fishing clark spoons

8/2/2019 Fishing Clark Spoons

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www.clakspoon.com

How to Fish Planers

foBluesh, Spanish Mackeel & othe ame sh

Fishing Clarkspoons

&


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Tips from Clark

The cleae the wate, the lone the leade.

The lae the sinke o plane, the lone the leade. Use a ball beain swivel attached to the sinke o plane neve to the lue.

The old adae lae bait lae sh often holds tue. How-eve, it is eneally moe impotant to match the size of the

bait on which the sh ae feedin, paticulaly when shin foSpanish mackeel.

Fish not bitin, wate clea. Ty a smalle spoon and/o aold spoon. Vay you tollin speed, but a faste speed is moelikely to be poductive.

Fish not bitin, wate cloudy o dity. Ty a lae spoonand a slowe tollin speed. Also, the wate may be cleae at aeate depth, so ty a lae sinke o plane. If possible, moveoffshoe to cleae wate. A tansition line between dity andclea wate is often loaded with sh.

We would like to extend a special thanks to

Art Levy and Capt. Jerry Dilsaver

for their contributions in creating this brochure.


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fisHiNG ClarkspooNs

Thank you fo puchasin a Clakspoon o a Spoon Squid.Without a doubt, these ae the two most popula tollin lues fobluesh and Spanish mackeel. Thee ae eoaphic pefeences,

but both lues ae vey successful at catchin sh. The Clakspoon ismost popula in the Southeast and the Floida Panhandle, while theSpoon Squid is the lue of choice in the Notheast Atlantic States andwest coast of Floida.

Both of these lues wee desined to imitate the silveside andlass minnows that ae pimay foae of many inshoe and nea

shoe ame sh. The Clakspoon closely esembles a healthy vesionof these bait sh with its tiht wobble and spin. The Spoon Squid,with a moe exaeated wobble, appeas to be hut and theefoe easypey. Some shemen feel that the Clakspoon is pefeable at hihetollin speeds.

Althouh they will catch othe species, the taditional use of

these lues is fo bluesh and Spanish mackeel. The most populasizes ae #00, #0, and #1. The lae sizes, #2, #3, #4, and #5, dowell on school kins, lae bluesh, stipes, and almost any sh thatfeeds on smalle sh. In the Clakspoon, these moe popula sizesae available eithe chome-plated o with 24K old platin. Thelae Clakspoons, sizes #2 - #4, and all sizes in the Spoon Squid,ae available in chome nish only.

Both lues may be tolled o cast, althouh castin will ene-ally equie that appopiate weiht be placed a shot distance befoethe lue. Aain, thee ae eoaphic pefeences as to which lueis best suited fo which use, but we have found them to be vituallyintechaneable. Fo simplicity, and to conseve space, the applica-tions discussed will be in usin Clakspoons. In any and all of theseapplications, Spoon Squids may be substituted, if so desied.


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As stated ealie, Clakspoons ae the lue of choice in tollinfo bluesh and Spanish mackeel. Ealy in the season, when boththe bait and the sh ae somewhat smalle, the #00 and #0 sizes aeoften the most poductive. As the ame sh and bait sh ow, the#1 and lae sizes ain in populaity. Not only do the lues catchthese sh, but ae also deadly on Atlantic bonito, false albacoe, andskipjack tuna. Othe occasional catches include ounde, speckledtout, ay tout, cobia, ceo mackeel, and kin mackeel, the lastthee eneally on the lae sizes. Many shemen successfully mixsome of the lae sizes into a lue spead in ode to attact some ofthese lae sh.

Clakspoons have otten so popula that entepisin shemenhave developed a vaiety of ways to use them. Althouh they may betolled unencumbeed on the suface, the most popula shin meth-od is tollin beneath the suface, behind planes o tollin sinkes.The standad pocedue is to place the plane o tollin sinke atthe end of the line and then extend a leade back to the Clakspoon.Fo most shallow wate o nea suface applications, tollin weihts

between 1 oz. and 4 oz. o size #1 o #2 planes should wok well. Usea mixtue of sinkes o plane sizes and vaious lenths until you cannd the feedin depth and patten on any iven day.

