# Panfish 'SLAB' Ice Spoons



## AtticaFish

Have been asked about these in the past so thought i would show how they are made. Will post as i go through the process. Going to stock up on a few extras for on the ice. Labor of love for a simple little spoon.........




























They are pretty much a 'slab spoon' style but downsized for panfish. The red fly added to the hook i believe really helps and have even had a few days on the ice where the fish were willing to bite on them without having to bait the hook. That doesn't happen often for me.










I use a metal hole punch from work made for putting .125" holes in metal sheetstock. The hole punch is not intended for such a small item so, just have to guess with the placement on the first couple. It is all just by 'eyeball' so end up with a few shorter than others in the end.










These are made from #1, #2, & #3 willow spinner blades. The #2's are my favorite size to use. They are 1" long blades to start, but once the end is rounded off, they are closer to .75".


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## AtticaFish

Once the extra holes are punched, i use a metal table shear to snip off some of the ends so there is not as much excess to grind off from the point.










Clipping them into a pair of vise grips makes it easier to hold them while you shape the end. I just use a simple hand rasp to round it off and try to make it even. Then go back over the edge with emry paper to make sure there are no sharp edges left.










To help give some extra area for the solder to sit in and give a little more weight, you can bend the blades slightly. It is not necessary to bend the blades though. In theory, the bend should give them a little more action as they are falling in the water if you are jigging them.










I was out of solder so took a trip to ACE and found this 95/5 leadfree solder. It worked really well. Just clip the end of the willow blade in the in forceps and hold over a heat source (I use an oil lamp with a glass chimney) until the blade is hot enough to let the solder flow when you touch it to the back of the blade. If the solder is thick, you may need to heat the end of it to help get it to flow. Just keep the blade over the heat and continue to add as much solder as you want. The surface tension should hold it together and create a small bubble. Once you have as much as you want, pull it away from the flame and hold it as still as possible until it cools. Takes maybe 10-15 seconds.

That is as far as i am with these........ you can paint them and dress them any way you want. I will post back here with what other componets (paint, splitrings, hooks, etc.) i use to finish them off.


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## Shmang

Really cool thanks for sharing.

I read that you use these for ice fishing- are you able to cast them? I would think crappie or white base might like the shimmy.

Thanks


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## c. j. stone

Shmang said:


> Really cool thanks for sharing.
> 
> I read that you use these for ice fishing- are you able to cast them? I would think crappie or white base might like the shimmy.
> 
> Thanks



Would be very easy under a "Heater"(lead plug) bobber. Set to the depth you want(2-7 ft or so) depending on rod length, cast and reel back slowly. I fish similar rig with Maribou jigs for panfish on an 8' crappie rod. Could be cast also w/o bobber by using a small shot about 12-14" up a "light" line.


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## AtticaFish

Yes..... they can be fished at other times than through the ice and be successful. I call them ice spoons since that is where i first learned about them. The dropper type, using a Kastmaster spoon with a short piece of mono to the hook, were the starting point and just wanted to downsize.

As C.J. mentioned, they work really well under a float exactly as he described. Fished with them this weekend, pegged about 6' deep under a small bobber. Cast out and slowly reel with the occasional snap of the rod. Only had limited time to fish but brought home 10 fat bluegill. Was hoping for some crappie, never found them, but not too picky.

I can cast the #2 blades without a float, but not as far as i would like. Usually attach a float on those. The #3 blades you can cast OK, maybe similar to a 1/16 oz jig. The smallest #1's need to have a float...... but could always cast them with a flyrod.


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## vc1111

Great thread. I love your work. I know of a strip mine pond where those would get ravaged.


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## AtticaFish

Thank you vc1111. Labor of love is a mild sentiment. If i would ever sell one of these, would have to charge about $11.95 a piece for a tiny little spoon no bigger than a quarter after all the hours put in. haha! But, that is how it goes for homemade tackle i spose.

Got these painted up. ALL powder paint on them including any stripes and eyes. Lots of glitter and pearl mica powder in the mixes.



















Into the oven to cure. I have an odd bake schedule compared to some, but it seems to hold up very well. I bake them at a lower temp (250° or so) for 10-15 mins, gradually increasing the temp before cranking the heat up to just below 350° for another 10-15 minutes. They come out nice and smooth after the bake. They are still in the oven now cooling down........

Next post should have them dressed out, ready to fish.


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## FISHIN 2

Psst, you ready to go ice fishin Atticafish ? Hope the old girl gets cold soon, would love to be on erie the first of the year if not sooner, besides, gotta come thru attica to get there anyhow !! ,Looking forward to fishin with ya this year if things work out. Those jigs worked great for Simcoe perch too, Mike


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## AtticaFish

Mike - Been quite a long time since i walked on Erie. If it works out, would love to get up there and try it. I'm pretty happy with my little lakes though. I have plenty of close-by places with bluegill/crappie/perch to tide me over and most of them i am usually the only one out. Let me know if you ever want to get together for some local panfish.


