.

To those folks that don't fish, it might seem a little strange when fishermen talk in their peculiar jargon. Plugs, streamers, midges, spinners, jigs, flies and spoons are all artificial lures used in the attempt to fool a fish into striking and getting itself impaled on a hook.

Who invented the spoon,
or the history of fishing spoons according to Albert.

My guess is that this all started sometime in the past when a Viking lopped the arm off of some other guy who was having breakfast on the deck off of his lodge. The spoon flew out of the now detached hand and fell into the water, whereupon the two were amazed when a fish sped by, and struck at the twisting, flashing spoon as it dropped into the depths.

That's why I think fishing spoons are probably among the oldest manufactured lure. When they saw that, they probably figured out that a shiny piece of metal might just get a hungry fish to strike. So they headed over to the smithy, fight and arm forgotten, and told the smith to hammer out a thin, oval shaped, concave dish of metal and attach a forged hook to it. Eureka, the spoon was born!

Spoons are generally either silver or brass in color, and normally come in either a polished, or hammered finish. Spoons wobble or dart depending on the retrieve, and the flashing and sparkling play of light off the body attract fish. There are painted and partially decorated spoons too, but I don't use them much, the nickel and brass ones pretty much working out well enough for me, thank you very much.

How do you rig a spoon?

Spoons do tend to twist and turn, usually in one direction. It's one of the things that makes spoons so attractive to fish. If you don't take the spinning or twisting action into account, you will end up with a spool of badly twisted line that will not retrieve properly, jump off the spool, and become weaker very quickly. Some spoons have a swivel built in to allow them to rotate without affecting the line. If your spoon is without a swivel, you will have to put one on the spoon, or better yet, rig one on the running line.

As I said, there are two ways to accomplish the task. The easiest way is to add a swivel right to the nose of the spoon. If the spoon does not have a split ring attached, you will have to add one. Go with a size larger than you think you need, it won't affect the action; quite the contrary, the larger size allows the spoon to flutter and drop much more convincingly without the drag of the line right at its nose. Next add the swivel to the split ring and call it done.

The way I prefer to do it is the following. I add a split ring to the nose of the spoon just as we did above. But this time add anywhere from twelve to twenty-four inches of leader to the split ring, and then tie the swivel to the leader. If you use Spiderwire, any of the braided lines, or one of those wacky colored lines, this is the only way to go. Fish can see those lines, especially in clear water and will veer off your lure when they catch sight of the line leading away from it! By the way, I only use the Uniknot for all my knots. That will be another post in the near future.

If you are using a light spoon, like the Clark spoons, you have to add a little weight to the rig in order to cast it, or get some depth to in the retrieve. Just add a torpedo sinker, or even an egg sinker above the swivel. Just a reminder, you do this with the second rigging method. I always add a small bead between the swivel and the sinker to protect the knot from any unnecessary abuse from the sinker.

If you are running into some Bluefish, Spanish Mackerels, or gator Seatrout, you may need to use a wire leader. The same rules apply.  With spoons costing anywhere from $2.99 to $6.99 for the small to medium sizes, it doesn't take many cut offs to make you use a wire leader! Length can be as short as 2" to as long as 12". Try to use the finest wire you can find, and hope for the best! If the bite is hot, it probably won't matter what length the leader is. If the fish are running shy, you may only be able to use a short leader.

Maintaining your fishing spoons.

Like everything else, your fishing gear needs a little maintenance in order to last a good long time. The first thing I do at the end of the fishing day is rinse everything off with fresh water. Rods, reels, and lures get a good washdown and dry before being put up.

Spoons though, get pretty beat up with time. They get dragged across the bottom, banged against rocks, swung into pilings; after a while, they lose their shine. The first thing to try is a good old Brillo pad. That will usually get your nickel colored spoons shiny again, or at least less dull than they were.  Brass lures get the same treatment, but then I finish them with Brasso for that extra shine. Wash them well with dish detergent when you're done, you don't want to leave any soap or polish residue on the lure.

If your lures are pretty bad off, or maybe you found one that is beat up bad, you can refurbish it with some elbow grease. Some fine wet/dry sandpaper and a buffing wheel on your grinder will bring a junker back to like new condition. And as I mentioned before, with the prices as high as they are getting, it doesn't take too many yard sale finds to make it worth your while.

I have a couple of old spoons that I need to refurbish and when I do, we will cover it here.


Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
Member:Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

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Getting Ready for Fishing

© 2010 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Important Skills to Have!

I put the kids to refurbishing some bucktails this evening.

"OMG! It's like making earings, except on hooks... 