Most tollin ods will handle the smalle size #1 and #2 plan-es. Be sue to set you eel da just tiht enouh to pull the plane without slippae. Special plane ods, downies, o hand line

ae equied to handle the stain of the lae planes. Hand linesae easy to use and often ae the salvation of a shin tip if the shae feedin at depths only eachable with the lae planes. Lenth,diamete, and density of the hand line affect how deep a plane candive. Thin, ston, and exible ae the pefeed qualities in a handline. Monolament is a bette handline mateial than baided nylono dacon. Stainless steel cable (49 stand) is even bette yet.


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Althouh thee is a point at which the da on the handline oplane cable hampes the planes ability to dive, they can be assumedto dive appoximately one foot fo each two feet of appopiate sizeplane line. Too thick a plane line will not allow the plane to diveas efciently, while too thin a line isks tanlin and beakin andis moe difcult to handle. Because sh do not always feed at thesame depth, a well-equipped boat will have seveal handlines of vai-ous lenths. A ane of sizes fom 20 to 75 ft. should pepae you fomost situations. Obviously, if a downie o a plane od is usedto pull the plane, vesatility is inceased to the point whee the onlylimitations ae the amount of line and the size of the plane.

The Clakspoon may also be shed on a sepaate line on a odand eel and afxed to the plane with a plane elease assembly, al-lowin the anle to ht the sh without the da and intefeenceof the plane.

We ecommend a leade of 20 to 40 lb. monolament, whenshin fo Spanish mackeel and school bluesh. A stone leade,

usually 50 to 80 lb. monolament, is a bette choice when shinfo kin and ceo mackeel and othe lae sh. Thee ae somelocations, such as the Floida Panhandle, whee nylon-coated wieleades ae the local favoite. Althouh you may aely have a luebitten off, ou eseach shows that monolament leades, with theilow visibility, ae much moe effective at catchin sh, paticulalyin clea wate. The additional poductivity moe than compensates

fo the occasional lost lue. Fluoocabon, which is moe expensivethan monolament, is less visible and potentially even moe effective.When usin small planes o tollin sinkes, a leade of 20 to 30 ft. issufcient. Lae planes o clea wate conditions may equieleade lenths of as much as 40 to 50 ft. Plastic leade wheels makeconvenient stoae fo lone leades.


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Clakspoons wobble and spin vey quickly as they move thouhthe wate. Sometimes this motion will cawl up the leade and causeit to twist and tanle. A ball-beain swivel connected to the planeo tollin sinke will minimize this poblem. Neve connect thelue to the line with a snap swivel o the action will be impaied. Animpoved clinch knot (see diaam) is ecommended to tie the luediectly to the leade.

Tollin speeds should vay fo diffeent species. Spanish mack-eel, Atlantic bonito, false albacoe, skipjack tuna, and smalle schoolkin mackeel ae fast, aessive feedes and move vey quickly. Ob-viously, a faste tollin speed is desiable fo these sh. A speed of 4

Pass the line thouh the eye of the hook, swivel, o lue. Dou-ble back, and make 5 tuns aound the standin line. Holdinthe coils in place, thead the ta end of the line thouh the

st loop above the eye, then thouh the bi loop.

Hold the ta end of line while pullin up the coils. Make suethe coils ae in a spial, not lappin ove each othe. Slidetiht aainst the eye. Clip the ta end.


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to 6 miles pe hou o even eate is eneally most poductive. Inthe absence of a speedomete o electonic indicato, a tachometeeadin of somewhee between 1000 and 1500 pm should et the job done. Dont be afaid to expeiment and vay you speed untithe iht combination is found. In the case of bluesh, a slihtly

slowe speed is usually most effective.

If you ae in an aea whee you expect sh, epeatedly tuninthe boat will often add to you catch. The diection chane of thelues appeas to tie the feedin instincts of the ame sh. In atiht tun, the doppin of the lue close to the bottom will oftenyield an unexpected bonus such as a ounde o othe deep feedin

sh. Avoid too tiht a tun o you will nd youself with a tanledmess, as you lines coss ove one anothe.

