Spoon size

[queets guy]

I was curious to see what were peoples favorite spoon size for winter steelhead.  I myself perfer the 2/5oz but cannot find the 50/50s in my size.  The only brand that I have found that makes them is BC steel but 5 spoons for $20 is a little out of my price range considering the fact that they dont last forever especially when steelheading.  Im willing to try spoons in different sizes because I really want to try out the 50/50s.  Thanks for all the help.

           Jake

[Chum Man]

rvrfshr's spoons are all the same profile, the weight difference is in the thickness.  holding a 2/5 and a 1/2, i can't tell the difference myself.

[Brian]

The 2/5 oz. size gets the nod from me for most of my winter fishing. I can fish this size on  most rivers I fish in the winter and cover almost any type of holding water. .

[queets guy]

Thats just it though, does any spoon brand make 50/50s in 2/5oz besides BC steel.  Though now Im even wondering if theres that big of a difference in the 1/2oz and the 2/5oz.

[Todd]

Try the 1/2 oz. Rvrfshr 50/50...you won't hardly notice the difference between that and a 2/5 spoon...

For steelheading in the winter I use everything from a 3/8 to a 1 ounce...it really depends on the size of the water and the water speed.  Most of the time a 1/2 ounce spoon is sufficient, but the deeper holes on the Skagit might be 18 feet deep and moving along at a pretty good clip...

Gibb's makes a 3/4 oz. spoon that was good to me last year...I won a box of 'em and the first time I used one I caught the biggest hen of my life on the Sol Duc out of a hole about 12 feet deep...would have been hard pressed to get a 2/5 oz. lure down into that hole.

Fish on...

Todd

[queets guy]

How come the 50/50s are so much more $ than their solid colored spoons.  Does it make much of a difference between fishing solid colors vs. 50/50s catching wise, I had always thought that presentation of a spoon is a lot more important that the color. Thanks for the help so far keep it comin
     
             

[Todd]

Color does matter, but a good presentation with the "wrong" color will be more productive than a bad presentation with a "good" color...

Joe can fill you in as to why the 50/50's cost more, but generally speaking I'd say the reason is that they cost more to make...

Fish on...

Todd

[Chum Man]

in a pinch you can also make a poor man's 50/50, by taking a wire wheel to a nickel little cleo and stripping off half the nickel plating...

[rvrfshr]

In regards to the 50/50's, yes they cost about twice as much as single plate finish spoons to manufacture. I like the 2/5th's for alot of what I do but for coho and late winter natives I aint leavin' home without 1/2 oz. 50/50's.

I don't know about the poor mans 50/50 Kyle... Last time I bought Cleo's was yesterday, 10 - 1/4 oz. copper finish to use today on the Yakima and later this month on the Methow, they were $2.79 each... Next to them were 2/5th's oz. at $2.99 each... I'm no math wiz but I think by the time you've paid for the spoon, replacement hooks, swivels and done the wire wheeling... I think you see where I'm going with this.
I make 2/5th's 50/50's all the time by taking silver spoons and taping off the blank on front and back in a reverse diagonal pattern, then sanding the silver plate off down to the raw brass. (For an alternate 50/50 I really like the tape off, half silver/half black... For the black I use Component Systems Lure Dip.
 

[queets guy]

So you are saying if I take a silver finished spoon and cover half of one side with tape I can sand the silver off to a brass fishish to make a 50/50?

[rvrfshr]

You can make a 50/50 in that manner but it's gonna look like, "not so hot" the next day unless a clear coat is applied over the exposed/raw brass. The factory manufactured 50/50 is done by direct plating silver to the entire raw brass blank, then plating over half of the silver plated blank with 24 Kt. gold, (resulting in a much brighter flash).

[queets guy]

Sounds like to me that Im just gonna have to buck up if I want to use quality gear which shouldnt be a problem, thanks guys for all the help.  I think Im gonna try to 1/2oz spoons because those them rvrfshr 50/50s are calling my name.

      Jake

[Chum Man]

In regards to the 50/50's, yes they cost about twice as much as single plate finish spoons to manufacture. I like the 2/5th's for alot of what I do but for coho and late winter natives I aint leavin' home without 1/2 oz. 50/50's.

I don't know about the poor mans 50/50 Kyle... Last time I bought Cleo's was yesterday, 10 - 1/4 oz. copper finish to use today on the Yakima and later this month on the Methow, they were $2.79 each... Next to them were 2/5th's oz. at $2.99 each... I'm no math wiz but I think by the time you've paid for the spoon, replacement hooks, swivels and done the wire wheeling... I think you see where I'm going with this.
I make 2/5th's 50/50's all the time by taking silver spoons and taping off the blank on front and back in a reverse diagonal pattern, then sanding the silver plate off down to the raw brass. (For an alternate 50/50 I really like the tape off, half silver/half black... For the black I use Component Systems Lure Dip.
 

yee-ouch -- i don't think i've paid more than $2.29 for my cleos, but i don't buy many, either(especially since yours are nicer quality for less).  the ones i buy mainly get used for trout fishing in the deschutes, when a 1/4 or 2/5 would be just *slightly* overkill.

[BigCohoTom]

Talk about 50/50's.  Last year I was at a seminar put on by General Zog.  He had a few of his rods set up ready for spoon fishing.  [They don't call him "Spoon Man" for nothing.]  So what he had on one rod was two spoons "sandwiched" side-by-side and held together with a split-ring front and back.  One spoon was silver, the other gold plated.  My guess is they are not inexpensive to make.  He mentioned that the two blades rattle against each other, making a clicking noise, and this might also attract fish in "quieter" water.

[Todd]

BCT, that's the infamous "double stack", which I like to fish a lot with Rvrfshr spoons...gold/silver, black chrome/copper...caught a couple pigs on that one last April, eh, Joe?

Fish on...

Todd

P.S.  Joe hates the double stack almost as much as the hootchie spinner...