If earings had bucktail I mean...

After a quick demonstration on the specifics, Jackie and Ethan knocked out a couple of bucktail jigs, a treble hook with black bucktail in the center surrounded by yellow, and a couple of single hooks with yellow bucktail and red silk wrap.

Ethan had the steady hands, so he was the painter!

Single hook bucktail for Krock Spoon

I like the single hook on Hopkins jigs and silver spoons. Yellow seems to be the preferred color, with white a close second. We will be using them tomorrow at Desoto Fort. Maybe the Spanish Mackerel will be running again!

Wish you were here!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Bagram Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show

© By Albert A Rasch

I woke up late.

It’s the daylight savings thing, I hurt my back moving the chicken coop, and overall I felt like crud. (Still do.) So somehow I overslept this Sunday morning, and it was the Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show and now we were all late.

I hurriedly woke the dead up. Blake sleeps in a sepulcher like stupor, which not even a fire alarm pierces. As a matter of fact, the emergency action plan calls for me to get Blake, while Mom gets The Bear. Since this was definitely an emergency, I got a wet paper towel and slapped it on Bubby’s face, while pulling his blankets off. To make a long story short, I managed to get him in the bathroom with only one herniated disc.

About an hour later we were on the road heading for the expo!

I haven’t been to a good expo in quite a while, so when we pulled up I was happy to see the parking lot was full of cars and a bunch of nice boats were lined up at the entry. Inside we found several hundred tables filled with all sorts of inshore and offshore fishing gear, electronics, boating accessories, and apparel. There where many seminars on different facets of fishing, many taught by local guides. We learned how to rig for groupers and Capt. Larry Finch taught us where and how to fish the surf for pompanos. There was a fish filleting display and a knot tying class where we bought a rigging book. Florida fishing is very tide dependant so we attended that class too.

We checked out all the boats, from the Glades Runners which were long narrow beamed runabouts, to large multi-engine offshore kingfish hunters with conning towers and radar. There were even a couple of fiberglass pangas in the mix.

Blake really liked a beautiful 24 foot flats boat by NauticStar Boats, the 2400 NauticBay. Not only is it a flats type boat, but it is designed to run blue water too. I wouldn’t try rough seas with it mind you, but it looks very capable for the occasional offshore foray on calm days. Capt. Al Lewis, (The Boat House at Boater’s World, 4809 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte Florida, Tel: 941*235*2628), was willing to throw in a T-Top and the trailer if I would take it home with me. It was all I could do to drag the Mrs. and the two lug nuts away before I was parted from my hard earned money! If you are in the market for a great quality American Made fishing machine that is reasonably priced, see or call Capt. Al. No hard sell, no pressure, just the facts and the guidance of an experience fisherman. If it makes any difference, Cristal and I have decided to purchase one as soon as finances allow. As Cristal said, “It’s an investment in Blake’s education.”

One manufacturer in particular deserves accolades for the way they handle their business: Calusa Trading Company (PO Box 61902 Ft. Myers Florida, 33906 Tel: 1*888*5 CALUSA.) Their table had several examples of their cast nets, from small mesh baitfish nets, to large nets designed to catch eating size fish. Here is another quality Handmade American product. For those of you unfamiliar with a cast net, it is a large circular affair that is thrown by hand. It is non-destructive to underwater habitats, and at one time was what fishermen used to supply mullet for the market. That of course was before commercial fishermen started using seine nets and gill nets to catch everything in the water.

Trevor and Jeff were the two young men teaching the “Zen and the Art of Cast Netting” class. After a quick explanation on centripetal force and the theory of cast nets, they invited us to learn “The Art of the Net.” Blake and Trevor had no trouble. A couple of tries, and Blake’s net spread the full 16 feet and landed, nice and round, on the carpeted throwing area.

Jeff really tried hard to get me to coordinate all the actions properly, but I just had a bit of trouble remembering which sequence of events I was to follow. A couple of Mae Wests, figure eights, and an indecipherable net hieroglyph later, Jeff patiently explained, “You must become one with the net.” To which Trevor added “Feel the force.” I’m no Obi Wan, but after a half dozen more throws I was getting the hang of it and remembering to release the lead line I was holding in my teeth. Good thing I don’t wear dentures. Those two guys were the paragons of patience, and before long I was throwing almost as well as Blake. I was feeling pretty sore in the shoulders by then and was more than happy to hand the nets over when I was done.

Both Jeff and Trevor were fantastic, well mannered, and good natured young men. I am certain that their parents are very proud of them. My family and I certainly enjoyed their company and tutelage, and look forward to meeting them again at the next show.