Apai of innovations fom the past few yeas that have taken theshin wold by stom involve the Clakspoon as the teminal luepat of a bid i o daisy chain. These is have accounted fo moethan thei fai shae of sh in a elatively shot time. In a bid i, the

Clakspoon is tied behind a small bid and tolled acoss the sufaceof the wate. A 5 bid combined with a #00 o #0 Clakspoon is afavoite way to make this i. The utte that it makes has poveniesistible to many sh, appaently simulatin the siht and soundof injued o panicked bait sh. The suested iin consists of aClakspoon 7 ft. behind the bid on 30 lb. monolament.

Anothe poduct that has poven effective is the daisy chain. Inthis i, seveal feathes o squids ae ied on a leade ahead of aClakspoon. The squids ae all the same distance apat, while theClakspoon is ied at twice the distance behind the last squid. Thefact that the Clakspoon is the odd lue, and an exta distance back,make it appea to be unable to keep up, and thus an easy meal fo a


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huny sh. Althouh, eneally shed below the suface, this imay be used effectively on top of the wate. In ode to keep this imanaeable, a distance of16 to 18 between the squids is ecom-mended. It is also wise to use a wie leade between the squids ona daisy chain i. A coated 30 lb. standed wie saves lues and is

since stikes on the squids, as well as the Clakspoon, ae fequent;and the squids o feathes ae vey vulneable to shap teeth.

Fo even moe sh attactin powe, you can place a bid at theend of you line and then attach the daisy chain to it. As with any bidi, this combination must be shed on the suface. Not only aethese is catchin a lot of sh, they ae catchin a lot of lae sh.

The exta motion and excitement eneated by the multiple is tendsto attact olde and moe way sh.

Whethe you ae a new anle just beinnin to enjoy coastalshin, o an expeienced vetean, you will nd Clakspoons an ex-cellent choice fo many ame sh, especially bluesh and Spanishmackeel. The is ae not difcult to make and you can easily assem-ble them youself o puchase them fom you local tackle shop. Theyalso have tollin sinkes, planes, plane kits, hih-speed plane kits,and a complimentay instuctional bochue fo usin planes.

Ball BearingTroll SinkerS

Clak ball beain toll sinkes vitually eliminate linetwist when tollin Clakspoons and othe lues. Made

with Billshe, black oxide ball beain snap swivels.Available in 1 oz. to 4 oz.


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FISHINg PLANErSPlanes will take you lue down below the suface to whee the

sh ae feedin and etun to the suface afte a sh stikes. The at-tached diaams show the set and eleased positions fo a plane.

The diffeent size planes allow you to achieve inceasinly eatedepths as you o up in size, and thee ae even hih-speed vesions iffaste tollin speeds ae equied.

Planes ae desined to un at an appoximate anle of 45 de-ees. At this anle, the plane will dive one foot fo each two feet ofplane line that is below the suface of the wate. It is impotant touse tackle, line, and lues that ae matched to the size plane that youae usin.

TrOLLINg SPEED

Optimum tollin speed is usually between 4 t0 6 miles pehou. If you do not have a speedomete o electonic measuindevice, a tachomete eadin between 1000 and 1500 pm shouldachieve this speed. Vay speeds within this ane until you establish

you most effective eadin.

POSITIVE FACTOrS THAT CAUSE A PLANEr TO FUNCTION

1. The size of the planing surface (blade): The lae theblade, the deepe it will un. An exception would be hih-speed plan-e, whose unusual conuation allows it to dive deepe at hih speedsthan compaable size planes.

2.Lead weight on the planer wire: The amount of lead on the wie will only slihtly inuence depth. remembe that the planeblade achieves the planin function, and the weiht is not a sinicantfacto. Howeve, this weiht is vey impotant in settin and esettinthe plane. We will discuss this in moe detail late.


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3.Type and quality of the line: A majo inuence on a plan-es ability to dive is the type and quantity of the line used to pull it.Adequate stenth is equied to hold the plane and ht the sh.Lae planes can put substantial stess on the line and any othe

ea used to hold them, and this stess inceases with boat speed.Howeve, any incease in line diamete above the optimum size ceatesadditional da and displacement in the wate, and thus hampes theplanes ability to attain maximum depth. Also, eneally speakin,the lone the plane line, the deepe the plane will un.