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## AtticaFish

Posted this same thread on another site to show what i was doing...... had a member point me in the direction of something a little more simple to use for the spinner blank that already has a hole in both top and bottom. Hagen's (down towards the bottom of the page) sells what they call SWING SPINNER ICE BLADES WITH TOP & BOTTOM HOLES. There would be no need to punch the extra holes and they are available in a lot of different sizes.


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## All Eyes

Attica-
Great looking spoons and good info! You can tell by looking at them that they would be productive. And I def know what you mean about them being a labor of love because the blades that I make are the same way. I would have to charge a small fortune for them to be worth the time spent. Thanks for the good post.


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## HappySnag

AtticaFish
your spoones are butiful,
can you describe the Powder painting process,
it will help lot of peoples.
there is tools to make holes,whitney punch with 10 deferent size holes.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Power-Punch-Sheet-Metal/dp/B0002T87CW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416676612&sr=8-2&keywords=whitney+punch"]Neiko Hand Held Power Punch, Sheet Metal Hole Punch Kit - Hand Tool Hole Punches - [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51-sgwERjpL[/ame]

thanks snag


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## AtticaFish

Got some pics taken of my powder painting setup. Use an oil lamp with a glass globe as my heat source.









Also made a contraption for adding eyes & stripes with different sized stencils made out of alum. sheeting. Even have some stencils made up to create scale shapes. They snap on and off with magnets and steel strips.










To put the eyes on spoons, or jigs, just paint as i always do. Then i make a dent in the paint while it is still hot with a nail.









Line it up under my stencil. Helps if the spoon is still hot when you go to tap on the paint.... it sticks better to the metal.









I load a paint brush up with the powder and tap it on. Eyes don't come out as perfectly round as some do with liquid paint..... but they do not come off.









Make another dent with the nail to line up and tap the second color of the eye.


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## AtticaFish

Most of my painting is done by tapping powder off of a paint brush, but do dip into my paint jars to get solid base coats also. DO NOT heat things to hot if you are gong to dip them in a jar of powder or in a fluid bed. If it is too hot, it will allow way too much powder to stick. Just get it hot enough that the paint will stick but not gloss over right away. This was dipped in a custom mixed pearl with added mica and blue hi-lite. 









Then tapped on the second color, only on one half of the spoon. This is a mix of candy chartruese and mica powder.









Just put it back over the heat for a second to get the tapped on paint to stick.









Added a slightly darker mix of candy chartruese just to the edge of one side.









Then put my candy red & glitter mix on the bottom corner.









Dented the paint with my nail to line up an eye stencil.









Finished product.......


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## AtticaFish

Last couple pics here are just the pile of spoons i got cured last time i was in the basement. I keep the heat a little lower (250°-275°) for the first 15 minutes then crank up the heat to just under 350° to finish the cure for the last 15 minutes.









Couple of close up pics. I own more glitter than my 12 year old daughter. 









Last one shown some of the stripes for a perchlooking pattern.


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## HappySnag

AtticaFish

thanks very good job.


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## AtticaFish

Got a pile of these finished with plain hooks for bait or flies. Most of the flies have silicone legs, but hard to see on some of them since they are black legs and stuck in my black foam for the tackle box. Just need the ice now.


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## vc1111

Beautiful spoons, Attica, and this works as an excellent tutorial too.
Merry Christmas!


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## papaperch

Russ - For a another method of getting second hole a hand drill can be used. I use forceps to hold spoon itself while drilling.



These are unweighted when using in deep water I attach a split shot way up on leader. That way spoon flutters down last couple of feet and often triggers a strike. I posted these on your website awhile back. Love to use these for suspended crappies and perch are suckers for them also.


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## AtticaFish

Bill - Those do look good and a very slow fall was getting fishes attention last i was out. I have never really tried them un-weighted with out the extra solder added. Going to have to make up a few and see how they do. I don't even have split shots in my ice tackle box though so have to transfer some from my soft water tackle.

I did receive some of the 'swing blades' from Hagen's i mentioned way back in a previous post that are pre-drilled with both top and bottom holes. Pic from Hagen's online catalog:










They are a slightly different shape than traditional willow blades.... more rounded at top and bottom. The sizing is a little different also with them. They run a bigger than willow blades of the same number size and seem heavier to me as well. I will have to get a picture of a few to show the difference. Hagen's pictures are far from the best at showing their products. The swing blades will certainly work with out the need to cut/drill the extra hole. (Bill, if you want to see some of the swing blades let me know and i can throw some in an envelope and mail them to you)


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## Nate In Parma Hts

Is there any place to buy the swing blades in lots of 10 or more, without having to buy hundreds at a time? 