Overall I was very pleased by the Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show. The show itself was reasonably priced at $8.00 per person, the venue was great, and even the snack bar was well supplied and fairly reasonable. All of the vendors but one, (I don’t want to discuss that one yet until I have done more research.) were very nice, very helpful, and lots of fun. All of the patrons seemed to be having a great time, with all of the seminars and classes filled to capacity. I’ll be looking for the next one in Tampa, when it comes around!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues…

Spanish Mack Attack! Fishing Fort Desoto

© 2008-2011 Albert A Rasch and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
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Just a little “touch base” with y’all!

As usual we hit the beaches this weekend. Actually we went to the Desoto State Park, right at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Bubby got it going on with the Spanish mackerel and just about slew them. He must have landed a couple dozen! The bite was on and he caught them with white bait (sardines) and on a Sabiki rig that he happened to have in his tackle box.

I took pictures of the first one, but we noticed that their scales and skin are very delicate. Blake actually decided that we wouldn’t handle them anymore and would just grab the hooks with his Gerber pliers and release them that way. (I think I’m doing a good job with him.) We also crushed all the barbs to facilitate the de-hooking operation. They Macks ranged in size from about what you see in the picture to a couple that where twice the size.

The late afternoon was very windy with the wind coming from the north and the current flowing south. Bubby rigged his whitebait with two split shot of about a quarter ounce total. Again he decided the hook size and the weight to use. It was right on the money and put the bait on the Mack’s dinner plate.

He got cut off at least ten times. It was a surprise to both he and I that the mackerel were toothy enough to slice the twenty pound leader we put on after the first few cut offs. We didn’t bring any light weight wire with us, so Bubby put that on his list of things to add to his tackle box.

Everyone needs to take the time to go fishing with their kids. Find out what’s biting, get what you need and get out there with them!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues…

Foray for Flounders

© by Albert A Rasch

“I swear that dolphin winked at me as it flipped that fish around and swallowed it!”

Well, “The Boo” and company went fishing again.

Quite frankly, I was cranky and in a bad mood. I could teach a cape buffalo a thing or two about foul temper. My hip felt like someone had driven a 24 penny spike through it, my ankle was stiff as sun dried raw hide, and carrying the cooler didn’t lighten my spirits much. It was late and I’m not a big fan of doing much of anything once I get home from work, unless it’s my idea, and even then it’s a toss up if I’m going to do it or not. But I had promised to take everyone out, and for better or worse here I was.

The Boo had brought his friend Ethan with him. We are very lucky that Bubby has great taste in friends. Ethan is a model child, well bred, good manners, well spoken, just a pleasure to have around. Even sweeps and cleans around our house while he’s waiting for whatever activity is scheduled next! He loves coming to our home; as y’all know we live on ten acres with horses, ducks, cats and dogs. There’s enough mud and dirt to keep an army of kids occupied. Paintball guns, (Which, believe it or not, I don’t really approve of.) bows and arrows, knives, sharpened sticks, rusty pieces of metal, ropes and all sorts of dangerous stuff, make it a kid’s paradise. At least the majority of the neighborhood kids think so.

Ethan lives in a spacious home in a lovely subdivision, with manicured lawns, a beautiful swimming pool with a Jacuzzi hot tub, and asphalt roads to ride his bicycle on. Even though the homes are twelve feet apart, the neighbors barely know each others; unless it’s to gossip about someone else. Oh, and I almost forgot, there was this really adorable kidnapping last year that put everyone’s nerves so on edge, that you could have snapped them with an overly loud sneeze. (Fortunately it all worked out; the kid managed to escape, and the Mexican Federales decided it was in their best interest to turn the kidnapper over to American authorities.) Its one of those neighborhoods were guns are evil – that is until you need one. Anyway, not to belabor the point, we love Ethan and he loves us.

So here we are, Mom, Dad, The Bear, Blake, and Ethan. The Bear sets up a couple of folding chairs for Mom and I, and I set the cooler between the two. Blake and Ethan start to set up the rods, while I get the bucket ready for them. After the preliminaries I sat my self down, and cracked the cooler open. Things were beginning to look up.

I am very fortunate that Cristal decided to marry me. Inside the cooler were sandwiches made with potato buns, gourmet mustard, real mayonnaise, Muenster cheese, Virginia ham, and prosciutto. A covered bowl had fresh lettuce, spinach, tomato, and avocado slices with a little bit of olive oil sprinkled on it; perfect fixings for a sandwich. Sitting in the ice was my favorite soda pop, Ironbeer, the national soda pop of pre-revolutionary Cuba. I guess things weren’t as bad as I first thought. I took a couple Tylenols and started to relax.