NEgATIVE FACTOrS THAT CAUSE A PLANEr TO FUNCTION

1.Boat speed: As peviously mentioned, optimum plane toll-in speed is usually 4 to 6 miles pe hou. When you exceed this op-timum speed fo a plane, the inceased wate pessue on the planeblade and line beins to lift the plane in the wate. Thus, as speedcontinues to incease, the plane will continue to ise and will even-tually jump out of wate.

2.Diameter of the planer line: Lae diamete plane linesdecease the ability of a plane to attain maximum depths fo easonsaleady mentioned.

3.The law of diminishing returns:We have aleady mentionedthat usin moe line will incease plane depth. Unfotunately, if 40ft. of line will allow a plane to dive 20 ft., it does not necessaily

follow that doublin the lenth of the plane line would double theplane depth. Due to the combination of wate pessue and watedisplacement (buoyancy),* the additional 40 ft. of line miht onlyyield anothe 12 to 15 ft. of depth.


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PLANEr LINES

1. Stainless steel cable (49 stand) is pobably the most effectiveplane line. Solid wie, such as monel, althouh extemely efficientfom a divin pespective, is pone to kink and beak when used in aplanin application. The new supe baid shin lines appea to besecond only to cable in plane pullin popeties. Monolament linewould be a thid choice. Baided nylon and dacon have poven tobe least effective whee maximum depth is equied. Howeve, wheeeate depth is not a majo facto, the ease of use and availability ofsmall nylon cod make it the hand line of choice of many shemen.

2. All planes can be used with a hand line. One end of theline is attached to the boat (often with a loop aound a cleat), and theothe is eithe tied o connected with a lae snap swivel to the planei. Sea Stike offes a vaiety of hand line kits that will meet mostinshoe equiements.

3. Sizes #1 and #2 planes ae often tolled on ods and eelsspooled with line anin fom 20 to 50 lb. test. This has the advan-tae of allowin the anle to quickly adjust the distance and the depthat which the plane is shed. A #3 plane will equie a substantiallyheavie tollin od and 40 o 50 lb. line. Be sue to set you eelda just tiht enouh to pull the plane without slippae.

4. Lae-sized planes ae best pulled on hand lines, downi-es, o specialized plane ods with 6/0 o 9/0 eels. We have found275 lb. stainless steel cable to be the most effective and duable pod-uct fo deepe ocean shin with heavy ea.

FISHINg

Now that we undestand how planes wok and the factos thataffect thei ability to dive, it is time to catch some sh. Thee ae afew simple uidelines that will make usin planes both easie andmoe poductive.


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tolure

toboat

toboattolure

1. guideline and safety pecaution #1 is to always wea loveswhen handlin a plane o plane line. Loose ttin loves that canbe easily emoved ae best.

2. In ode to dive, a plane must be in the set position (seediaam).

Usually a plane will set itself upon entein the wate. Sometimes itdoesnt o a sh may stike and tip, o elease, the plane (see dia-am) without ettin hooked.

In these instances, it is helpful to be able to eset the plane withouteelin it all the way to the boat. Pull in seveal feet of line and thenquickly elease it. This slack in the plane line will allow the weiht onthe plane wie to cause the plane to nose dive and eset itself. If thisdoesnt wok afte an attempt o two, slow the boat speed and epeatthe pocedue. Aain, this same pocedue can be used if the planeshould hit bottom and tip.


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3. Sometimes it is desiable to tip and etieve a plane with-

out slowin the boat. The same technique as descibed above may beused to tip the plane. Consideable effot may be equied to pullthe plane, dependin on the size of the plane and the speed of the

boat.

4. If the plane is not unnin staiht, but wants to tack to theiht o left, its an easy poblem to x. The plane has pobably ot-ten bent and needs to have the blade staihtened o the wie alined.It is a common occuence fo the plane to be stepped on in theexcitement of landin a sh and a pai of plies is eneally all that it

takes to put the plane back into wokin ode.