I've been wanting to experiment with making some similar type spoons in a few different sizes for using under a popping cork for white bass. I just don't want to commit to hundreds of blades in each size, when I only really need 20 or so of each.


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## AtticaFish

Nate - The Hagens website is confusing and not worded correctly. You actually CAN order in smaller quantities and that is the way i got mine. Purchased 20 each of a couple different sizes for a total of about 80 blades. The costs they show are for the quantity discount when you order in huge numbers. When you order in smaller numbers, you have to pay an additional $1.00 up-charge for packing smaller quantities. You can call them and order over the phone and they will explain it to you better than i can. You can also just type in 10 for each quantity you want and when you go to checkout you will see the actual prices.

Just to give you an idea.......

Swing Spinner Ice Blades - Plain Metal With Top &
Color: Nickel, Size: 2

Unit Price: $57.68 / 1000	
Quantity: 10
Price: $0.58
+$1.00 for under minimum order

So 10 blades comes to a total of $1.58, then add shipping. They have pretty reasonable prices.


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## Nate In Parma Hts

Thanks for clearing that up Attica! I know what I'm going to be doing the rest of the winter to kill time now. 

Your work is truly impressive. If I can turn out anything even half as nice as yours, and they actually catch fish, I'll be more than happy. 


Will I need to do anything special to prep the blades to hold the solder, and eventually powdered paint? Not sure if I would have to give them a light sanding ahead of time for better adhesion, or if they will be fine as they are.

And one final question if you don't mind.. after painted, and oven cured, would it need a clear coat? Read through your posts a few times now, and saw no mention of that. Want to make sure I don't leave off a crucial step if it's needed. 


Thanks again. This is something I've been interested in doing for a long time, but always held off due to thinking I'd have to buy massive amounts of blades. The wife on the other hand probably won't be so thrilled about the countless hours I'm sure to spend working on them. I won't mention you as the inspiration of the undertaking though, so you'll be safe!


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## AtticaFish

Nate - I use nickle plated spoons and blades and have never had to sand them to get the solder to stick. Only modification i do is put a slight bend in the blade. I think it lets them flutter a little better on the drop. That is up to you though.

However, there are several different kinds of solder. Some flow much better than others. I bought a roll once that i could never quite get to turn liquid, it would get clumpy instead. I use that around the house for electrical stuff now. The leadfree stuff i used here worked pretty well, but did leave some sticky brown residue (rosin?) on the blades. I was able to scrape it off fairly easily before painting them. The leadfree stuff may be lighter weight also, but not really sure. As papaperch mentioned, you can attach a split shot to the line above them if need be.

I do not use any clear coat or epoxy coating after they are cured. Powder paint is very durable if you get them to cure correctly. It will usually turn glossy as well when curing as long as there was no dirt or dust on them. Pearl powder paint and mica powders might leave them a little more of a matte finish, but you can also dip them in clear powder before curing if you want them 100% glossy.

I personally would not recommend curing them in your cooking oven because of the possibility of lead contamination depending on what solder you use. I have a small toaster oven that is dedicated to fishing stuff in the basement purchased for $20. I do know some guys who use their cooking oven, but you must *keep things very clean* if you are going to. Also, if you are hanging them from the rack with hooks while curing, make sure you put a junk pan or foil below them. This will catch any drips that could happen...... and also prevent your wife from killing you for painting the inside of the stove.


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## Nate In Parma Hts

Thanks for the tips. Was wondering if bending the blades would be a good idea or not. Do you bend in the direction of the concave side? I imagine the answer is yes, but better to be sure. 

I'll probably get a cheap toaster oven myself. Been wanting to try my hand at making kydex sheaths for a few knives I have, so it will come in handy for both projects.


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## AtticaFish

Yep, i bend it so it makes a little more of a cup. It gives you a little better area to get solder in also. In post #2 it shows how i did it using the willow blades, but same concept as with the swing blades.


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## heron153

Maybe this is common knowledge, but for those who don't know - If you want to catch a fish on a spoon you made yourself, and it's white bass you're after, the recipe is simple ;-) put a 3-4 foot leader of mono or fluoro behind an agitator bobber. Then one of the stock blades, unmodified, with a hook. They aren't picky!! When those schools start boiling the surface you could catch white bass on anything small enough to fit in their mouths and some larger stuff. If you haven't experienced it, you've missed out.
Go with a single hook for white bass - you don't want those other 2 points slowing you down as you try to unhook a fish for the next cast! (Also, you greatly reduce your chances of impaling yourself!!)


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