As I have told you before, Bubby throws a real good cast net. I can toss it a half dozen times before my shoulder starts to scream at the abuse. Blake will toss it for hours on end and complain only when I tell him to put it up. After a couple of throws, he had a couple dozen greenies in the bucket. He threw the net one more time and when he brought it up he excitedly called me over. There in his hand was a tiny little flounder! His colors were gemlike; speckles of turquoise and emerald. After a couple of pictures we ran down to the water’s edge and gently released him.

We rigged the ten pound test rigs with a half ounce egg sinker, a small bead, swivel, and a 1/0 hook. On the incoming tide this seems like the proper balance between ease of casting and holding capability. We try different methods of hooking the shiners, through the lips, dorsal front or rear, or ventral rear. Whatever seems to work best with the bite.

Ethan had the first and most exciting bite. He had tossed his greenback out and set the rod down while he ate one of the delicious sandwiches. Moments later his rod had a pretty serious bend in it. Cristal excitedly motioned to Ethan and finally blurted out, “Ethan you have a fish on!” Ethan picked up his rod and started reeling against the drag. Blake coached him immediately. “Hold your rod up! Don’t reel in against the drag! Let the rod do the work!” Who says kids don’t listen to their parents!

Blake was on the rails looking into the dark waters and excitedly called out. “He’s got a shark!” Well I figured I should mosey on down and take a look, so putting my sandwich down, I got up and made my way to the boys. A few steps later I was by their side and looking over the edge but the shark had sounded. At that moment Ethan’s line parted and he stood there, rod in hand and the line twisting in the breeze. Blake let out an, “AAaarghh...”

I thought that Ethan would be disappointed; if he was, he didn’t show it. He and Blake opened the tackle box and were re-rigging the rod.

Bubby had a rod out with a ventrally hooked greenie. After Ethan’s shark though, we had kind of lost track of it. It was the squealing drag that pulled all of our eyes to it. Ethan hollered, “Blake! Your rod!” Bubby was on it quick.

He practiced what he preached. The rod was high and he let the drag do its work. The monofilament was stretched taut and cut through the surface of the water. Before long he brought in a small flounder. Another beautiful specimen with brilliant hues of greens, browns, and blues

After that we caught a couple of lizardfish. Those are some ugly little fish. I’ll have to get you all some pics. They are all mouth, with sharp pointy teeth, and an appetite for fingers. They don’t bite hard, but they are aggressive. And they really put on a good fight for their diminutive size.

There were a few ladyfish in the mix. They’re sleek and strong, a big one will make you swear you have a jack or permit on the line. With runs like a bonefish and leaps like tarpon, they are a great sporty fish to catch. They are inedible, due to a large number of bones, but I have seen them in the market. I suppose the commercial fishermen don’t care what they pull out of the oceans as long as someone buys it. It can be pretty bad sometimes.

We had another fascinating experience at this point. Cristal had reeled in a good sized ladyfish, maybe sixteen inches long. I’m in charge of unhooking all of Mom’s fish so I grabbed it behind the pecs, and gently removed the hook. Mom gave it a good look and as we normally do, I pointed it nose down, and let it go. Mom and I were looking over the rail as the fish dropped, when out of nowhere, a large dolphin breaks the surface two or three feet from where the fish is going to hit. That ladyfish must have noticed too, because as it hit the water it thrust itself across the top of the water in a remarkable leap. It was almost too fast to follow. Somehow though, the dolphin got under it, and before we knew what happened, the ladyfish was in the dolphin’s mouth, neatly held in its toothy grin! We stared in disbelief. I turned to Cristal and said, “Did you see that!” She was as stunned as I. It was awesome. I swear that dolphin winked at me as it flipped that fish around and swallowed it!

There are usually some South East Asian families out on the pier. This evening was no exception. Invariably quiet, they mind their own business, and usually out fish everyone else. I watched them with some interest as they bucketed anything that they reeled in. From ladyfish to large grunts, they all were scaled, gutted and put in a cooler. I’m sure it all ends up in some delicious seafood dish.

As it got later the bite tapered off. We sat around and talked, or watched the skimmer birds do their thing. After a while the jaws started cracking and Mom and I decided it was time to pack up. We did everything in reverse order, and before long the three boys were sprawled over each others in the backseat, dozing off as we drove back home.

All in all it was another great evening with the family. The boys got to catch a few fish, Mom got to do what she does best, and I ended up feeling pretty good after all!