Buck Perry Spoonplug Question

[diemai]

Hi ,  Folks ,

 

Just a brief question from the other side of the Great Pond :

 

Came across these lures in the internet , .......being a somewhat special design but not available nor probably even known over here , I've become curious about this Buck Perry Spoonplug , and I'm thinking to get myself some from US Ebay .

 

 

But before I'd start bidding , I'd like to ask you guys in here , whether someone would be familiar to this lure and could give me some hints and pass on own experiences or knowledge , ...I figure out , that  it is mainly a trolling lure .

 

But I most likely cast my lures from the bank , so would it be well-suited for such as well , ...or casting is just the minor option ?

 

Thanks a lot , ...greetz , diemai

 

[crankbaits]

Diemai, Buck perry wrote a book called spoonplugging.It is full of great info.He says the spoonplug is great for casting. I know it's not much but I hope this helps

[diemai]

@ crankbaits

 

Thanks a lot for your hint   , ......I had read about that book before , ...but to be honest , I do not feel like investing in it yet , as I was first looking for some angler to angler info in here .

 

Anyway , but if you tell me , that it would be well suited for casting as well , I'd move ahead trying to purchase a few , ....just lost the recent bidding on some spoonplugs on US Ebay last Sunday night , as I had to go to sleep before auction ended , ...darn time difference  !

 

But surely some day I would succeed , .........thanks a lot for your reply   , ...greetings , Dieter

[Nathan]

Hey Dieter,

The book is a excellent book.I guess Buck was actually the grandfather of structure fishing.It's amazing how many pro's of today comment on learning from Buck Perry's book.I've never fished his spoons but I understand they are great for casting and trolling...Nathan

[Curt - NC]

Buck Perry is definitely viewed as the grandfather of modern structure fishing. He was catching big bass on offshore structure while everyone else was beating the bank to catch bass.

 

Dieter, the only drawback I can see fishing these from the bank, is that they might tend to be a bit more prone to snagging on the bottom than a weedless lure, but if the water your fishing isn't loaded with stumps or boulders, you should be OK.

[diemai]

Thanks a lot for further replies , friends , .....maybe I should really get my self an issue of "Spoonplugging , your guide to lunker catches" , ...sounds interesting to me .

 

By reading in the web , I figure out , that these spoons are also supposed to be dragged along the bottom , ...hence your snag warning , Curt ?

 

Probably one could remove the belly treble or at least bend it's points towards the shank in case a removal would disturb the balance of the lure .

 

Sounds to me , that they might be great to substitute the over here very common and popular plastic shads to fish for perch and zander(European walleye) .

 

Don't like plastic lures too much and I had used spoons to catch zander before , these were heavy 1 3/4 inch "Rock't Daredevles" and 45grams German "EffZett" spoons ,.....spoons heavy enough to toss them slowly along the bottom at up to 45 feet .

 

But because of the danger of snagging I've only did it from a boat so far .

 

Anyway , ...thanks again for your infos , guys  , .......greetz , Dieter

[diemai]

Hi , folks ,

 

OK , this thread of mine is well over 2 years old , also I've been absent for a while on

 

Best greetings , Dieter

[Vodkaman]

Another great video, thanks.

 

A most interesting lure. I have nothing to contribute, except to say that there are so many adjusters here. I am intrigued by the small rear wings, and wonder if they serve any purpose.

 

Dave

Edited March 24, 2016 by Vodkaman

[RayburnGuy]

Great looking spoons Dieter. You are indeed the "metal meister".

 

Ben

 

p.s. Glad to see you back at TU.

[Vodkaman]

Metal Guru

 

Dave

[fishon-son]

theres alot of knock off that people have done..i myself had several made from a laser cutter..then i bent them on the shop brake...I would think there are a lot on ebay..I sold mine as kits to painters at the time...kind of like the lucky craft knock offs that are on ebay right now...becareful if your looking for originals.......just seen the video diemia great work....

Edited March 25, 2016 by fishon-son

[diemai]

Thanks a lot for your kind words , folks , .....I really can't wait to try these in the outdoors as from May 1st on .

 

Some more versions on my mind , at first a spoonplug with multiple line attachement options , just to see , which effect such would have on the lure's action .

