New Slab Spoons

[TubeDude]

[cool][#ff0000]I already posted this on the Lure Making board, but thought some Utahns might like to see these too.[/#ff0000]
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[#0000ff]I have been making and using (successfully) lead jigging spoons for both open water and icefishing. I recently got a bigger mold, to make larger lures. I have two sizes on the new mold...1.5 oz. and 2 oz.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I just finished painting up some of my first productions. I think they will work well for macks, stripers and larger fish at Strawberry. I know they will also work well in salt water. I used to use some like this that a buddy made for me when I lived in California.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can finish these off with trebles or single hooks. If you are creative, you can dress up the hooks with feathers, hair or synthetic stuff, like Flashabou. The final enticement is adding a strip of cut bait to the hooks. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]These are designed for vertical jigging, but can also be trolled or casted and retrieved. If you want to add some action, you can easily bend the soft lead bodies into different shapes, to create wiggle, wobble or spin.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some of these have prism tape. Others have glitter. Still others have glitter enhancement over a paint base. I plan to do some more colors and to make some glow in the dark models...using both the green and the blue glow powder I have. I'll also be doing some in hot pink glitter and chartreuse glitter. Those colors work well in the smaller sizes, so they should work okay on larger ones too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Man, you sure go through a lot of lead quick when you are pouring 2 oz. jigs. Takes a lot more paint and glitter too.[/#0000ff]
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[Kent]

Look good -- they look like your Perch Urchins on steroids.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Hey Kent, my lures don't do drugs. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, those are pretty small lures compared to some. I have jigged with big metal spoons up to 12" long, in the salt, and have used large 6" spoons for stripers and salmon. The largest 2 ouncers are barely 3 1/4 inches, without hooks. Of course, when I add a big single hook, dressed with fluff, it can add two or three more inches.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It does not always ring true...big lure big fish. Here are two Bear Lake fish caught on the same trout pattern slab spoon.[/#0000ff]
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Speed jiggin' those on Powell and Mead would be the ticket! The green w/ prism tape look a lot like the wally lure that Powell guys swear by.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I know a guy who has plenty of pure lead if you're running low. I know how that is when pouring larger stuff. We poured 200 cannon ball sinkers from 1oz to 4oz a few weeks back and you're right, you can get through a pound or two of lead without any trouble at all.[/size][/black][/font]
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[Shrimpboy]

Hey Pat-

When I go down to the Sea of Cortez in May my buddy wants to take a day and hire out a boat with one of the locals. He's never fished close to shore and always fishes this way. He says that they verticle jig in about 100' of water. They use big spoons, but I was thinking that a slab would get me back down to the fish that much faster. I've kept my eyes open for some sort of slab type spoon in the stores, but haven't seen anything like that for sale. Any ideas of where I can turn? There aren't a whole lot of saltwater shops in AZ.

-Jack
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Jack, you don't even want to think about buying those big jigging spoons...unless you won the lottery. Some of those babies cost up to $10 apiece, and the rocks eat them like candy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Shoot me a PM and let me know what area you will be fishing, and for what species. If you are fishing 100 feet deep I am thinking you will be going after cabrilla and grouper, with maybe some big triggerfish and assorted bottomfish thrown in. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those slab spoons will take anything down there, short of marlin. But, I also have some big spearhead jigs that you can decorate with plastic and they work great too. I can also make you up some hair jigs or feather jigs that you can sweeten with a piece of fish meat and really smack those fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I don't know of any salt water tackle shop in Phoenix, but there is one or two in Tucson. At least there used to be, before Mexico got so wierd on their tourist requirements and a lot of guys quit going down there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Otherwise, both Cabelas and Bass Pro have saltwater tackle sections. Check with me before you buy anything. Other than a stout rod and good reel with heavy line, you don't need all that much. And, if you take your tube down, you can fish right off the beach with freshwater gear and have 200 fish days. That's how I prefer to fish it down there.[/#0000ff]
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