5. In addition to the selection of planes accodin to the depththat you want to achieve, they must also be matched to the lues andsize of the sh that you ae pusuin. A lue that is too lae fo theplane will ceate enouh da to epeatedly tip the plane. The onlysolutions ae to o to a lae plane o a smalle lue. On the othe

hand, small sh will often not tip a lae plane and a smalle planemay be equied.

6. When a plane that has been unnin staiht suddenly statstackin at an anle, it is likely that a small sh is on the line. Theothe possibility is that the plane has picked up seaweed o othedebis. In eithe event, the plane needs to be pulled and checked.

7. Sea Stike planes may be used on appopiate ods, eels,handlines, and downies. Althouh they ae often moe effective,planes do ceate moe tubulence in the wate than tollin sinkes.Because of this, lone than nomal leades will eatly impove plan-e poductivity. A minimum of 20 ft. should be used on the smalleplanes, and 40 to 50 ft. will wok best on lae sizes. If the wate isunusually clea, then even lone leades will add to you catch.


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Thank you fo selectin a Clakspoon poduct. We hopethat this bief uide will add to you undestandin of Clakspoonsand planes with the esult of enjoyable and successful shin adven-tues.

* NOTE: All objects immesed in wate ae subject to a buoy-ant foce that is popotional to the volume of wate displaced; theefoe, if

enouh plane line was let out, the combination of the buoyant foce fomthe wate displacement with the wate pessue on the line and blade wouldeventually each a point whee the upwad pessue would offset the divincapability of the plane. Additional line would possibly even cause the planeto ise. Since it is unlikely that this line would be let out unde nomal sh-in conditions, this emains moe of a theoetical issue than a functionalpoblem. This buoyant foce is one of the pimay easons that the depthattained does not emain popotional to the amount of line let out.

SSP3

SSP4Br

Item Size Estimated DepthSSP1 1 5-12 ft. of depthSSP2 2 10-20 ft. of depthSSP3 3 12-25 ft. of depthSSP4 4 15-30 ft. of depthSSP4Br 4 BrACED 15-30 ft. of depthSSP5 5 20-40 ft. of depthSSP5Br 5 BrACED 20-40 ft. of depthDLX-P 6 BrACED 20-40 ft. of depthHS8 8 BrACED HI-SPEED 10-40 ft. of depth

Sea Stike Planes

In addition to line diamete, thee ae othe factos thatdetemine the maximum depth such as, line type, tollin speed, cu-ent, lue da, lue weiht, wate tempeatue, and lenth of line.Theefoe each plane may have a wide ane of possible depths thatcan be achieved. Based on a vaiety of shin conditions the follow-

in chat will help you choose the coect plane fo you puposes.

A #1 and #2 plane can be used with most tollin ods. #3 would needto be used with a heavie tollin od. Any plane lae than a #3should be used with a handline o specically desined plane od.


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SETTINg AND rETrIEVINg PLANErSTo set the plane, attach the snap swivel fom the plane line to

the bass in on the plane and ease it into the wate at a 45 deeeanle. Should the plane tip while shin, it may be eset by pullinthe plane line fowad (2 to 3 ft.) and then eleasin. This may take

seveal attempts since you must chane the altitude of the plane inode to et it fom the neutal position into the planin position. Aslihtly slowe boat speed will help. You plane may be tipped foetieval by pullin fowad and eleasin the plane line (as above).

PLANEr DEPTHPlanes will un at a 45 deee anle and achieve appoximately

one foot of depth fo each two feet of plane line when used with ap-popiate line. Thee is a point whee a plane eaches its optimumdepth. Fo example, 50 ft. of plane line will pobably esult in aplanin depth of 25 ft. Unfotunately, it does not follow that 100 ft.of line will eneate 50 ft. of depth. It is moe likely that 125-150ft. of plane line would be equied. Speed will only take a planedown so fa and the pocess eveses itself. You can see this if youpull a plane at vey hih speed. Eventually, it will actually jump outof the wate. Diamete and density of the plane line o cable is animpotant facto elative to depth. Monolament lines un deepethan baided lines, and stainless steel cable (275 to 400 lb. test) willobtain even eate depths.


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www.clakspoon.com

James E. Clak, LLC P.O. Box 459 Moehead City, NC 28557

fishing clark spoons

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