 

To achieve this , I would just drill some more holes in line to be able to switch the attachement duolock snap up or down , ...that would be the easiest way .

 

Another version would be a spoonplug rigged with a rigid large single hook , just to find out ,whether this way one could avoid too many bottom snags .

 

Also I wonder , whether the heavier versions of the spoonplug would work in heavy river currents , ......lots of things to explore for me .

 

Dave , the inventor of this spoon , Mr. Elwood L. "Buck" Perry , was a teacher for physics and maths by the time he designed this lure , ...so I'm pretty much sure , that there ought to be an important purpose for these little fins , ......I reckon , that it would be to push the lure back to an upright position , as it falls to one side , ....just what the body buoyancy does on a timber crankbait ?

 

Ben , .....hahaha , Mark used to call me "Metal Meister" as well , ...I'm just into metal lures for more than 25 years now , .......and , .... Dave ,..the good old days of 1970's Glamrock , ....."Metal Guru" , ....really liked those bands back in the day being a young teenager , still in school , .....must have been in another, previous life !

 

Fishon , ......never saw any other than obviously Buck's original spoonplugs on US-Ebay , there are quite a few offerings , though .

 

Only wanted to buy one to make my own version , I do not collect lures , at least not in the sense of the meaning .

 

The spoonplug seems to be unknown over here in Germany , never read about it anywhere .

 

There has been a similar lure(well , ....not that similar by shape , but by material and probably by action) , put out by the DAM(Deutsche Angelgeräte Manufaktur , in English "German fishing tackle manufactury)around 1960 or 1961 .

 

I have a 1961 DAM catalog and it is stated "NEW" in there , but I really do not know , how long it was sold in it's four different versions between 4cms and 7cms length , on rare occassions one may find them on Ebay or on fleamarkets .

 

Used to have one from a fleamarket , ...sold it on Ebay with 800% profit !

 

If you're interested , by 8:30 of this video you can see this lure , named "Banana Spoon" in that catalog , ...I could not find any other picture in the web .

 

 

Greetings , Dieter

Edited March 25, 2016 by diemai

[clemmy]

Hey Dieter, I hope your are well!

I'm sorry I did not find this topic earlier. I have the original Spoonplugger booklets, the book, and the spoon plugging/structure instructional series in my collection of fishing magazines/books.

The Spoonplugger was way ahead of it's time. It was meant as a tool as much as a bait. You must remember that back then, there were no depth finder or deep diving crankbaits. Most fisherman fished shallow, as that was what they could see. Perry realized that there were more fish deep on break lines, humps etc. that were not visible.

He came up with the Spoonplug as a way to dive down and tell what the bottom contours were, where the drop offs were, etc. The multiple sizes were designed not to match size of forage, but each ran to a specific depth. You would troll repeatedly to map the bottom, and then either troll or anchor and cast to the best structure or breaks you found.

The Spoonplug was really the first deep diving crankbait, beating Lee Sisson's Bagley baits by decades.

Here's a video of Perry talking about the baits:

Edited March 26, 2016 by clemmy

[diemai]

@ clemmy

 

Thanks a lot for chiming in with all of that valuable info , ....and also thanks for linking that video , I've also checked other videos on that particular channel , too, ...some great info about spoonplugging containing in different clips there .

 

OK , nowadays in the days of sonar and GPS that spoonplug might have lost it's purpose as an aid for bottom structure mapping , but to me it surely remains a different kind of lure to try in our heavily pressured local waters .

 

As said before , these spoonplugs never made their way across the Great Pond , and I'm pretty much sure , that I could use them for my own fishing with some success .

 

Even harder to await the end of the local lure fishing closing time May 1st now   , .........greetings , Dieter

[Kato1688]

Not made for bank fishing . Get the book . Spoonplugger since 1975 .

[Norwegian]

Coming in a bit late here but I make single hook spoonplugs(one in the rear end with hook point upwards)

I found that adjusting the size of the hook has great impact on stability and how the lure run. A lure that flip around with a small hook will behave better with a larger hook. Since I did not want the hook too big I added some bucktail hair to the hook. The extra drag has the same effect as using a bigger hook  By taking a pair of scissors when testing the bait you can cut off bits of hair till you are happy with the lures performance.