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When I was a young boy, I was fascinated with fishing and would buy books that would interest me from places such as Powell's and Goodwill. Recently, I was going through the attic and come across a couple of them. One of which is The Wise Fisherman's Encyclopedia from 1951. This is about 4 inches thick with an incredible amount of information ranging from fish species, tackle, how to build rods and smokers to celestial terms. I love reading the perspective from 1951 and the illustrations are super cool. It's amazing how fundamentally, things remain the same today and will probably continue to be so for decades to centuries. Anyway, here's an excerpt for spoons. I personally don't fish spoons but recently have decided that I will be adding this to my bag of tricks as the most experienced anglers seem to know their effectiveness. Enjoy.
Spoon. A lure; usually consists of a long, oval-shaped disk made of metal or plastic and fashioned in a variety of shapes. Spoons are sometimes coupled with pork rind or feathered hooks as an added attraction. Darting or wobbling through the water, spoons attract fish by their erratic movement and reflections.
Origin:
Spoons are the oldest lures in the world. The probable date of origin is around 3000 B.C. The ancient Romans used polished clam shells equipped with various types of metal and stone hooks, later developing crudely carved metal disks as spoon blades. Spoons are known to have been perfected and widely used in Sweden and Lapland before the year 1800.
The progress of spoon design in America really began in 1834, when an angler really did something to qualify for the title of “Spoon Inventor.” The student was Julio T. Buel, a man of unlimited and extravagant imagination. Julio selected pure silver for his artificials, as he reasoned that this was the nearest to the color of a fish’s belly.
Around 1819, young Julio tossed some white pebbles in a brook, as kids will, but the Vermont youngster noticed trout rising to them. The seed of invention was sown. While eating is lunch on a lake one day, he accidentally dropped a teaspoon overboard; as it sank, he noticed the peculiar twists and turns it made in the water. Julio had been experimenting with bits of bright tin with a hook soldered aft, which revolved in the water when retrieved, but the convex face was a new thought! Young Julio’s first effort was in lake Bomoseen, the lure – an old brass teaspoon on which he soldered a hook. The line was tied to the broken handle end. The resultant catch was phenomenal. Early angling literature reveals many similar explanations for the origin of something that had already been originated – but being a perfectionist, Julio spent several years in working over the finest details of spoon design. He applied for, and received, the first patent for trolling baits in 1834. He had bright polished treble hooks made to his own order because the black japanning in common use from $1-$2 per pound – a small fortune in those days. Even the swivels in common use were not good enough; they were made of soft wire, but Julio had them made of extra-hard wire. When it came to the selection of feathers, a salmon fly tier could be no more critical. Instead of electro-plating he used the more durable rolled plate, and even this burnished, instead of polished, for durability. Julio then moved to Lake George, New York, where he caught his first fish by deep trolling. He made long junkets into the Adirondacks to test thoroughly his new devices on all that local game fish. The result was that the manufacture of trolling baits was begun by him in 1848, at White Hall, New York.
Source: The Wise Fisherman’s Encyclopedia, A. J. McClaine 1951.
Spoon. A lure; usually consists of a long, oval-shaped disk made of metal or plastic and fashioned in a variety of shapes. Spoons are sometimes coupled with pork rind or feathered hooks as an added attraction. Darting or wobbling through the water, spoons attract fish by their erratic movement and reflections.
Origin:
Spoons are the oldest lures in the world. The probable date of origin is around 3000 B.C. The ancient Romans used polished clam shells equipped with various types of metal and stone hooks, later developing crudely carved metal disks as spoon blades. Spoons are known to have been perfected and widely used in Sweden and Lapland before the year 1800.
The progress of spoon design in America really began in 1834, when an angler really did something to qualify for the title of “Spoon Inventor.” The student was Julio T. Buel, a man of unlimited and extravagant imagination. Julio selected pure silver for his artificials, as he reasoned that this was the nearest to the color of a fish’s belly.
Around 1819, young Julio tossed some white pebbles in a brook, as kids will, but the Vermont youngster noticed trout rising to them. The seed of invention was sown. While eating is lunch on a lake one day, he accidentally dropped a teaspoon overboard; as it sank, he noticed the peculiar twists and turns it made in the water. Julio had been experimenting with bits of bright tin with a hook soldered aft, which revolved in the water when retrieved, but the convex face was a new thought! Young Julio’s first effort was in lake Bomoseen, the lure – an old brass teaspoon on which he soldered a hook. The line was tied to the broken handle end. The resultant catch was phenomenal. Early angling literature reveals many similar explanations for the origin of something that had already been originated – but being a perfectionist, Julio spent several years in working over the finest details of spoon design. He applied for, and received, the first patent for trolling baits in 1834. He had bright polished treble hooks made to his own order because the black japanning in common use from $1-$2 per pound – a small fortune in those days. Even the swivels in common use were not good enough; they were made of soft wire, but Julio had them made of extra-hard wire. When it came to the selection of feathers, a salmon fly tier could be no more critical. Instead of electro-plating he used the more durable rolled plate, and even this burnished, instead of polished, for durability. Julio then moved to Lake George, New York, where he caught his first fish by deep trolling. He made long junkets into the Adirondacks to test thoroughly his new devices on all that local game fish. The result was that the manufacture of trolling baits was begun by him in 1848, at White Hall, New York.
Source: The Wise Fisherman’s Encyclopedia, A. J. McClaine 1951.
